Unmentionably sexy

Lingerie designer Sabrina Chin brings a bit of elegance to the boudoir with her line Love at First Blush

INNERWEAR AS OUTERWEAR: Chin
Photo by SHARON DAVIES

The collection is called Nine Lives, and the nine lives represent the different dimensions of a woman’s persona—daring, demure, sexy…” and designer Sabrina Chin adds with a hint of a smile:

“It’s also sort of inspired by Catwoman.”

Designed under her label Love at First Blush, this collection is her first foray into lingerie, which she launched in December at both Smart Design Mart and Puces Pop.

Chin started her company in 2009 while working as a women’s wear designer for a major retailer. “It was a hobby, a side project,” she says. She started small, opening an Etsy store and cre­ating and selling intricately cut leather accessories. Her delicate cuffs and feather necklaces got the attention of fashion editors around North America and won mentions in Time Out New York, the National Post and Zink magazine. In 2010 she quit her job to focus on her line full-time.

DARING AND DEMURE: A look from Nine Lives

Originally from Vancouver, Chin studied fashion design at Ryerson and London’s Westminster University (“It was a much different style of teaching, they were much more like, ‘Just go and do your thing’”) before moving to Montreal. “After graduating I went back to Vancouver and worked there for a while, then I got the proposal to work here, so I jumped at it. Who wouldn’t want to live in Montreal?”

Chin takes a sophisticated and subtle approach to her designs. For her first collection she’s created simple, easy-to-wear pieces like high-waisted bottoms, silky night shorts, triangle bras and sleek, unfussy garter belts. Though the pieces are undergarments, she’s also playing with the idea of inner wear as outerwear, a trend that’s continually reoccurring in fashion.

“Alexander McQueen is an influence, obviously,” she says, “and the Lake and Stars—they’re a New York-based lingerie company run by two women—for the business aspect of it.”

Part of Chin’s process includes blogging about her inspirations, which range from personal travel photos to her friends’ closets. “I have a friend who’s a designer in Toronto and she’s got a beautiful apartment with this vintage sewing machine and jewellery hanging all over it. I just had to take photos. Then I kind of got addicted to doing it, so now it’s a side project. It’s another creative outlet,” she says. It also adds another dimension to her site and helps her reach out to customers.

“When you explain your work process, and your inspiration, then people understand what goes into it and they are more drawn to reading your blog and supporting your work.”

This year she’s branching out, moving to a studio and aiming to get her line into boutiques around the city and elsewhere. ★

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