Corinne Monique

Take Me Back To Manhattan

2014-06-20T17:36:00.001-04:00

Hello Readers!

So, at long last, after traveling through Spain, Italy, Turkey, & Egypt, I've returned to NYC! The lovely Hotel Belleclaire was kind enough to generously sponsor me again during my visit. Situated in the Upper West Side, their location is ideal. It's close to Lincoln Center, Central Park, the subway, & lots of restaurants & stores. It's also not too noisy a location, which is nice & unusual for NYC. It was such a nice place to come back to after the meetings of the day. I was so lucky to have the chance to partner with them again! Here are some photos of the visit, including one of my Corinne Monique pieces on display in the hotel lobby :)

above the clouds

Upper West Side

my fashion crew

Hotel Belleclaire lobby

Corinne Monique fashion installation

such pretty orchids

Broadway

view from Central Park

Garment District

Well, that's it for now...more to come! Thanks again to the beautiful Hotel Belleclaire!

Until we meet again,

Corinne

xoxo

I Don't Think You're Ready For This Jelly

2014-06-04T04:28:00.003-04:00

Hello Lovelies!

It's finally Spring!!! & Summer will be soon approaching! In honour of the warmer weather, I thought I'd share a post on my Corinne Monique Spring/Summer 2014 collection with you :)

The collection, entitled 'Medusozoa' & shown during New York Fashion Week, was inspired by my trip to the tropical Caribbean last Spring for Tobago Fashion Week. It was my very first time visiting the Caribbean & it had a big impact on me. The 'Medusozoa' collection continued my debut 'Year of the Serpent' collection's focus on a sense of exoticism, but this time centered on the colourful and exuberant carnival celebrations or fetes of the islands. The collection also drew inspiration from the equally exotic & beautiful sea life in the Caribbean ocean, especially the jellyfish. Medusozoa is the scientific name for the strikingly exquisite yet fearsome & poisonous jellyfish, alluding to the powerful & intelligent mythological character Medusa. Medusa is the embodiment of all things feminine, having qualities & symbolism similar to the serpent, & the term also means ruler or queen. Like the jellyfish, Medusa is said to have been ravishingly beautiful as well as terrifying, turning men to stone with one glance.

Soowan Bramble

{ images via: Alexander McQueen, Alexander Semenov, Armani Privé, Carolina Herrera, Elle,

Gucci, Holly and Ruby, KLV Blog, Katharine Hepburn, Style.com, Talulah, Valentino, Vogue }

With this inspiration, I created the feminine collection with the power of attraction in mind, hoping to tempt onlookers with its seductive confidence. I designed pieces with clean, modern lines, reminiscent of the structured yet fluid jellyfish, featuring asymmetrical hems & cutouts. The collection was built around alluring colours & opulent fabrics, such as chiffon, metallic silks, & dazzling sequins in hues of sea glass, hibiscus, orchid, sun-drenched gold, moonlit silver & brilliant white.

Now for the lookbook - I was lucky enough to have my beautiful friend, Amanda Gooden, as the stunning model for the shoot:

Here I am backstage dressing some of my favourite models (Casey Barber, Clarissa DeGroat, Germania Martinez, Kayla McCombs, Kourtney Edwards, Monica Mills, Monique Dumarie, Paige Binninger, Robyn Griffin, Shalea Poole, Shanti Stulliesha, Yannie Hampton, & my beloved Cookie) before they step out onto the Rogues Gallery Presents runway during NYFW, thanks to the amazing Ron Cooke, as well as the Virginia Fashion Week runway, thanks to Ann Ward Leister:

the amazing Ron Cooke & I :)

Next, we took the collection to NYC for a trunk show, sponsored by Hotel Belleclaire, during MBFW & made a special appearance at Lincoln Square (models: Amanda Gooden, Casey Barber, Erin Gabriella Birmingham, Jessica Erikson, Soliel Paden):

photo credit: Zubari Images

photo credit: Fox Hutson

style spotted haha - me in the background ;)

Then, when the collection & I traveled to Virginia, I was fortunate enough to hook up my my amazingly talented team (photog: Johnathan Benton, mua: L. Payne, hair stylist: Sana Baseer, nail tech: Keta Jackson, & beautiful models Alysa Danilova, Brittnee Rae Collins, & DeeAna Barilics) & do a photoshoot of 'Medusozoa' at the lovely Linda Matney Fine Art Gallery! Here's some behind-the-scenes photos:

& this was the gorgeous result of the shoot:

...which was recently published in Fashion Zone Magazine!

...& thus ends the story of 'Medusozoa'...or does it? ;)

Corinne

xoxo

Nights (and Days) in the Gardens of Spain

2014-05-05T14:44:00.001-04:00

Hola amigos!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! It's super duper hot here in Cairo (my current home-away-from-home), but I know it still feels like winter back in Canada, so here's a post for my peeps to heat things up :)

A while back, before I officially debuted my line, Corinne Monique, I designed and made a few capsule collections. This post features one of those collections entitled 'Latinada.' The collection was inspired by Spanish, Mexican, and South American painters and composers, by Latino and Hispanic artists who conjure up images of faraway terracotta-tiled, sunkissed villas and ladies with flowers in their hair, swaying in the breeze. Press play & close your eyes...

{ http://youtu.be/aSf8Z5xuMBQ }

{ http://youtu.be/sIvmYMXB7FQ }

Now open your eyes!

Miquel Barceló

Ricardo Chavez Mendez

El Greco

Joan Miró

Francisco Pradilla Ortiz

Diego Velázquez

Francisco Goya

Frida Kahlo

Salvador Dali

Pablo Picasso

Joaquin Sorolla

Diego Rivera

Besides art and music, I was also inspired by fashion editorials and ad campaigns which had their own fiesta flare, which you can see here.

At the time of shooting the collection, I had only dreamt of visiting such exotic places, so the collection and the photoshoot were both imagination- and not reality-based, so don't be looking for authenticity. However, just this past Fall I was lucky enough to visit my Cuban friend in Madrid Spain and even got a glimpse of some of the artwork above in person at the Museo del Prado, Museo Reina Sofia, and the Museo Thyssen!

And now for the actual collection and photoshoot...let's get spicy ;)
I had the extreme pleasure of shooting two of my gorgeous friends, Vania Georgieva (who is one of the most amazing models I have ever had the opportunity to work with) and Karina Vera Davies, both of whom are beautiful inside and out. I also had my stunning sister (who you've seen before modelling a dress from this very collection) assist and my lovely mother helped me scout out all the locations - the Allan Gardens Conservatory in Toronto, where they were very nice about letting us run all over the conservatory, each time in a new outfit haha, and other various locations around Toronto, including the outside wall of the Segovia restaurant. I had fun styling my ladies and making the shots look like we had done an on-location shoot somewhere south of the border instead of in downtown Toronto.

And that's it :) I hope you enjoyed!

Whether you're siesta-ing or fiesta-ing today, I hope you're able to take a minute to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in your own way :) I myself am hoping for some salsa...both of the food and dancing variety ;)

Adiós muchachos!

Corinne

xoxo