80 Years of Iconic Moments (Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

 

80 Years of Iconic Moments

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver celebrated its 80th Anniversary and the completion of a multi-phase $75 million renovation on May 25th, 2019  with “80 Years of Iconic Moments,” a captivating photo exhibition masterminded by Fairmont marketing manager Rebecca MacDonald and international portrait photographer Dennis Gocer that re-imagines eight decades of its iconic moments with a contemporary lens on traditional storytelling. 

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The Vancouver born and raised Dennis Gocer, founder and Creative Director of The Collective You, has created portraits for brands such as Burberry, DeBeers, Tesla, and Omega. His work has also been published internationally in Vogue, Wallpaper and VanityFair.

 

In addition to original images of past dignitary and celebrity guests, MacDonald and Gocer  worked together to create a series of seven stunning portraits, each a modern reimagining of key moments and images from the hotel’s history.  The portraits give new life to everyone from legendary Sun photographer Jack Lindsay to the Lady in Red, said to be notorious former Vancouver socialite Jeannie Pearl Cox, who frequented the hotel for teas, dances and social events, and who died nearby in 1944 in a car crash.

 

Since 1944, Cox kept residence at the hotel without paying a cent for her stay and her ghost is said to still walk the halls. Mounted on panels explaining their significance, the images debuted at a lavish gala held last May 24, 2019 and displayed in the hotel’s iconic Pacific Ballroom throughout 2019.

 

Bellman

The photo shoot, completed in a single day back in January of 2019, showcases locations throughout the property, from the ballroom to the roof, and features brands such as De Beers Jewellers, Holt Renfrew and Stella McCartney. In homage to its history, the hotel excavated old memorabilia from the city’s newspaper and photography archives.

 

Carver

The scenes in the photographs convey a timeless fashion story, complemented by diamond jewelry (including the Mosaic Necklace which boasts 1,314 diamonds and a total carat weight of 145.65 carats) provided exclusively from De Beers Jewellers.   The new photographs were inspired by iconic moments that include legendary movie star Roy Rogers and his horse Trigger sneaking into the hotel’s Panorama Roof restaurant, for a quick photo opportunity, in the middle of an evening performance in 1940. 

 

Ethel

Though, over its eight decades, the hotel has been frequented by many celebrities of the likes of Indira Gandhi, Diana Ross and Roy Roger, dignitaries and royals, some of the most fascinating stories are about former staff. There’s the craftsman, in the 1930s, who placed a newspaper and personal essay on civil rights inside the rooftop gargoyle he was carving. Its recreation was part of a series of challenges as a model had to be strapped to a rooftop gargoyle.

 

Marie

There’s also no-nonsense housekeeper with a love for classics Ethel Ferguson who, horrified by a “modernization” during the 1960s, hid over 200 pieces of Chippendale’s furniture around the hotel and, more than 15 years later, only came clean and returned them after she approved of the hotel’s new restoration plan. 

80 Years of Iconic Moments: Hotel Lobby, Fairmont Vancouver Hotel, 900 W Georgia St,, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2W6, Canada. Tel: +1 604 684 3131 · Fax: +1 604 662 1929 · Email: hvc.concierge@fairmont.com.