On the second day of Montreal's Fashion Week 24th edition, I was blown away by this man's style. I absolutely wanted to feature his style on Versass before Journal Métro, Elle Québec or other publication (HA!). Dean Ellis was here from Toronto and he looked like he came straight from a magazine's fall/winter spread. I'm serious.
(More pics and details on what he is wearing after the break)
Montreal Fashion Week is coming up next week! Interesting shows, beautiful people, new collections and....Ralph Leroy. I had so set him apart because his fashion shows are always actual SHOWS: Music, lights, models and entertainment wise. If you've been following him, you surely noticed the anticipation Ralph and his team have created on social media about his upcoming segment during Montreal Fashion Week.
Picture by Vincent Chine
Refined and creative, his new collection will surely turn heads. Although I worked with him for just over 3 years, I am always pleasantly surprised by what he has to offer. His next show shares the name one of Haiti's most beautiful neighborhood: Kenscoff. Located about 10 km South West of Port au Prince, Haiti, this town is distinguished by its high altitude (approximately 1500 meters), its prestigious aspect and finally, for its cooler temperature. When I first saw the name for the show, my initial thought was: "Well yes! Kenscoff! It's a highly located prestigious city! Ralph Leroy will present us with a prestigious collection which will be an even better upgrade from his previous ensembles". However, this man's thoughts are always a mystery and I knew there was something deeper behind the whole event. The show promises to be out of the ordinary as it will feature 3 famous Haitian models/celebrities (Sarodj Bertin: Miss Haiti Universe 2010, Nayeli Fanfan: Best Female Model of the World 2012 and model Kiki Barth), Eddy Toussaint's "Ballets of Montreal" and a performance from the dance group "Ekspresyon".
I just HAD to get an exclusive interview from the man himself. It was a must!
Check out the 5 question blitz with Ralph Leroy after the break.
Everyone, I am pleased to present Louwrens Stassen. This guy had girls e-mailing me asking questions like "OMG WHO IS HE? Where is he from?", PLUS he's a nice guy, so it was only natural that I would choose him for my next interview :)
Lou is not your typical, stereotyped model! Not only is he down to earth (more humble than I thought, to be honest), he is also goofy and very smart at the same time, having many interesting dreams exceeding the fashion industry. This 23 year old South African was chosen and given the honor to be the new face of Ralph Leroy's new campaign "Element Water" which includes a sexy, contreversial alignement of photos taken by none other than renowned photographer Vincent Chine. Anyways, I'm talking a bit too much right now! Enjoy the interview and don't forget to catch Lou on the runway for Ralph Leroy this Thursday, September 30th at 6 p.m! Oh and I would like all my fabulous readers to click HERE to become a fan of Lou on Facebook!
-TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF! WHAT NATIONALITY ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU DO IN LIFE?
Well I guess I should start from the start.. I was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. We lived there until 2000 (when I was 13 years old) and then moved to Ottawa, Canada. From as far back as I can remember, I’ve loved racing, cars or motorcycles. My favourite is Formula 1! I’ve dreamt of being a racer my whole life but it would fall under the WAY too expensive category... So now I am studying mechanical engineeringat the University of Ottawa towards becoming a race engineer. My dream is to start my own racing company and hopefully start developing cars for the road. Other than studying I model for fun and serve to pay tuition. I’m hoping that modeling will start to pay for my tuition.
So today was the first day of Fashion Week. Because I worked in the evening and had school early in the morning, I could not attend the shows. However, I was more than happy to go to the welcome cocktail at 1:30 p.m. An interesting conference and champagne are an excellent combination, in my opinion!
Two very good things about the welcome cocktail: I got my first media pass EVER (YAY!), and I was one of the first to get the superb goody bag. I mean, helloooo! Who doesn't like free stuff from brands like Cover Girl and Gillette? Since Montreal Fashion Week is done in collaboration with P&G (Proctor and Gamble), the bag was full of cool things. Only thing I didn't like was that the Oil of Olay products were both "anti-aging"....okay...first of all, I'm not old yet or wrinkled, and second of all I think that the majority of the people going to Fashion Week will not benefit from these products. They could've given us Quench body cream or any product that would be beneficial for people of ALL AGES. Anyways, i'll give the products to my great-aunt or something. Check it out!
*Not included in the picture: Guru energy drink and a pack of 5 gum (which were immediately consumed)*
P.S. Not only am I a fashion fanatic, but once again, I will be working with the fabulous Montreal designer Ralph Leroy. So I will be giving you the details plus my my input on the shows I will be attending, on top of keeping you updated with exclusive details from Ralph Leroy's upcoming fashion show, Element Water, which will be held this Thursday, September 30th at 6:00 p.m (Click HERE for the Facebook event page).
Follow me on Twitter to get all the juicy updates from #MontrealFashionWeek!
You guys have no idea how happy I am that I went....WOW! So I got there early to help Ralph Leroy backstage. The thing about being backstage is that it's total CHAOS, everyone is in a rush, some ppl are screaming (I can't find the shoe! where is the other shoe!) but no matter how chaotic it is, the show is always freakin GREAT. That's the only thing ppl in the audience don't see, but that's okay.
Anyways, I didn't see all the fashion shows, not that I couldn't, just that I wouldn't! After the Ralph Leroy show, I was out there doing three very cool things: Socializing, taking pictures and drinking champagne....wooohooooo! hehehe....so I missed Soia&Kyo. It doesn't really bother me, it seems to be almost the same thing each year. Last year they had Eve Salvail though, dammmn!! BREF! I still got a gift bag...a shitty one too (a mouse pad and a bike ring/bell thingy? wtf???). I will do my reviews on the two AMAZING shows from yesterday!
RALPH LEROY: MANU MILITARY
As the show started, I was mesmerized by the opening scene which had Ralph's sumptuous voice in it. The dialogue between him and Haiti was spectacular, and the opening music (a remix of an electro military style song with "what about us" by Michael Jackson) was supreme. A great "mariage" with the whole military theme. Great dedication to my home country...since Ralph dictated his show's dedication to Haiti. Slowly, all models entered dressed as members of a secret clan (Skulls like) dressed with long dark drapes while holding candles. WOW.
Fitted dress shirts, vibrant reds and military style jackets ruled the runway. I was personally amazed by the fitting of the leather jackets, which I also appreciated the colors such as tan and red. The fitted dress pants were original, and their combination with army boots and military style jacket was perfect. You could hear the "ooh's" and "aaah's" when the coats came out: long or short, each one of them had a distinctive personality. Gold buttons, grays, high collards, red or leather pockets, oranges, greens.
A masterpiece! I loved the quasi-absence of BLACK throughout the show, very original and avant-gardiste. Check out the pics!
DENIS GAGNON
Okay, so never have I been so amazed at women's clothes in Montreal. He is by far my best discovery at fashion week. I mean, all his clothes are original and wearable. Barila was great, but there is something more feminine about Denis Gagnon's pieces. Although the colors were a bit dark, I still admired his use of gold in many of his clothes. Imagine! Beautiful skinny leather pants with a gold zipper in the back of each leg...this is serious fashion! Dresses and long shirts with open backs...wow..
I'm sorry, I am still speechless about this show. Just look at the pictures and the video and you'll see what I mean. OMFG he did better than Marie Saint-Pierre in my opinion...I never thought I'd say someone did better than her for women's clothing during fashion week. DAMMMMMMNNNNN!!!
