This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
“Fashion goes out of fashion, the look is timeless”, liked to say the illustrious designer Gabrielle Chanel. And while trends follow season after season in the ready-to-wear industry, defining what has become our norm, contemporary designers have made it their mission to carry on the tradition of the big houses by creating clothes that arouse the ’emotion. Eternal collections. Visit (virtual) of the recently inaugurated workshops of Elisa C-Rossow and Noémiah, two local brands that campaign for thoughtful fashion, blurring the boundaries between art and couture.
Praise of slowness. Favoring made-to-measure, one garment at a time: this is what drives, among others, fashion designer Elisa C-Rossow, known for her sober pieces whose architectural and elegant lines are not lacking in audacity.
“I seek first and foremost to create emotion in the person who wears my clothes,” she confides in a video interview. Some of my clients tell me that even if they get up on their left foot, they just have to put on their coat to feel better. That’s what I like: knowing that my clothes are good for morale. »
Nearly a century ago, Virginia Woolf summed it up well: “Vast trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, a more important destiny than keeping us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us. » From the novel Orlandothese words of the British author certainly still resonate today.
Nature as a canvas
Noémie Vaillancourt, behind the Noémiah brand, is part of the same artistic movement: “For me, fashion is more than beautiful patterns and beautiful fabrics”, argues, live from her small workshop in the Laurentians, one that regularly collaborates with local visual artists.
Result: singular prints that transcend her moods and transform the luxurious fabrics that she favors into canvas, literally. “My collections are always very personal,” she agrees. I try to see fashion as a means of expression. When I create, I speak with my heart. »
Her most recent collection, cut flowers, features exclusive illustrations in the colors of spring by Estée Preda. The somewhat naive flower and animal motifs of the Quebec artist are reproduced sometimes on silk, a precious material if ever there was one, sometimes on very light cotton voile. “The stories that Estée tells through her drawings inspire me a lot,” explains the fashion designer.
Also a graduate in literature — she took up sewing in the early 2010s, on the eve of her 30th birthday — Noémie Vaillancourt uses her Instagram account more and more to put words to her work as designate. Art is omnipresent there.
“I started by writing texts about my job, about what I do, who my subcontractors are and that helped me to talk about my dresses. A third character interferes more in her stories, she says: her “house in the forest”, where she moved her studio previously located in Hochelaga. The project, which crystallized during the pandemic, seems to be bearing fruit. “I think calm and nature influence my work,” she agrees.
Well established in Montreal, in the Pointe-Saint-Charles district, in a new “brighter” space, as she describes it, Elisa C-Rossow says she is still inspired by issues of sustainable development.
In addition to her collection of high-end accessories in apple leather, a vegetable material that is as eco-responsible as it is chic, the designer offers zero-waste clothing. Thus, the patterns for her Vivienne and June dresses, as well as her Swan jacket and certain pants and skirts, in particular, were designed with the aim of minimizing fabric scraps. An artistic approach that is miles away from the idea that we had, just a few years ago, of eco-responsible design!