Marthe Aimé

Who is Marthe Aimé?

The spirit of the french elegance and refinement. It is the metissage and the artistic variety. A mere nothing which becomes everything. The difference. The timeless.

It is the fruit of differents know-how of a family. It is the result of a common passion.

How did you get into fashion design?

During her studies of Industrial design at Strate College Designers in Paris. Barbara was inspired by an internship in the Montevago's agency which specialise in creations for luxury brands. Soon she decided to create a line of fashion accesories.

After his studies of Management & Finance at the University of Central Lancashire followed byvarious experiences in IT, Finance, Strategy and Management. Steven decided he wanted to be an entrepreneur and joined Barbara in the Marthe Aimé project.

Who or what has inspired you?

The Cirque du soleil, the Christian Lacroix exposition at the Musé des art decoratifs in Paris. The 2008 Pollini winter collection . Le radeau de la meduse de Gericault. The Miro fondation in Barcelona. The “elegante” and the “garçonne” from the 30´s. “L'arte flamenco”. Ungaro

What are you working on currently?

We are currently working on urban, wedding and nightlife lines. We want to reach more people and extend our portfolio.

Describe your collection?

A collection full of elegance, simplicity which reveals the charm asset of each. It is the "essentiel".

Where can we find your collection?

You can find our products at Aryta Barcelona Espaide creator in Barcelona (http://www.arytabcn.com/espacio.htm) and in Madrid at the Laura Caicoya's boutique (http://lauracaicoya.com/). You can order our collection online (www.martheaime.fr) .soon we will open our showroom in Paris. We are currently looking for boutiques and stores all around the world so please let us know if you are interested.

When are you coming to North America!

We would like to explore the North american market for the beginning of 2010. We had some interesting feedbacks from there. We are studying the oportunities at this present time.

Why is fashion so important to you.

It is not fashion which is more important for us but to register our style in time. The fashion passes but the personality stays. The important thing is to reveal and keep it.

What can we look forward to from Marthe Aimé?

The urban line will break all codes and democratised our concept. Also we will really develop and extend our men collection. You can also look forward to our wedding line. We aim on becoming more global.

Gaudet

The Gaudet woman is “someone who is not afraid to stand out” says Norman Gaudet, describing the fall collection that he and design partner Gio (pronounced Gee-oh) debuted yesterday at Toronto Fashion Week. The luxurious collection of coats were uniquely styled with belts, scarves and prints on top of the most exquisite and colourful felt outwear.
Amongst the makeup artists, stylists, media, models and managers Gaudet designers Gio andNorman took time after the show to happily answer a few questions of mine!

Spring flowers were the dominant inspiration for their 2009 fall collection as it reminds them of their Georgian roots. Norman explained that because the Canadian winter is so extensive, they thought they would do the same with spring, resulting in colour and flowers for fall '09.

What is so unique about the Gaudet colection is that their fabric is all made from scratch, out of felt. Felt is emerging as a new must-have fabric because it is so flexible in use. The two explained the benefits they see in using felt. Not only is it eco-friendly with the use of natural dyes but it is extremely powerful. Available in every imaginable colour, felt gives designers a wide range of choice, such as collaborating fabrics like Gaudet did with lace and tulle.

I just had to ask the two what fashion faux-pas they cannot stand! Gio laughed and sighed saying that he had so many he couldn’t possible pick one! The two thought for a minute, deliberating in their foreign tongue, they reached a final conclusion: “when beautiful women in beautiful outfits wear big, ugly puffy winter coats!”. I couldn’t agree more.

I asked for some final words of wisdom for young designers abroad, norman stresses the importance of finding your “niche” and pursuing it with dedication- "and uniqueness!” added Gio.

Gaudet’s fall collection was a total hit with the audience, and their warmth and genuine interview will never escape my memory!

Photos by Daniela Gysler

Handsome Clothing Co.

Handsome Clothing Co.

“[Our] inspiration comes from an amalgamation of music, design, philosophy, and anyne creating original art in the various forms that it reveals itself in” –The designers of Handsome Clothing Co.

At Queens University, in their dorm room aka “the dungeon” the idea, ambition and birth ofHandsome Clothing Co. occurred. Their collection is simple, revolving around the basic graphic-t but their designs are anything but customary. What I love most about Handsome (other than the t’s of course) is that they’ve created a Handsome community. Their website not only features their lookbooks, but an updated blog with musicians, designs and art that they are currently feeling. For me, this makes their designs mean that much more.

"Fckn hndsm" graphic t, summer 2009

MFE virtually caught up with the three handsome men behind the line with a little Q/A.

Who’s behind this Handsome line?

Christian Rice, Matt Richling and AJ Jamani

How did you guys get into designing?

Making t shirts in our dorm room (AKA The Dungeon) at University .

Who or what has inspired you?

Lots of things have inspired us. Trying to start a clothing brand requires a lot of various skills and, because of that, we try to draw inspiration from the best of everything.

If you’re looking for brands and people: Ed Banger, Fools Gold, Dim Mak, Dust La Rock, Diplo, Benny Gold, FFFFound, A.P.C., Justice, Soulwax, A1 Bassline, YYZ Records, TMDP, So Me, andanyone else who is living their dream.

Describe your collection?

Our collection right now is mainly made of graphic T’s that are cooler than everyone else’s graphic T’s. This is where we are at right now but we’re growing rapidly and will be making a variety of clothing in the coming months so stay tuned.

Why T-shirts?

It’s a clothing staple in everyone’s wardrobe. Everyone owns a t-shirt and we noticed that a lot of the shirts people chose to wear were wack. We’re updating a classic [item] and impressing people with the basics.

What are you working on currently?

Currently we are working on our Fall 2009 Line and a collaboration with YYZ Records. YYZ is releasing the straight hotness in the music scene right now and we’re very excited to be working with them.

Who wears Handsome?

People with actual style. There’s always that one kid at school, at work or on the street that is working on a different level from everyone else around them. We make clothes for that kid.

So far, what would you say you’re most memorable experiences are (in designing etc)?

Definitely one of them would be our launch party with YYZ Records. We had a club for the night and we decked out the place in Handsome gear where Christian –aka DJ underpants- was spinning. We had all a mixture of our close friends and people we’ve never met all coming out to support our dream.

We’ve also had a great response to our website and blog which has been nice. We really like connecting with our fans so it’s always nice to have people telling us they follow our blog and appreciate the work we put into it.

Where can we find your collection?

www.handsomeclothing.com

What can we look forward to from Handsome Clothing Co.?

Firstly, we are going to be collaborating with YYZ Records on some mad exclusive shirts for the record label and their artists. This is a big honour as YYZ is definitely one of the most exciting labels out there and we love supporting our beloved Toronto. All of the shirts will be released as we team up to takeover NXNE and show SXSE where the real music is happening.

Secondly, we will also be putting up our online store on June 1st! No longer will you have to beg and plead and sacrifice endangered animals for a Handsome hook-up. A simple credit card will suffice.

--Where do you see this line going, where will it be 5 years from now?

Being Handsome is a lifestyle so there are no limits to what we think will be doing on 5 years from now. We hope to infiltrate more than the fashion industry and cross over into art and music. Who knows!

Check out the fabulous collection below or at www.handsomeclothing.com

*a very special thanks to Jena for introducing MFE to Handsome! love it*

Peter Franco Sneakers

Q & A with designer, Willis Ansong of Peter Franco Sneakers.

Who are the brains behind the label?

Myself (Willis Ansong), Michael Clarke, Taurean Scotland and Adrian Weekes

How did you get into fashion design and why the name "Peter Franco Sneakers"?

Peter Franco Sneakers, first came from a Law and Order episode. I was watching it in grade 11 journalism class doing a case study. The character (Peter Franco) inspired me. I took it as an alias and started to call myself that. Sneakers was added a year and half later during some first year university debauchery. From then on I knew I wanted to turn it into a creative platform. Literature, written by me was the first project to be present online along with photography. The fashion design enhanced and evolved after promo tees were made to get the word out and get my friends and homies to rep. We have been in retail since August 2008 and recently launched the online store on Earth Day April 22nd, 2009. The site has been live since May 2006, slowly but surely we're progressing.

Who or what has inspired you?

Magazine covers, a women's walk (when its meeeaan!), cupcake presentation in a bakery, drug culture, night life, barcelona, film noir movie posters, anything luxe and hood aka high&low, other peoples bio (the best reads really!) and the ideology of "cool".

What are you working on currently?

June 1st were having a party @ Social to celebrate our summer tee release and conceptualizing the Fall online release presentation. Also were shooting a promo campaign in London and Lisbon in July so were planning the execution of that.

Who do you picture wearing the Franco Sneakers label?

For people that see their dreams and follow them to the end. Art enthusiasts, freedom chasers, the after-school gang!

So far, what would you say you’re most memorable experiences are (in designing etc)?

Just seeing people proud wearing the pieces. The product began as a though and has now become a statement in people's wardrobes.

Describe your collection?

The New New Tuff Talk! (he laughs) A bit dirty with portions of sophisticated sexuality, epic pop culture clashed with everyones secrete pastime...

From left: Ladies "Nude" tee and Mens "Voyeurism" tee.

Where can we find and purchase your collection?

Gotstyle Mens Wear, 489 King Street West Toronto and Onlinewww.francosneakers.com

What can we look forward to from Franco Sneakers?

More Pain, More Life, More Celebration, through tees, art prints and accessories

Where do you see this line going, where will it be 5 years from now?

Were working like busy bees to grow something special. My team and I have an ambitious goal to acquire a space to showcase the visuals large format and sell our products permanently. In the mean time just contributing to the arts with our passion projects.

Show your support and head to the Social, 1100 Queen West on JUNE 1st!

*special thanks to DAVID KING @ http://salacioussound.com/ for hooking us up*