“I believe that I do not have to justify my work. » Fashion designer Marie-Ève Lecavalier does not mince words to express her fed up. The Montrealer who launched her brand, Lecavalier, in 2018, has just decided to leave Quebec after several years of fighting against windmills. “The goal is to go to France to work and reconnect with my network. There, people understand what I do, my journey,” she explains between two administrative immigration procedures.
Although her recent collaborations with Quartz and New Look have proven fruitful, Marie-Ève Lecavalier has nevertheless had to put her brand on hold due to a lack of financial support from governments and local organizations. “It’s made it impossible for me to do what I want here. From that moment on, I told myself it wasn’t worth me staying. » By crossing the Atlantic, the designer hopes to meet actors truly anchored in the sector who will be able to help Lecavalier gain momentum.
For Stéphane Le Duc, journalist, host, teacher and fashion specialist, the stagnation of the sector in Quebec, which pushes Marie-Ève Lecavalier to pack up, is frustrating. “It’s ironic, because there are great fashion schools here and a lot of talent,” he breathes. Indeed, let us point out that the 35-year-old designer, among other things, won the prestigious Chloé prize in 2018 with a special mention from the jury, was preselected for the LVMH prize for young fashion designers the following year and seen awarding the Womenswear Designer Of The Year award at the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards (CAFA) a year ago.
In addition to having proven herself with Alexander Wang in New York and Raf Simons in Antwerp, Marie-Ève Lecavalier also participated twice in Paris Fashion Week. To do this, however, it was only able to count locally on private financing – from Maison Simons and Pierre Trahan of Arsenal contemporary art in particular – and, to a lesser extent, on the support of SODEC. “I have always promoted Quebec and Canada. I never hid where I came from and I am proud to wear that in competitions and events,” she adds.
“It makes no sense to me, being the first Canadian woman to officially present at Paris Fashion Week, that there is no Quebec or Canadian government organization that saw the importance of being part of the adventure,” she bitterly regrets. Worse still, the designer confides having received significant grants from the Fédération de la haute couture et de la mode to participate in the Parisian event, even though she is not European. “It was me, at arm’s length, who carried this project thanks to my contacts here and there. »
For her part, Marie-Eve Faust, professor at the UQAM École supérieure de mode, who also counted Marie-Ève Lecavalier among her students in the 2010s, believes that certain links are missing in the chain of high-end and luxury fashion in Quebec. “We do not value our potential enough, whether it is our artisans or our natural fibers,” she points out. The same goes for creators.
Is an international vision the key?
If he wants to remain optimistic despite everything, Stéphane Le Duc draws a mixed observation: how is it that after so many years, Montreal is not already an essential destination when it comes to high-end fashion? , both nationally and internationally? For him, there is no doubt that Marie-Ève Lecavalier is an undeniable Quebec asset “because she values craftsmanship as much as possible and the idea of what can be done by hand meets luxury.”
In addition, the new generation of which she is part, with brands like Lafaille, Tristan Réhel and Çanta, brings an international vision to Montreal fashion thanks to its awards, but also to the openness to the world made possible with social networks. “We feel that there are possibilities, but with few resources, as is the case for Marie-Ève,” indicates Stéphane Le Duc. He believes that these signals are encouraging, while governments remain cautious towards daring designers like Marie-Ève Lecavalier, recognized for her sense of sartorial storytelling by a clientele ranging from Japan to the United States via France. And it is precisely this unique approach that has earned the designer the unconditional support of retailers Simons and SSENSE from the very beginning.
“I am in regular contact with the Holt Renfrew teams, who confirm to me that Dior and Chanel sell very well here in Montreal. But if we talk about avant-garde design, that’s where the challenge lies,” continues Stéphane Le Duc. According to the fashion expert, the popularity of the Lecavalier brand must perhaps first come from success abroad, as was the case for the Domrebel company. “People will start to wear a brand here more because, suddenly, the name resonates,” he says.
Same story from Marie-Ève Lecavalier. “If we want to make known what is happening here, we have to go and present elsewhere, where there are structures that are recognized, to have credibility,” she says. The designer thinks it is high time that people understand that there is an interest here, in Montreal, when it comes to fashion. “We have to come out of our cocoon!” »
“Once again, we talk a lot about the local market, but we cannot count on the consumer alone,” she points out, however, always in reference to the virtual absence of state aid.
Efforts to be made on education
“Marie-Ève Lecavalier’s talent is exceptional,” says Marie-Eve Faust. But for the professor at UQAM, the road will be long and winding before Montreal can fully reveal itself to the world as a legitimate source of high-end fashion. “We have a certain lack of knowledge about the know-how of the people here. We also know little about the added value of clothing,” she laments.
As for Marie-Ève Lecavalier, she is sorry that design is not taken more seriously in the Quebec and Canadian media. “It’s often done as a parade, something a bit fun or easy,” she reports. “Speaking of which, why shouldn’t there be Vogue Canada while there are in Mexico and Ukraine, for example? » asks the designer.
His dearest wish today? Have a foothold on both sides of the ocean in the long term. In the meantime, Marie-Ève Lecavalier is firmly sticking to her positions. “I don’t want to leave Montreal and Quebec, but I have to face the facts. Access to financing and development structures is there…”
Looking at what she leaves behind when she leaves, the designer immediately evokes the young people currently training in fashion design. “The most important thing to protect are people who create something unique with their own point of view and who have things to say,” she says, by way of goodbye, but certainly not ‘farewell.