Below is a dress that must have been crazy to sew.  The stripes are lined up on the diagonal, but the seams are going in the opposite direction also on a diagonal.  Tartan is not a fabric I would ever design with, but I admire people who do and do it well.  We have a new designer in the store called OcuniD (phonetically Aucune Idee) who has made his whole Fall collection of party dresses in tartan.  They are great.  I got one.

And this is the but of one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s muscle leotards.  He designed the fabric and you can see the top of thigh high boots that go with the outfit.  What cracks me up is the anatomical heart he placed on the right butt cheek.

I love JPG!

These are more pictures from the Jean Paul Gaultier show at the MMFA.

This dress struck me because it contains no animal skin at all.  It is a masterpiece of beadwork.  The claws are rhinestones.  So awesome.

This show is beyond fashion…

It is about sculpture that can be worn.

The arms of the dress become fingered gloves with bright red lacquered nails.

The sequins are actually shaded to lend contour to the body.

Go to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts before it is too late.  The show closes October 2nd, 2011

These are both pictures that I took on my 3rd visit to the JPG show in Montreal at the MMFA.

The in-soles of those heels are lined with white fur.  Down to the detail his work is amazing and desirable.

It’s sexy.  It’s glam.  I want.

One that note, the Fall collection is starting to arrive in the store.  Come take a look!

Go see it!

Don’t miss it!

I was very inspired and have been back to see it again since the opening night.  It was so crazy that night, that invited guests had to line up for hours just to get into the Museum.

The first series of photos below were taken while Krin and I took were in the line up to get into the Museum.

Me wearing a turquoise silk bustier ($158-258) and Russian Bracelet ($12-16) and Silk chiffon scarf ($22-32).

My muse and circus super star Karin Maren Haglund wearing the Purple Bella dress ($278)

This Rosebud necklace is all gypsy and all modern ($248)

The slim fit crinoline in multi reds ($140) available in 12 different colors at Boutique Katrin Leblond 4647 blvd. St-Laurent

The Museum of Fine arts in Montreal decked out in JPG sailor stripes.

Just before we went in to see the show I bumped into Rosie Godbout.  Her atelier is upstairs from mine and she is an incredible textile artist who specializes in felting and makes the most amazing winter coats.

Here we are inside the show admiring and stealing pictures on the down low.

My fave dress above and Krin’s fave below.

the famous Can Can dress was on a catwalk of moving mannekins.  The installation of the show is superb and very fresh.

I leave you with this picture of the most incredible shoe collage:  heels inside wedge sandals!  WOW!

Where we buy our flowers makes a serious impact in the lives of many people.  The commercial flower industry is as horrifying, corrupt, and abusive as the sweatshop-clothing industry.  Not something anyone wants to support!

Katrin Leblond Design celebrates the fact that our clothes are ethically made, and that the people who lovingly stitch the garments actually get paid fairly for their labour.  In this industry, that says a lot.

Buying fair-trade flowers is just as important.   It’s the difference between supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and small businesses, and supporting cheap mass-labour, pesticide use, human-rights violations, and unnecessary fossil fuels.

There are many wonderful florists in Montreal that carry fair-trade, locally-grown flowers.   Here are just a few.   Go visit them as you pick your perfect bouquet!!

Atelier Green Poppies

Eva G.

Terra Folia

You can also pay a visit to Jean-Talon Market and see what local farmers have in store for you there.  There’s something lovely about talking to the people who actually grew and harvested the blossoms themselves.

Enjoy the beauty that flowers add to your home.  Buy someone you love flowers, or better yet, buy yourself a sunny bouquet.  Flowers add magic and enchantment to a space.  When they’ve been grown and harvested with love, I bet that magic’s even stronger.

Express your beauty as you are.  Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

The orchids are just incredible.  I made a series of dresses once for the Cirque du Soleil based on orchids.  Below are two dresses by Michelle Ferranti that served as my inspiration for that project.

Here are the frogs!!  Ha ha!  They are so hideous and yet i have nothing against frogs.  Actually, I think frogs are pretty important and I own a pair of little gold frog stud earrings that are quite delightful.  We all loved Kermit the frog.  Below I have added the image of a dress by John Galliano that seems kind of froggy to me.

This plate is classic Faberge egg inspiration.  It is just so perferct.  Look at he symmetry and ornament and texture.

You don’t need to be a genius to be an artist.  You just need to take the time to do it.  A lot of the work that I do is detail oriented and time consuming.  Other designers look at my work and think I’m crazy to be cutting out shapes, making stencils and drawing with thread.  But to me, it’s just what I do.  Come see the new Spring 2011 collection at the boutique.  I have been adding new styles every week.

Kat

These images are for you to savour.  Taste them as if you are eating a meringue.  Let them melt on your tongue.  As much as they are about high-fashion, they are absolutely not about the clothes.  They are a feeling, a mood, a moment.  The crumbling broken statues and columns evoke a feeling of walking among the ruins of an old temple.  The light and the colours are fresh.  It is the morning.  The day is new.

I see a still moment.  A moment to breathe.  A time out.  A little gift of time alone with yourself.  Just look out the window and stay there for a few minutes.  Your nervous system will adjust to the slower rhythm, the lack of stimulation.  Try.  See how hard it is to do that.

And here is a little facial tip from Michelle Phan.  She is my make-up teacher.  I came to make-up late in life (like, last year) and have been really enjoying playing with colours and powders thanks to her.

Kat

We have been excitedly anticipating new Ivko pieces.  They are finally here!  Coming to us all the way from Serbia.  These Incredible knit wear designs are covered in beautiful pattern, exquisitely made using top quality yarns.  The spring collection offers beautiful styles in linens and cottons.

photo by Vanessa Finnie, available at Boutique Katrin Leblond

She’s been back since November, and is still processing what she learned on that trip.   As part of that process, she has started making cards with the photographs she took in India.  These stunning cards are now available for sale at the Boutique.

photo by Vanessa Finnie, available at Boutique Katrin Leblond

Her photographs are moving and joyous.  They are full of colour and movement, humour and peace.   The intensity of her emotions on that trip comes across strongly in her pictures.  They are definitely worth a trip to the boutique to see first-hand.  And are available for only $6.50 each.  Give one to yourself or to someone you are thinking of.

Express your beauty as you are.  Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.
Sarah Pearson

I find this woman and her dress very inspiring.  She is stunningly beautiful and her pose is very masculine and confident.  Her dress is a total work of art!  I would love to know who this woman is.  Is she an artists or a designer posing for a story?  If anyone knows who she is, I am curious.  Please leave a comment.

Pets make us more productive, and certainly more creative.

Artists have long understood the importance of  keeping pets around.  Mary Oliver wrote an incredible book of poetry mostly inspired by her morning walks with her dog.  Sarah McLachlan attributes getting through one long creative block to her companionship with her pup.  I know some of my best ideas are the ones I first share with my cat.

Animals can sense the things we’re often desensitized to.  They know when we need a snuggle, a hand-licking, or when we need to play. They also know when we need some fresh air.  What’s better – and healthier – than a cigarette break? A dog-walking break!

One of Katrin Leblond’s, um, more furry of team members is Arthur, Kat’s brother’s dog.  He hangs out a lot at the studio, keeping the team company.  Does he earn his keep?   You betcha.   The creative inspiration he brings to the workspace, as well as his boundless ability to love, is priceless.   It’s a treat to be in the studio or boutique when Arthur’s around.   He just has a way of keeping everything more real.

Much of Kat’s new spring collection was inspired by animals.  Monkeys, fish, and elephants all made their way into her latest designs.  However, I believe that more art than we give credit for is inspired, in one way or another, by the pets in our lives.

Express your beauty as you are.  Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

She recently starred in a documentary.  Basically her, on her bicycle, giving her audience a private tour of all her favorite London haunts.   By haunts, we mean art galleries.

Though London is one most expensive cities on the planet, entrance to all the national galleries is completely free.  That is a powerful message about the justice of democratizing high art.

I love the message behind this.   I believe strongly in democratizing “high” art.  I believe in making beauty and culture accessible.   I believe that the masters – the artists who dared to change the world with their art, not the ones who catered to a phase and then burned out – should belong to all people.    Their work, I believe, is the copywright of humanity.   I also believe that, given their important work, great artists must get paid.

For a woman credited with birthing punk fashion in the 70s, it is mildly funny to see her lauding the values of high vs. underground culture.

She is anti-establishment, yet also vehemently pro high-art.  The two, she posits, go hand in hand.

Here’s what she told the Globe and Mail: “if you’re an art-lover, you’re also a freedom fighter, and you need to take part in trying to save the world.”

That is also the spirit behind Katrin Leblond’s work.  Kat believes fiercely in making art to better the world.  She expresses this both in her craft itself, and in the way she runs her business.  Her garments are made ethically, and her business is run with utmost concern for the environment.

Through vehemently defending beauty, she brings light and love to the world.  The clothes she produces, brimming with joy and made with love and justice, spread positivity when they’re worn in the world.

Vivienne Westwood insists that art exists to make us better people.  That love for humanity is certainly present in every piece of art that comes through our Boutique doors.

Express your beauty as you are. Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

Well, actually, three wishes.

A rack-full of new spring wear!

When it came time to draw up themes for this new collection, Kat was ready to try something new.   She sat down her whole creative team, and asked them to write down their three wishes for humanity.

She collected these three wishes, some in English and some in French, and read through them.   There were many overlaps – wishes for the health of the oceans, for endangered animals like elephants and monkeys, wishes for clean and safe foods, wishes for the forests.   There were wishes for the emancipation of children, for the heart of humanity to be wide open, and for all people to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

“I wanted these wishes to be the inspiration behind the collection,” Kat explained to me, “but I also wanted to make sure that my intent was clear.”   She wanted to tap into not just her visual impression of these wishes, but that of the collective consciousness.   In today’s world, that means paying a trip to Google.

Kat sat down at her computer and entered every wish, word-for-word, into google-image.   She leafed through the images, and absorbed.

Google-image was able to make free associations that no single designer would have been able to make on her own.   The wealth of inspiration was overwhelming.

The pattern from a dress inspired by native women

“Images kept coming up of spiritual leaders,” Kat told me, “that I never would have associated with some of these wishes, but there they were.   We were talking about using the colour grey, and I had no ideas for that, but then I typed in ‘elephants’ and all this grey imagery came up!”

Little by little, groups of this new collection will appear at the Boutique.   One group has already been released, which is inspired by First Nations women and is rich with earth tones and sandy hues.

earth tones abound in the first group of springwear

Other treats we have to look forward to are a Garden Vegetable Skirt, a Planet Earth Skirt, and lots of elephant motifs, leaf appliqués and ocean imagery.

And we’re keeping it close to the source. “The wish that inspired the piece will be tagged on the hanger of each garment, so that people can know what it means,” Kat tells me.   “I want to think of each garment as a magic spell that we’re putting out into the world for humanity.”

A magic spell wished for by the women who made these garments with their own hands, no doubt weaving their intentions into each fold of  fabric.

It should indeed be a magical spring at Boutique Katrin Leblond.

Express your beauty as you are.   Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

It was Katrin’s brother Nick that stenciled the roses all over the back wall of the boutique.  Here is Cassandra posing in Katrin Leblond designs in front of the rose wall.

Why do we assign the rose so much power?

Roses have long been associated with various goddesses.    Isis the Goddess of fertility, and Aphrodite (or Venus) the Goddess of beauty and sexual attraction, are both represented by the red rose.   Perhaps the folds and folds of red petals conveys certain imagery of feminine fertility.   That, and the sheer beauty of them is so pristine.

The Virgin Mary however is also often compared to a rose.   Two of my favorite Christmas carols are all about Mary as this very beautiful flower.   The German carol “Lo how a Rose ere blooming”  talks about the Virgin  “blooming”  with life in the dead of winter.   Another carol, a medieval English one, describes Mary: “there is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bear Jesus.”   Here is a rose window in a French cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary:

Roses are beautiful, delicate, and lovely.  But they also have a dark side.  They have thorns.

Certain Christian mystics liken the five petals of the red rose to the five wounds of Christ.  The “crown of thorns” draws on the darker side of the rose – the pain, the suffering, the agony.

I suppose these two sides of the rose make it the perfect paradox to symbolize love.  Love is beautiful, love is pristine, love is pure.  Love also hurts.  Even the most stable of partnerships encounter pain.  Life, after all, consists of both light and shadows.

As we give and receive roses at this time of year, it’s nice to stop and think about these different aspects of the rose.  They are both lusty and virginal.  Eternal and fragile.  Gentle yet thorned.

We can appreciate their beauty, their fragility, and their simple radiance.  We can also appreciate their thorns.

Express your beauty as you are. Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

I wasn’t raised with any Catholic education, so I was unfamiliar with the Sacred Heart.   On this trip, as I began to see so many beautiful hearts all over town, in boutiques, on murals, and even just on keychains, I noticed I was really drawn to them.

We LOVE hearts at Boutique Katrin Leblond.  Just look at our logo.

The heart’s bursting over with flowers, just like many sacred hearts burst with flames.

They say that, in Catholicism, the Sacred Heart of Jesus represents Jesus’ divine love for humanity.   I like to think that when people enter the boutique, they are nurtured and inspired to show divine love towards themselves.   We want every woman to feel they are entering a temple that worships the beauty that exists in all of us, inside and out.

this hand embroidered pillow is available at the boutique

I left Texas with a little hand-made Sacred Heart made out of tin that I bought from a Mexican artist.   I’ve hung it over my work desk, so that the radiance of that divine self-love may carry me through my work days, and inspire me to be my best self.

Like a new dress or scarf, this little Heart of mine is a simple gift to myself that makes me feel special and loved.  Come on by the Boutique and you’re bound to find something that does the same for you!

Express your beauty as you are.  Dance in your kitchen, and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson

Are you tired of Ernst Haeckel yet?  I’m not.  I think his are some of the best illustrations from Nature I have ever seen.  I love the attention to layout on the page…how he created shading and shapes that stand on their own as a work of art.

The first image is of moths.  They are soft and fluffy and every hair is delicately rendered.  Imagine the time it took to illustrate all of these.

And now for some Mothy jewelry.  We just got these in the store.  We have moth necklaces and octopus pins…oh and there is a Jellyfish necklace that is oh-so Ernst Haeckel.

The second image of the shells made me think of the experimental fashion by  Swedish fashion designer Julia Krantz.  These shell garments are made of  translucent fabrics draped over metal frames.  This was done as aschool project at HDK School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden.

We’ve all seen trilobite fossils as kids.  They must have been numerous back in the day (millions of years ago) for there to be such an abundance of fossils around being found. and sold  for a few dollars.   Below Haeckel’s trilobite drawings, I have attached the image of a dress that to me looks like it was inspired by arthropods.  The layers are like the sections of a hard shelled creature.  The beauty of it lies in the perfect cusp between soft and hard.  The dress holds it’s form, but doesn’t look too stiff.  I think it is really gorgeous.

Trilobite Dress by: Wesley Nault+Daniel Feld

Hope you enjoyed another viewing of art, crafts and nature.  Where does one begin and the other end?  Is it all the same?  Sometimes I believe that what we (humans) craft is not separate from, but a part, of the big organism we call Earth.  We often assign value to what we craft: good or bad, expensive or cheap, destructive or ecological.  What really matters though, is do you feel joyful?  Is there a happy moment in every day that you live?  If you need to find a happy moment outside of yourself, you can always come to the store for a little drop in, a hug or a cup of tea.

4647 blvd.  St-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2T1R2, 514-678-9616

Katrin Leblond

This is the second post of a new thread on this blog called The Goddess Series, profiling goddesses from all different cultures and finding a little place for them at our Boutique.

This week’s Goddess: Diana the Huntress.

Diana, Goddess of the Hunt

Diana: Who is she?

Diana is the Roman Goddess of the Hunt.   Clothed in animal skins and dwelling deep in forests of oak, she represents creation, motherhood, and all earthly survival instincts. Diana is a huntress, which means she is ever-moving. She elusive and evading, keeping company with the sacred forests, and evading the grasp of those who might want to claim her for their own.

Her solitary, mysterious nature has led her also to be associated with chastity and virginity. She is also a lunar goddess in many cultures.

Introverted and elusive, Diana prefers the deep forests to the company of others

What Does Diana teach us?

Diana is the wild-woman spirit within each of us. She is present when we feel intuitive connections to land, or when we feel deep survival instincts towards ourselves or our kin. She is the power behind pregnancy and women’s physical mysteries. Diana teaches us to trust our wild side, follow our instincts, and delve into the shadows of our psychic lives.

Where Diana Lives at Boutique Katrin Leblond

Diana can be found in the earth tones of Katrin Leblond’s new spring collection, wearing prints that celebrate the health of our planet. She can be found in the knitted shawls, scarves and ponchos that envelop women in warmth and give us a touch of mystery.   She can be found in the hearts of every woman that leaves the dressing room, feeling like they’ve just unleashed a hidden side of themselves with the new garments they’ve found.

A print from our new spring collection, celebrating native women

Earth tones abound in our new spring collection

Knitwear evokes feelings of both earthiness and mystery

Express your beauty as you are.   Dance in your kitchen and sing to the stars.

Sarah Pearson