Eve Gravel, timeless designer | The Press

When we arrived at designer Eve Gravel’s studio in the heart of Mile End, the designer was hard at work with her team. She finishes the spring-summer 2024 collection, makes adjustments to a skirt, checks the cut, the seams.

“I do all the drawings, then we will choose the color palettes of the collection, the fabrics, we create the patterns, then there are the prototypes, the fittings, and we will take the photos to present the collection to the shops”, says she.

Eve Gravel launched her ready-to-wear brand for women in 2002. The designer’s signature? “A lot of customers will say that my dresses are the key pieces, but over time, I would say the pants, especially the linen and viscose ones for this summer. It’s so comfortable to wear, especially when it’s well cut. »

From the age of 15, the one from Chicoutimi knew she wanted to be a fashion designer. She expressed herself through clothes and drew silhouettes that she wanted to create and wear. “It was really part of who I am, going to study fashion was obvious to me. »

Eve Gravel was educated in Ottawa at the Richard Robinson haute couture school (Fashion Design Academy) where she learned to make patterns and technical drawings. She then moved to Montreal where she worked in her early days for designers like Georges Lévesque, one of the pioneers of Quebec fashion. “He was a mentor, I learned a lot from him,” she recalls.

For all and for everyday life

The designer created her brand with the desire to design clothes for everyday life, with a timeless, casual chic style. “I’m not a girl who creates outfits for big events. A garment must be versatile with just one detail that makes it clear that it is a designer garment. »

His inspiration? “I’m immersed in the fashion world and I stay on the lookout for what’s going on. I like what the French designer Isabel Marant and Alexander McQueen do, her audacity nourishes me. »

His clientele is large. There are women who have followed her since her beginnings, and who are still there, 21 years later, young professionals, women aged 25 to 85.

“I choose my natural materials, cotton, linen. We do washing tests so that it lasts as long as possible, but you also have to learn how to take care of your clothes, avoiding putting them in the dryer for example. It wears them out so much. »

The Eve Gravel brand has become known through the media, but also through the artists who wear its clothes, such as Ariane Moffatt, Pascale Bussières, Christine Beaulieu and Sarah-Maude Beauchesne, in particular. “They make the brand known through social networks. For example, Instagram, which didn’t exist when I started, is a good way to communicate for a brand. »

The importance of buying local

In Quebec, it’s hard for fashion designers to last, and Eve Gravel talks about the importance of supporting local buying. “All my clothes are made here by seamstresses. There was the pandemic effect from which I benefited, because people started buying online and encouraging Quebec brands. We doubled our sales. There has been a real change in the way of consuming, we can still see it today in our online sales which are holding up,” she says. Eve Gravel’s clothes are sold online as well as in stores like Unicorn, Modéco and Belle & Rebelle.

Consume less, but better, that’s his watchword. “I can see that my clients buy one or two beautiful designer pieces each season and complete with other things. It’s like they have collectibles. They are proud of it, take care of it and support local creation. »