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Morales designs go beyond basics with ruffles and puckers galore
by GENEVIEVE PAIEMENT
When Renata Morales started designing clothes, she knew one thing that she'd be staying away from: basics. "There are so many companies that do basics so well," the Mexican-born Morales explains.
"We make our stuff more detailed and elaborate. We do have some basics, but they'll always have some detail that adds volume. We do a lot of work by hand." And that's not the royal "we" Morales is using--the line may carry her name, but the collections are co-created with her partner, Sylvie Ouimet, whose background is in haute couture. The Morales line may only be four years old, but already there's a store in Ottawa (on swanky Sussex Drive, no less) and one in Old Montreal that opened its doors last April.
Having attended art school before moving into the world of fashion design, Morales' roots still show. "I just got back from Paris where I saw some abstract art with a use of volume and colour that was very inspirational to me, when it comes to the textural process and detailing," Morales points out.
And though art may inspire her, Morales seems more concerned with wearability and timeliness than flights of fashion fancy. "The essence of making clothes, at the end of the day, is that somebody's going to wear them. And you can't not feel what's going on, trend-wise. Ten years ago everybody was wearing leggings and big sweaters. So how did we get to the hip-hugging pants of today?" she ventures.
And this season, in keeping with certain materialized trends, ruffles have mushroomed throughout her collection. "We've been feeling it in the air," she admits. "It's a way to add decoration without an accessory, like instead of adding a necklace, you add ruffles."
Indeed, the light-filled, street-level Morales store is eye-catching. The unusual slants, op-art patterns, feathery necklines and striking colour combos of the fall collection jump out at you from a minimalist glass-fronted cube of a space. But the clothes weren't made with the idea of catching the eye of any one particular kind of girl.
"I don't think that I design for any specific type of woman," Morales shrugs. "We have clients that are between the ages of 18 and 70. I couldn't say something like, 'It's for rock chicks.'" This being said, Morales does admit to being a big fan of Canada's independent rock scene and to regularly checking out live shows at venues like the Jailhouse Rock.
As for the reaction she's had so far from Montreal, she's not complaining. "It's so great when you enjoy what you do so much," she gushes, "and the reaction from Montrealers has been very stimulating--it's excited me and pushed me to keep doing new things in the same direction."
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