I sewed up a storm last week putting the finishing touches on my Fall 2011 Collection, which is now being shown at various wholesale markets. The most fun part of this whole process, of course, is the photo shoot! I work with a great photographer, Lise Varrette (www.lisevarrette.com), and every shoot we do together is better than the last, more creative and satisfying. Red Thread has been photographed in a variety of locations, including a formal photo studio, on the beach, in the park, even the alley behind my house, next to my neighbour’s 100-year-old garage. Last year we photographed my fall collection in my living room, in a makeshift studio. But this time around was a first for me, a testament to the ability of a great photographer to find beauty anywhere. Spring 2010, at the beach Spring 2009, in the alley next to my neighbour’s garage As you can see, I love to shoot outdoors. But this is not an option in February, at least not in Toronto. Lise and I talked about what we wanted to achieve for this shoot, and decided to do it at my house. But when she showed up with less equipment than [...]
Normally I avoid pink when I’m choosing fabrics for a new season. It’s so overdone, so painfully gendered, more about being pretty than powerful, sweet rather than strong and playful, and more imbued with symbolism than perhaps any other colour when it comes to dressing our children. My customers often tell me that they’re on the lookout for anything other than pink! But. As the mother of three girls, there have been times when each of my daughters wanted everything to be pink. And when I’m designing, I occasionally fall in love with a print that features pink, if it’s strong and vibrant and gorgeous. There are so many amazing variations on the colour spectrum, so many interesting combinations and juxtapositions. Last month I found myself facing some gorgeous pink fabric, a lovely eco-blend of soy and organic cotton in a deep rich shade of fuschia. It was a stunning match for a cotton hearts print I’d been saving for the perfect occasion. How could I resist? And so I made a special dress in 100% pink, in honour of Valentine’s Day, and I offer it to you in all its pinkness, proudly. Turns out I can do pink after [...]
When I first made the transition from sewing for the love of it to starting a business, I had a lot to learn about production sewing: planning for the best use of precious fabric with minimal wastage, ideal pattern layout, and sewing as efficiently as possible without losing any attention to detail. Because I love to use beautiful, high quality (therefore expensive) fabrics, pattern layout is of special interest to me. Ideally, to maximize yield, fabric should be non-directional so the pattern pieces can lie both up and down, and the print should be consistent throughout. Breaking all of these rules in the name of beauty over function, I recently fell in love with this fabric from Japan. This fabric would certainly make beautiful curtains, but how could I use it for clothing? The answer was instantly clear to me, and it determined the design of two of my new pieces for Fall: As you can see, the skirt is cut from the upper section of the fabric with its soaring birds in a woodblock-print style, simple and elegant. The dress is cut from the lower section, centering the birds on the chest regardless of pattern size. The lowest section [...]
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]
I sewed up a storm last week putting the finishing touches on my Fall 2011 Collection, which is now being shown at various wholesale markets. The most fun part of this whole process, of course, is the photo shoot! I work with a great photographer, Lise Varrette (www.lisevarrette.com), and every shoot we do together is better than the last, more creative and satisfying. Red Thread has been photographed in a variety of locations, including a formal photo studio, on the beach, in the park, even the alley behind my house, next to my neighbour’s 100-year-old garage. Last year we photographed my fall collection in my living room, in a makeshift studio. But this time around was a first for me, a testament to the ability of a great photographer to find beauty anywhere. Spring 2010, at the beach Spring 2009, in the alley next to my neighbour’s garage As you can see, I love to shoot outdoors. But this is not an option in February, at least not in Toronto. Lise and I talked about what we wanted to achieve for this shoot, and decided to do it at my house. But when she showed up with less equipment than [...]
Normally I avoid pink when I’m choosing fabrics for a new season. It’s so overdone, so painfully gendered, more about being pretty than powerful, sweet rather than strong and playful, and more imbued with symbolism than perhaps any other colour when it comes to dressing our children. My customers often tell me that they’re on the lookout for anything other than pink! But. As the mother of three girls, there have been times when each of my daughters wanted everything to be pink. And when I’m designing, I occasionally fall in love with a print that features pink, if it’s strong and vibrant and gorgeous. There are so many amazing variations on the colour spectrum, so many interesting combinations and juxtapositions. Last month I found myself facing some gorgeous pink fabric, a lovely eco-blend of soy and organic cotton in a deep rich shade of fuschia. It was a stunning match for a cotton hearts print I’d been saving for the perfect occasion. How could I resist? And so I made a special dress in 100% pink, in honour of Valentine’s Day, and I offer it to you in all its pinkness, proudly. Turns out I can do pink after [...]
When I first made the transition from sewing for the love of it to starting a business, I had a lot to learn about production sewing: planning for the best use of precious fabric with minimal wastage, ideal pattern layout, and sewing as efficiently as possible without losing any attention to detail. Because I love to use beautiful, high quality (therefore expensive) fabrics, pattern layout is of special interest to me. Ideally, to maximize yield, fabric should be non-directional so the pattern pieces can lie both up and down, and the print should be consistent throughout. Breaking all of these rules in the name of beauty over function, I recently fell in love with this fabric from Japan. This fabric would certainly make beautiful curtains, but how could I use it for clothing? The answer was instantly clear to me, and it determined the design of two of my new pieces for Fall: As you can see, the skirt is cut from the upper section of the fabric with its soaring birds in a woodblock-print style, simple and elegant. The dress is cut from the lower section, centering the birds on the chest regardless of pattern size. The lowest section [...]
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]