D Moment: SS15 Collection Previews from Montreal Up-and-Comers.

(Posted on Wordpress October 22nd, 2014. And this is the last one to be shipped over here from Wordpress.)

Last Wednesday, I made it out to Rosemont, for day two of the second annual D Moment event, hosted by Mode Montréal. I missed the first day as I was busy bouncing from one Koodo store to the next, until someone finally sent me broken phone in for repair. This is also why the photos seen here are not at par with the ones I usually post. It takes a lot to embarrass me but pulling out the Galazy III Mini I had borrowed from Koodo to take photos at a fashion event was, at the very least, uncomfortable.

D Moment provides local up-and-coming fashion designers with an opportunity to provide media and other spectators with a glimpse at their SS15 collections. I couldn't stay for the entire event but I did get a chance to check out what Impair, Andrea Montle and Nico had to show. 

The media lounge

Impair designer Stephanie P. Grenier, kicked off her show with an artistic set-up that left some disgruntled but most entertained. Upon entering the darkened room, our ears filled with a dramatic, classical piece (one of my conservatory instructors just rolled about in his grave at my lack of memory) and we spread about, not really knowing where the catwalk was or what to expect. Then, perfectly timed to the music, a spotlight lit up a model who had been standing in the dark, waiting for her moment. We all rushed to her and snapped away, me cursing the phone in my hands. She posed a few times, allowing us to carefully observe the garments and paper accessories she wore and then, lights out.

Impair

Impair

And another spotlight turned on at the other end of the room, featuring another model, and so on. By the fourth model, some photographers were openly grumbling, as they lugged their enormous DLSRs about but, in the end, the applause was enthusiastic and everyone got the chance to closely examine more of Impair's clothing, as a traditional runway show began right after this installment.

Impair

Impair

Andrea Montle was up next, with an avant garde collection of pieces reminiscent of my cyber goth days, with artificial silhouettes created from a chaotic assembling of structured strips of fabric. It was fun to see someone step outside the box and clearly do what she herself loves, regardless of trends.

andrea montle

Out of the three shows I saw, Nico garnered the heartiest applause. He presented us --twice-- with five beautifully constructed and impeccably styled outfits and did so in a simply but artistically choreographed way. Nico boldly combined jeweled buttons with on a floral print men's blazer, incited more than a few oohs and aahs with his dressy drop-crotch women's trouser and he definitely hit the mark with his perfectly tailored navy blue trench coat with navy trim, which featured classic trench features but buttoned cuffs, for a new take on it all.

Nico

Nico

Nico

Nico

As I was standing about in the media lounge with a new and delightful friend, between shows, I couldn't help but overhear someone from a soon-to-be-launched magazine loudly proclaim that it was all simply taking too long and that, when he attended Fashion Week in London, it wasn't like this at all. It was one show after another and everyone hustled. London. Fashion. Week. Dorothy certainly wasn't in Kansas anymore, if he was coming to this event with a bar set that high, not to mention apples and oranges. Yes, it was a lengthy affair and yes, we were disappointed in how few people were there but what exactly would you have local designers do, now that we've been stripped of our own Fashion Week? It takes time and financial resources and nerves of steel to put on a fashion show, let alone organize an event that features several of them over the course of two days. I think the people who dedicated their energy and time to this event should be applauded. Chapeau! And thank you for setting the stage for so many talented individuals; 2015 will most certainly be an interesting year where local fashion is concerned.

To the gentleman who stage whispered his lamentation of London Fashion Weeks gone by, I thank you providing me with fodder for my next opinion piece!

Read more »

FlashMode: A Fall Fashion Event in Old Montréal

(Posted on Wordpress on October 3rd, 2014)

For almost a year, the only capacity under which I had been covering local events was for a blog directed at models, in an effort to inform them about local events. While I appreciate the opportunity to not only immerse myself in the Montreal fashion scene but to write about it, no matter the context, I must say that I'm quite happy with my decision to start covering shows for my own blog, as well. It is therefore with seemingly new eyes and an open mind that, on October first, I made my way to FlashMode, at the Darling Foundry, in Old Montreal.

The invite-only event drew attention to a series of our most talented designers and successful clothing stores, all with brick-and-mortar locations in Old Montreal, from Anne de Shalla to Denis Gagnon and from Travis Taddeo to Philippe Dubuc, while providing people with an opportunity to network. The evening started off with a complimentary glass of champagne, beautiful, miniature food and some time to view a fashion photo exhibit that featured some of this season's key designs.

At seven o'clock we all filed into another room, where we were privy to a brief but poignant presentation. A handful of models walked the runway to a two-storey structure made of scaffolding, where they posed for photographs. During this time, the catwalk was dismantled and the room was set up for the next phase of the evening. A lot of people around me expressed surprise at the show's short duration, as many people had arrived a couple of hours prior, in anticipation. That said, I appreciated the layout of the evening and, when I think about how I would like to display my upcoming line, I never see it paraded down a runway in the traditional sense. I see a photo exhibit and cocktails and a very short show or even performance art. I like that FlashMode ventured outside the box or, at least, thought along the same lines as I do and, in keeping with its artistic spirit of it all, I took a few, non-traditional runway shots.

The evening concluded with a projected film featuring some backstage footage of Denis Gagnon, blaring beats and more time to check out some locally designed garments, which were displayed at various vendors' tables.

As I made my way to coat check, I felt my inner aesthete smile. It had been a beautiful evening, I met some great people I look forward to seeing again and I'm excited about the new path this blog is now on. This round-up packed a punch and left the people I spoke to and overheard hungry for more. It was a fabulous way to kick off autumn and get people enthused about the style gems Old Montreal has to offer and I rather look forward to whatever the SDC Vieux-Montréal and the designers they showcased have in store for us next!

Read more »

Another Passenger (Or: How I Hired Yet Another Dud)

The Interview: 

I met my daughter at Alexis Nihon shopping mall and we waited for her there. She was twenty minutes late and launched into frazzled diatribe about all sorts of things within moments of us meeting. That, I am used to. What irked me was that, given the nature of some of topics, I had to ask my daughter to put her ear pĥones in. Should I have brought my thirteen-year-old to an interview? Yes. She is contemplating a career in fashion but, more to the point, it's my interview and I can, within reason, do what I want. I'm thinking I should bring Ava more often, actually. She's got a wicked deadpan stare and what people think they can say around a thirteen-year-old probably says a lot about them.

She brought samples. I liked them. I saw pictures of her work. I liked them. An acquaintance recommended her but, that should not have been a factor, given said person's personality and the fact that her "She knows her shit" was useless because this person can probably not even thread a machine. 

I have a few minor misgivings but I ignore them and hire her. I want to shoot before the leaves change colour and I'm excited about my new project!

Over the next few weeks, I assign three pieces to her: A pair of shots, a romper and a pair of pants. I ask her to make a pattern and a muslin of each. After some time, I schedule a fitting on a Monday and arrange to meet her on Friday, after work, so I have the week-end to go over what she's done and correct any mistakes.

The Second Meeting:

I ask her to meet me at the Second Cup at the train station. She was twenty minutes late. She sat down and dropped one small roll of paper on the table in between us. Within moments, I found out that this was the pattern for the shorts and that she had brought nothing else with her. she apparently spilled coffee all of the pants muslin right as she was leaving. I ask her where the pants pattern is and she gets really flustered and starts rambling again, this time about how she is almost forty and living in a room. She does, though, tell me that she had time to make herself a pair of shorts using my pattern. when I ask her where the romper is she says, "Oh, I haven't even looked at that". I pay her anyway because I want to be sure to have what I need on Monday.

The Third Meeting:

I cancel with my model because I don't trust my pattern maker. One of my best friends, Amanda, is over and, in addition to having measurements that are similar to that of the model's, we studied fashion together and she's been working in the industry since so she can help with this next meeting because I'm getting exasperated. Monday rolls around and Amanda I wait. And wait. Finally, Amanda has people she must meet so she leaves. The pattern maker is two hours late. She texts me saying she's late because her bike tire was almost flat. She shows up with nothing but the pants pattern and looks offended when I say I'm not paying her any more and that, had I been waiting around with a paid model, I would have deducted part of the model's fee from her pay. She vows to come back the next day with everything. As she leaves, she tells me she probably shouldn't have stopped at her friend's place on the way. I'm all out of "wtf"s at this point.

The Fourth Meeting:

She's over an hour late but I'm at home with Amanda so I don't care as much. She shows up and has two of the muslin with her. Her muslin is more like burlap but what bothers me the most is that she's off by a lot on the shorts. Like, over an inch on the waist. I pay her and tell her I want the corrections in two weeks. the only reason she didn't babble senselessly about how her life is a mess, this time, is that, when she's not trying on clothing, Amanda is pacing in the kitchen, behind me, and deadpanning the woman.

The Fifth Meeting:

Three weeks later, she drops the corrections off at my work and I ask her to make the romper in the upcoming week.

Online:

In the meantime, my friend (and the ex she bitched about at her interview) posts a Breaking Bad spoiler on his facebook. I call him on it, nicely but firmly. She jumps in out of nowhere and is incredibly rude. She says, "1) It's Wednesday, 2)It's the Internet and 3) The boy in Boys Don't Cry is actually a girl. At this point, Before this, I had been thinking that I could maybe give her a few samples to sew, just so we could get to the shoot but, after this, the bitch was fired.

The Sixth Meeting:

She brings me the romper pattern and, despite me having asked her for them, none of the other muslins (I had told her not to make on for the romper).

After two weeks of putting it off, she sends me some wrecked muslins by asking my friend (the aforementioned ex) to drop them off at my place when he comes by to pick my up for a week-end trip we had planned. To make matters worse, he waits until we've been gone for two days before telling me, claiming that he had wanted to avoid "weirdness". Jesus.

I must admit that I let all of this get to be and I've fallen about two months behind, which is terrible, but salvageable. This week I will hire another pattern maker (she has twenty years experience and can use PAD Systems) for some of the more complicated pieces and get back on the horse.

Read more »

My Production Crew Karma Must Change (Or: Man, Do I Hope Things Work Out With This Pattern Maker)

I've already touched upon some f the following in my Roots series but I have had phenomenal bad luck when it comes to hiring pattern and sewing help in Montreal. Phenomenal. A part of me thinks that this may be due to some of the things that happened with me very first crew.

In 2003, when I was twenty-three, I created a cybergoth/rivethead line and I had a fantastic crew of three to help me make the patterns and assemble the clothing. at the time, I was still self-taught so they were actually more knowledgeable than I was and, because they believed in me and in what I was doing, they worked for free. I was able to give them each an envelope with some bonus money it in at one point but that was it. Despite several hiccups, I put on a fashion show at Foufs, in front of a packed house and most people loved it. I was young and the single mom of two babies at that point, though, and the reaction to the show made me panic. Instead of producing the clothing and moving forward, I hid and didn't design anything for a few years, dropping my crew on its collective head and feeling ashamed for quite some time.

I get it now but it was hard for me to swallow that failure for years afterward. Once in a while I tell myself that that move was what created the shit karma I have had when it comes to pattern makers.

1. The Story Teller and her friend

At the beginning of 2005, I hired someone who convinced me to hire her friend. I'd seen girl number one around at parties and the only thing I knew about her is that she was semi-stalking one of my friends. Desperate times, though. I hired her anyway.

To make a long story short, girl number one missed almost every meeting we had, coming up with a more outlandish story each time and then, when I passed by her place to pick up clothing for a shoot, I didn't take the time to check the quality of the garments before paying her. I got home and discovered that the most of the seams were crooked and non of it had been assembled with care. It was sloppy work and I was stuck with samples I would have to camouflage in the shoot and could most certainly not sell afterward.

Girl number two wanted work right away so I asked her to make a batch of ties while I finished up work with number one. She handed me a bag of twisted up bits of sewn fabric that looked like they might have been ties at some point in time and the proceeded to charge me for ten hours of work. I refused to pay her for the garbage I had been handed and she actually filed a complaint with the provincial labour board. Because she had never bothered to call me after tie number one to let me know that she couldn't handle making them, I ended up winning.

2. The Swimsuit Massacre

I studied fashion design at Collège Lasalle and then, a couple of years later, designed a few swimsuits and planned a shoot. I hired someone who was about ten years older than me, had tons of experience and was desperate for work. She had a cross stitch machine and showed me samples of her work so I didn't see a problem. Our meetings went well and communication was great, in general. She got a full-time job about a week before my shoot and tried to push back the deadline. I told her this was impossible and that the pieces had to be done on time. It was only three swimsuits, after all!

The night before the shoot, I cabbed out to a café on the Plateau, met with this woman, gave her an envelope of cash and left with a sports bag containing the samples and patterns for the three suits. I had yet to learn from my past mistakes and so I didn't even look at the work before leaving. I know, I know (now).

I went out for a drink with a friend, went home, woke up the next morning and started pulled the first piece out of the bag. I pulled the other two out. Then I sat down and cried.

Thankfully, I worked with a photographer and models who were very understanding. The crotch width of each piece was more suitable for a five-year-old girl's swimsuit than for a grown woman's and models kept having to stand in such a way that they could inconspicuously hold the bust in place. the last swimsuit we shot was a disaster. There were gaping holes where there should have been seams and the seams were very crooked. I was so lucky to work with a woman I had actually gone to school with and who convinced me that we could at least get a few promo shots with the shoot.

Here are two excessively camouflaged shots of the worst bathing suit in the line:

3. The Swimmer

Not long after the swimsuit fiasco, I hired someone to fix the mess the previous pattern maker had made. she was very young but had studied fashion design and, being a professional swimmer herself, was quite interested in the designs. She took my green leopard fabric, one of my patterns and disappeared.

4. Madame AWOL

I interviewed this woman in a Verdun café. She seemed together and excited about working with me so I hired her. I assigned two pairs of shorts and two blouses to her. She made the patterns, the  muslin samples. We had a fitting and everything went really well. I couldn't believe that I'd finally found someone with whom I could work. She insisted on a second fitting so I asked her to go ahead and make second muslin samples. She disappeared. This time, at least, she didn't have any of my patterns or fabric. Just more money down the drain.

5. Now

And this brings us to now. I hired a girl who really seems to know her shit and we have a lot of friends in common so I know she can't disappear (I can't believe that had to be a factor but it was!). Communication has been great and I'm meeting her tomorrow to pick up the first muslin samples. I have a fitting on Monday and my fingers are crossed! If this doesn't work, I'm not supporting local contractors anymore. I will outsource everything to NYC and finally see some finished products.

What helps is that, this time around, I'm busting my ass too so I'm guaranteed to have pieces for the shoot, whether or not things go well with this pattern maker. There is also the fact that I have finally learned from my lessons and will be double-checking the hell out of everything from now on!

Top photo source: 101fashiontoday,wordpress.com

Read more »

Brand Name for New Label Survey... Help!

Please excuse my lack of posting but I've been hard at work on the new clothing line. I'll soon be able to post previews and news with regards to that but for now, I pretty much come home from work... and work. 

I had thought about using my own name but then I recently decided that I would rather not because, if anything happens to the line, it's my actual name that goes down or is sold or whatnot. I've narrowed my options down to two names. If you could take a moment to vote for one of them, it would be greatly appreciated!

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KTP9PCZ">Click here to take survey</a>

Read more »

Brief Hiatus

I realize that I haven't written in a while and that is because I'm working on my spring/summer 2014 collection and on my work lengthy work of fiction and so I unfortunately can't share any of that with you! That said, I will post a roundup of photos from this week-en and last as I've been getting out and enjoying the sunshine when I'm not writing or prepping the collection and I've finally begun refreshing my apartment, starting with the kitchen, which I am painting today.

In the meantime, however, I will share something about my personal life by copy/pasting what I just posted on facebook:
People who know me and my former serial monogamist ways were shocked when I declared that I was going to take a year off from any sort of dating at all... and did it. For a year-and-a-half, even! Not only did the last relationship I have completely destroy me but I felt I needed to take the time to learn about who I am when I'm not one half of a partnership and soaking up someone else's habits, tastes and mannerisms, as we tend to do over time, when in a relationship. Who am I when I'm not morphing into "us"?

It was the best gift I've ever given myself! I know that when I see how much my children and I have bonded, how much my self-confidence has grown, the direction my home decor, career, travels, etc. have taken, the people I've been meeting and befriending, the overall sense of happiness and in the way that I am living my life out loud.

I see it most, however, now that I am thinking of dating again. The shit I used to let slide not to have to be alone! Wow! I know what I want and, more importantly at times, what I DON'T want and that is how I can write messages like the following, instead of over-thinking and somehow convincing myself that I should give the guy a shot because I need to have someone or multiple someones in my life:

"I'm slightly torn here because you're tall and I like that, you're handsome enough, you can spell (sadly a rarity in these parts), you sound like you know what you want out of life, you seem to enjoy a lot of the same things as I do but the wrong date of birth thing is an alarm bell, as is the fact that everything in your profile feels like it's dripping with arrogance. I think I will pass and wish you good luck because I, too, know what I want and this, over any length of time, would piss me off.
I'll leave you with two tips, if I may: Opening up your first message to someone with "I may be mistaken but your profile seems somewhat interesting" is probably more eyebrow raising than smile-inducing. Secondly, telling women what kind of shoes they should wear and how often is also probably not the best plan if you want to attract strong, sure-minded women, as you so state.
That said, you have one of the more (somewhat) interesting profiles I've seen in a while (unless I'm mistaken) and I'm sure you'll do well out there. And again, good luck!"

On that note, I will make a pot of decaf and a smoothie and start my day. Have a great week-end! 

Read more »

Musings (Or: I'm leaving Montreal In a Handful of Years And I Don't Yet Know Where I'm Going)

I've always been a nomad at heart and, when I moved back to my hometown in 2000, I never imagined that I would still be here in 2013. I had planned on staying here long enough to have Ava and figure out what my next move would be. I thought about maybe working for Club Med for a while so that Ava could learn how to swim in the ocean and pick up different languages from the other kids passing through. Then I had my darling son and I haven't been able to move anywhere else since. 

I've always known that, ideally, I want to have a pied-à-terre in a city and a house in the woods. Next year, I'll be moving into a duplex that I will buy after two years, so I will have a home in Montréal, no matter where I go and it will also serve as a nest egg for my kids. I used to want to buy land an hour or so NW of here but now I'm eyeing the coast of New Brunswick because the most amazing thing for me would be to be able to sit up in bed in the morning and see the ocean. 

Last fall I decided I want to leave Montreal as soon as my son is either done high school or wants to leave with me, beforehand. Living in a town you know want to leave is interesting. I am committed to exploring every last nook and cranny of this place on the one hand and, on the other, I'm already disconnected from so much of what I used to think was important here. I've let several people go from my life and I'm sure I'm not quite finished with that process.

I'll miss my mom and a couple of friends but, overall, I'm excited! I intend to spend the next few years making myself as employable as possible so that I can work in fashion and/or media or, in an ideal world, so that I can write and design from wherever I am and not be tied down to any one office (unless it's for my own line!). 

Four to six years will go by quickly and so I'm already working on so much! To come: The new etsy shop will be up and running in April, I'll be making a few more announcements with regards to band merch, also in April; I have begun to look for someone who can work part-time and help with pattern making and sewing because I've designed new pieces for riff-raff and for another label, which will be revealed in the fall, and I've begun writing fiction again. I'm also working toward a certificate in photography as I have no doubt that that will help me along the way. Amazing times ahead!

I wonder where I'll end up...

My current facebook profile picture. Photo taken by me. Unedited. 

Read more »

Roots. Part Ten: Boutique Pandemonium (And Why I've Changed My Mind). 2012.

I began 2012 in NYC with two of my friends. There was friction with one friend and we haven't hung out much since, even if we were pretty much best friends prior to heading down there and the other friend and I just went back there together. All in all, it was a fun trip. I felt strong, confidant and optimistic about the future. It was a fantastic way to start the new year.

A few months prior to this, I had decided to take the plunge and open a store in Montreal. I chose the name Pandemonium and planned on selling art, clothing, fashion accessories, home decor and paper products that were aimed at mods, skinheads, punks, psychobillies, goths, etc. I am privileged to know a multitude of insanely talented people in Montreal and the idea of displaying and selling their work and throwing in some of mine thrilled me to bits. I had taken a bunch of notes but the trip to NYC was what I had needed to push forward and actually sit down to write a business plan. The most important thing for me was that 75% of the goods sold in the shop be local.

In April, I flew to Jamaica with one of my best friends and her mother. We spent a week in Ocho Rios and this girl, as usual, was amazing to hang with and just bouncing ideas off of her made me see what I wanted to do even more clearly. 

Our resort:

One of my best chums and one of my favourite three people to travel with, Amanda:

Every time I leave town, my head is cleared, I find introspection and inspiration and I come back ready to attack. My trip to Jamaica was no different. I came back and started sketching again. I also started looking up locations for the shop and planned on opening summer 2013 in order to give myself time to make it perfect. I found all sorts of grant possibilities and started to talking to people with experience in this. 

In May my contract ended and I found myself without work. I actually didn't mind it too much, as I was able to get employment insurance and I worked a few temp gigs to compensate. That summer, my daughter and I were invited to Prince Edward County, Ontario, where we, along with her grandmother and her grandmother's best friend, got to eat at lovely waterside cider houses and rustic restaurants; body board on some pretty nice waves on Lake Ontario, visit art galleries and antique stores and enjoy activities such as napping in a hammock (if you've never done this, you should). I got to talking with my daughter's grandmother and we decided that I could use some mentoring. We agreed to meet in the fall and talk about my life and where it's headed.

My daughter at North Beach, in Prince Edward County:

Here I am at Dead People's Stuff, an antique store in the County:

I was asked to meet with my mentors in September and to prepare for said encounter. I drafted up info on the store and when and where I wanted to open it, thinking that that would be the focus of the meeting. Within minutes, it was clear that I had the wrong the impression. This meeting was about me getting a full-time job and moving along with it. I bucked and tried to explain that I need to creating and building something for myself, for my future. One of my mentors has been working with artists her whole life and she understood exactly what I meant. We decided that we would split the mentoring in two so that I would get to talk about that aspect of my life in great detail and also seek advice on it. 

Something happened during that meeting, though. I was asked why I wasn't working in the fashion industry... And I didn't have an answer. I left the hotel the meeting had been held and, got home and opened a bottle of wine. I sat and thought (mostly aloud and to my daughter) for a while. Have you ever had one of those eureka moments? Everything pretty much hit me like a ton of bricks and I suddenly knew what I want. Not all of it was easy to admit to myself but I finally had the strength to suck it up and just do it. 

Here's what it comes down to: I don't want to live in Montréal for the rest of my life or even for the next ten years so setting up shop here wouldn't make sense. More importantly though, I realized that I  truly want to design. To design and to write. I will get to do neither of these things if I'm busy with inventory, managing, ordering supplies and basically working retail. 

It was hard to start telling all of the people I had talked to about this for a year that I would no longer be doing this but that's just pride. Pride gets wounded and then it bounces back and continues to get in your way. Besides, my chum Joe, who has worked at Cruella for many years, seems to have had a similar idea because he's opening a shop called Créatures this month. A sliver of my being was wounded upon learning that, as I had gone on and on about Pandemonium to all of our mutual friends and even booked Joe's band for a fundraiser I organized for the shop, but then I reminded myself that a)That's just pride again, b)I'm the one who chose to no longer do this and c)All of the people I had approached about selling in my shop may now have another opportunity to do so, in this new store instead, if they decide to sell local products, too. I have made peace with my decision and I wish Joe and Créatures all the best!

The most important thing I realized is that I don't have to bury myself in a subculture-related grave. I know who I am and I am part punk rocker, part rude girl, part psychobilly. part death rocker, part skingirl, etc. but I also fit into mainstream fashion and I no longer have to spend all of my time pretending to myself that I'm angry with it and that I hate all of it just because one of my closets is full of studs, spikes, patches, straps, zippers and vintage Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts. I can be each and every one of those things but also get out there and be a part of the mainstream fashion world. This sounds simple enough perhaps but the minute this dawned on me, it was like a light finally turned on in the darkness. A real "growing up" moment, if you will... I somehow never clued in to the fact that this could happen, despite people approaching me at least once a month and telling me I should be a stylist. Maybe that's what happens when you grow up as the underdog, the one everyone jeers at and deems the ugly duckling. As a teenager, you start relating to whatever angsty, morbid, underground communities you can and you delve into them and hate the mainstream, way passed the healthy point of doing so because god forbid you should actually adhere to anything that rest of society believes is stylish or good. Well, I'm done. 

I've basically divided it up into four parts and here they are:

Boutique Pandemonium

It's not because I don't want to open a shop in my town that I've abandoned the idea altogether. I will be featuring a lot of the artists whose work I wanted to include in my shop on this blog and I'm pleased to announce that Pandemonium will be opening as an etsy shop within the next few weeks! The shop will feature riff-raff clothing co. designs, and anything that I make that isn't for my new label, whether it be clothing, accessories or home decor. Added bonus? I'll be opening up my vintage vault and selling a ton of gorgeous vintage jewelry, lingerie and home decor. 

Rosemary Hosson: Fashion Designer, Blogger and Stylist

I have this blog, I've written for Cult Mtl and am looking at writing for a few more newspapaers and magazines, both online and in print. I'm stylist a photo shoot next week and working on my portfolio. 

riff-raff clothing co.

riff-raff clothing co. lives, as mentioned above. This line is now my punk rock, 'billy, glam, etc. outlet. I've just become the official womenswear designer for Batmobile, under this label, and I am also in talks with The Koffin Kats, having just purchased a selection of t-shirts from them. I'll be reconstructing those, as well as about three times as many for Batmobile. Expect dia de los muertos inspired home decor, studded clutches and peter pan collars, belts, hair accessories and a variety of clothing. These will all be sold on the new, aforementioned etsy shop, Pandemonium.

Designing for Mainstream

I'm finally doing it. I'm working on two collections that represent who I am but will also appeal to the masses. I don't want to divulge too much too soon but expect to see the first few pieces in an event's fashion show, this fall. I will also be applying for Fashion Week, for next spring. I'm not really interested in showing in Montreal, given how weak our Fashion Week tends to be (this year was appalling) but I'm honestly not sure where else I will be looking to. More to come on that later.

I enrolled in a photography class (I'm loving it!) and I intend to take one evening course per semester, for the next few years so that, when my son is done high school in six years, I am more employable than ever and can relocate to wherever a fantastic job in fashion awaits. That's if my clothing line doesn't take off. If it does, I will go wherever that leads me. 

***

And so now we're all caught up. I just got back from a four-day trip and I'm ready to rock. And now that the news on Pandemonium is out, I can move forward and shed this last layer of weight that had been holding me back. 

Onward!

Read more »

Roots. Part Six: My First Fashion Photo Shoot and Design School. 2005-2008.

in two-thousand-five, i was still dating and living with the man i mentioned in the last "roots" post. i wasn't happy but had grown too dependent to make a change. i had begun working in real estate and assisted a real estate agent in selling prefab condos, which had begun to sprout all over montreal like weed. i didn't believe in my work but it paid for some bills. i decided that real estate was probably the best route for me to take, seeing as i was good at it and i stood a chance at making a decent salary. began taking courses by correspondence and took out student loans to do so. 

 

as far as my designing was concerned, this was the first year i started coming up with clothing that didn't cater to a subculture. i decided to stick to the name "khimera kreationz" because i was still spinning under the name dj khimera, even if the frequency was dwindling and this would end up being the last year that i mixed in a club or for other people at all. i hired two people to work for me; someone who would handle patterns and someone who would handle the sewing. i lacked the equipment and was mostly focused on my real estate courses, my kids, and managing the enormous, five-bedroom apartment we lived in, in st-henri. i wanted to design, market and manage a small crew so i did.

i started out with one girl who did the patterns and sample assembly for my first shoot. the seams were crooked and she admitted to having watched movies and to talking on the phone while working on my dime. nonetheless, the shoot went really well. one of the models was also a make-up artist so she helped out with all of that and we had a great time. the photographer in all of these was a frenchman who now lives in england, named stephane bourgeois (my kids liked to call him "steven burger") and the make-up artist was angie boudreau, from montreal.

my cousin is (once more) modelling a corset i had designed for the khimera kreationz fashion show of two-thousand-three. 

here, angie is wearing a dress i had made for our friend who was in a local band called the scroll. they're still around. check 'em out.

here angie is wearing a dress that had also been featured in the fashion show. she is so tiny and it was hard to make it fit. in the end, i think it looks good, even if it was a bit too large in some places.

this is one of the new peices i'd designed for this shoot.

my baby cousin is also weaing a dress i had designed that year.

and here she is wearing the vest and shorts combo that ended up being different from what i had designed (it's not the right fabric or colour but the structure is close enough). she had worn this outfit in the fashion show for me, two years prior, as well.

when i hired a second woman, thanks to a subvention from the local ywca and hired both women full-time, the first girl flaked out and the second one spent her whole first day of work struggling with simple ties i had asked her to make. everything unraveled during the few months that followed  the man i had almost left my daughter's father for and who had become a great friend hung himself, my boyfriend moved out and my wretched boss (the woman was miss havisham in a suv) convinced me to drop all of my real estate courses, claiming that i couldn't handle it and be a mom at the same time and that i didn't have the right personality for it. our project closed and i ended working at a gym, overweight and hating everything about my life.

the last drop, and i do believe i needed this, was when my boyfriend moved out and i found myself in the spacious apartment, alone with my two kids, again. we continued to date but the separation, even though neither of us had been happy in a while, made something within me snap. i was twenty-six with a high school diploma, a failed business attempt, two small children and a bunch of dreams i needed to turn into goals. on a whim, i called up college lasalle and asked them about their fashion design program. two days later, not knowing how in the hell i had never thought of really doing this before, i was enrolled for the fall semester and student loans were scheduled to come in.

college lasalle was quite the experience. i racked up a ridiculous amount of debt , given how affordable our schooling normally is here, but i learned what i needed to. it also made me feel so much better about how far i'd come along, alone. for someone considered self-taught (with help from my grandmother, of course!), i had been doing pretty well! the pattern drafting courses were helpful, as i'd always improvised and used my own form of draping. the draping courses, given this last point, were a nightmare. my teacher asked us to drape an a-line skirt and i did. my finished product was fine but, because i had not applied the same techniques we'd been shown, she gave a failing mark on the skirt and i never returned (but i'm going to suck it up and go back this fall, in the evenings). the illustration classes definitely helped because that's not where the bulk of talent lies, to say the least, textiles was interesting and fashion history was absolutely fascinating. studying alongside seventeen-year-olds was a huge pain in the ass but the thing that bothered me the most about college lasalle were the teachers. i have no idea how the hell they go about hiring their faculty members but the teacher that was supposed to be teaching us about the industry had spent her whole career, up until that moment, behind a desk, working for sears, and i know of another teacher who does ridiculous amounts of drugs for a grown-up and this on a regular basis and i felt that only a few of our instructors were actually prepared to answer our questions, teach us and put us out in the world. if i had known then what i know now, i would have looked into other schools. anyhow, i walked away a more skilled designer and was lucky enough to have met one of my best friends, amanda, there. 

during the summer between my first and second years and when i was hanging out with amanda and another girl, shannon, on a regular basis, i broke up with michael. months later, i ditched shannon, her judgemental remarks, negative outlook and depressive moods. amanda and i are still friends, she's doing quite well, back in toronto and i love and miss that girl.

sadly, the only pictures i have from my days at lasalle are of people sleeping in class (the workload was unbelievable and people stole winks whenever they could and of us drinking pints and doing shots at the bar, one block over. even if i had small children and i was older than most of my classmates, i finally got to experience college life and it was a blast while it lasted.

i had to reduce my course load during the second semester and, by year two, i was with a newer group for most of my classes. i couldn't connect with anyone anymore and the financial stress got to be a lot. i was working for the aforementioned miss havisham part-time to make ends meet and my personal life took a wild turn. i started dating the singer of a local but well-known psychobilly band and was completely and utterly smitten and therefore terribly distracted. i finished most of my second year courses and then stopped going, knowing that my third year would be all about learning how to put together a collection and a fashion show and i couldn't borrow another twelve grand to do that, when i felt like life and my two-thousand-three show had taught me plenty. right around the time i finished at lasalle, i moved out of the gay village and back to montreal's southwest but, this time, with the new boyfriend and to the flat i still live in, today.

Read more »