a girl called elise

Standing at her installation as part of Parcours Modo (the Brussels Fashion Trail I went on for MyFashionLife) wearing plum leather trousers, a forest green top and a very big smile, Elise Viste looked every bit the successful fashion designer.

Thanks to Michael for the picture!

At just 23 years old, the Brussels-based designer has recently graduated from Brussels Fashion College La Cambre with a Masters degree in Fashion Design, and has already completed internships at Comme des Garcons in Paris, Haider Ackerman in Antwerp and Todd Lynn in London. Impressive stuff.

Viste has also caught the eye of another successful Belgian designer, Raf Simons, who was one of the judges on last year’s ‘Brussels Export Award’, which Elise won for being ‘very focussed’ and ‘different’.

Different indeed - Elise has a traditional collection of highly covetable leather trousers and faux fur coats, but then always has something unusual up her sleeve too, whether it be the real beetles wings used to create a lush peacock-feather-hued collar on one coat or the volumous balls of wool used to create an unusually gorgeous take on the classic winter sweater:

Elise told us that she wanted to come to design in London, and had a couple of exciting interviews on the horizon. Something tells me we'll be seeing more of Elise in future...

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fashion raccoon goes on a fashion trail

Last week, on behalf of MyFashionLife, I was invited to take part in Parcours Modo - the Brussels Fashion Trail.

Brussels is a city that I have always wanted to visit, so I was absolutely delighted to hop on the Eurostar and make the two-hour fashion pilgrimage.

The first evening was spent at Brussels Boutikq (Nieuwe Graanmarkt 10), where Charlie, Alex, Michael, Isabelle and I viewed an exhibit of the creations made by Korean students from SADI Seoul, the Korean Art and Design College.

A series of jackets and coats had been produced by the students under the guidance of Brussels Art College (La Cambre) Professor, Didier Vervaeren.

Some of SADI's students told us how the traditional Korean design process is quite strict and regimented, with little manoeuvre from the original sketch during the creation of a garment.

Didier encouraged the students to experiment outside of the initial design, encouraging freedom and experimentation during the creation process. which produced some visually compelling and expertly crafted pieces:

This was the perfect introduction to the Brussels way of doing things - a display of bright and challenging creativity.

The next day, Didier guided us through the Fashion Trail. Parcours Modo started at the very top of downtown Brussels, and then meandered through the pretty streets and tree-lined squares to some of the most interesting boutique shops that I have ever seen in Europe. Stijl is a must-visit if you are in the city:
Demeulemeester, Van Noten and Simons all together like a Brussels art-collective.

Stamped on the outside of selected shops: a Parcours Modo signpost sticker, explaining which new designer was showcasing their collection, and their statement:

We saw models as mannequins, art installations, bunting, and the first ever Margiela store, complete with staff and water coolers all wearing trademark white lab coats.

I'll be posting about the designers we met over the next few days here and over at MyFashionLife. Thanks so much to Elke and Emily for being so kind, and to Kika and Hotel Bloom for their amazing hospitality.

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