The beautiful stories of Amélie | The Press

Petite Édition makes clothing patterns based on the lives of characters from novels.

Stephanie Berube
The Press

With the pandemic and the movement slow fashion, several people have started, or restarted, making clothes. Like others bread.

The phenomenon motivated Amélie Grenon to launch Petite Édition and to sell online clothing patterns that she creates with novel heroines in mind.

Like those who inhabit the universe of Jane Austen, whose creator has read the complete work. If the heroine in question has an atypical personality, she is more likely to attract Amélie’s attention.

“In Austen’s case, everyone likes Elizabeth Bennet,” says the clothing designer, whom we met at the Grande Bibliothèque. Me, I love Emma. Even if she does everything wrong and has plenty of flaws. »

Combine two passions

Amélie Grenon started sewing a few years ago. She is currently doing her Masters in History in Practice at the University of Montreal and is interested in the history of clothing with the hope of working in costume design.

Petite Édition links his two passions.

“It’s not so much inspired by books as by my experience of books”, specifies the young designer whom we had first met in an autistic entrepreneurship fair.

Because yes, it is indeed a business that is in question. Amélie takes care of everything, from creation to marketing, although for the moment it is on a small scale, mainly through Instagram.

Amélie is also autistic. And if she doesn’t want to use it as a promotional tool, which would be so easy, she says, she doesn’t want to do worse: hide it.

“Betting on that could be interesting, because there’s this whole idea of ​​diversity, especially since I work without a standardized size,” she says.

It is therefore more by displaying inclusion that she advocates wealth and the importance of difference.

“It shows a bit in my choices, she also admits. Anne of Green Gables, in my opinion, could totally be autistic. I have autistic friends who look a lot like her. Who talk a lot, in this same way, who like books and who have a lot of imagination. These are somewhat autistic traits. »

Anne, today

Petite Édition’s crowdfunding campaign is still going on to cover a photo shoot for the next models, who are very romantic, very sweet.

It is with in mind Anne of Green Gables that Amélie will be launching her new patterns these days, only in digital format.

“Anne liked the puff sleeves, but I went for a camisole instead to do something more intimate, which she could wear with her friends at a story-telling party. For me, it’s a novel that talks a lot about friendship. That’s kind of what inspired me. »

Amélie offers free patterns before selling them, to test them. It intends to keep this business model, even when Petite Édition has become larger.

Because the idea is to grow, in a market where there is room to do so.

“The offer is much better in Europe, believes Amélie Grenon, because there is also a larger clientele. In Europe, there is always this idea that “grandmother used to sew and she gave me her sewing machine”. Here, it shows a little less. People do utility sewing, more than dresses, in their spare time with haute couture techniques. »

Petite Édition intends to present models to be made entirely by machine and others with haute couture finishes that must be done by hand.

There are three models currently offered. There should be six more with the launch of the collection Annathe first part of which will be offered during the month of November, with always at least one free downloadable model.

Just in time for Christmas… but it’s a first release since it’s summer clothes: skirts, camisole, dresses.

Amélie wants to continue her growth by improving her presence on social networks and in craft fairs. Maybe one day make collaborations and, in his wildest dreams, work with clothing brands so that his creations are also worn by those who cannot make them themselves.

So that these different heroines continue their lives well beyond the book that inspired Amélie.