Montreal designers shift to isolation fashion

Montreal designers shift to isolation fashion

It is essential in trying times to actually get dressed in the morning. By all means, dress in something loungy if it pleases you, but the act of actually putting on clothes to begin your day may well keep you sane.

With warmer weather approaching, perhaps you’re even seeking out a few items to drape your body with while sitting soaking in some balcony sun, or while getting to know your neighbours across the way, or for flirting with a grocery clerk while desperately trying to convey a smile through the various barriers of homemade mask and plexiglass.

With that in mind, here are a few thoughts on how to support Montreal clothing designers and vendors selling isolation fashion — while feeling elegant at home and during brief trips out-of-doors. 

Citizen Vintage is offering a free mask with every online purchase. They’re made from fabric scraps from their usual line of local clothing by pattern-maker Amélie Bryson, who has been working for Citizen Vintage since 2016.

Emily Watts-Luciani, the co-owner of vintage retailer Amie Amie, launched Partners and Babe last month as a way of encouraging the local sale of consignment fashion during our collective isolation. The site allows anyone from experienced vendors to people selling a handful of items to sell through their Instagram.

Dressup Collective, the local fashion project run by Tosca Webb and Annie Brebner, has been hosting a heart-warming and stylish quarantine series on their Instagram, to which anyone can dress up and submit! It may not involve buying anything new, but could make you feel more excited about showcasing the wardrobe you already have.

Hannah Isolde creates made-to-measure garments here in Montreal, and while many of her fabric suppliers are temporarily closed, you can email her at hannah.isolde@gmail.com to inquire about stocks. She is temporarily sold out of the face masks she’s been sewing, but follow her Instagram for updates.

If bags are more your speed, Named Loris, the person behind the Instagram account canta.nga.lo is making some mighty intriguing fuzzy bags that they sell through their account. 

If, perhaps, you want to decorate your space but not your body, Gerald LaJoie makes hand-dyed fabric and curtains redolent of abstract stained glass. Lajoie has also recently been making masks.

Lastly, every I see a luxuriant silk scrunchie making its way through the Mile Ex on someone’s bouncing ponytail, I assume it comes from the lovely Number Sixteen, whose website is down for the time being but who is nevertheless also selling through Instagram. ■

For more fashion coverage, please visit the Style section.

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