By Sarah DeYoung, News Correspondent
Everything from mommy-and-me outfit duos to clothing inspired by a mourning period were featured in The Everything ENAMOUR Fashion Event, just one of the many shows featured during Boston Fashion Week.
The event showcased four collections by up-and-coming designer June Monteiro – the Shock Therapy, ENAMOUR Sport, the MONARCH Collection and the Isabella Blow Series collections. The event had two shows at 6 and 8 p.m. Sept. 24 at Emerson College’s Bill Bordy Theatre.
Shock Therapy, a line of children’s graphic T-shirts, and ENAMOUR Sport, a collection of casual women’s wear, were shown together. Children and their mothers walked the runway hand in hand, modeling both collections. The collections featured pieces made from organic and ringspun cotton to promote comfort and style. ENAMOUR Sport featured T-shirts with inspirational messages such as “Captivating, Loving, Inspiring, I Am.”
The mourning period that Queen Victoria took after her husband’s death inspired the MONARCH Collection, Monteiro said.
“I usually look towards history when seeking inspiration,” Monteiro said.
She said in the 19th century it was customary for widows to mourn the death of their spouses for two years by wearing black with gradual additions of gray and violet, so the collection started out completely black and slowly faded to pure white, with touches of gray and lavender.
Monteiro created pieces ranging from feminine cocktail dresses to shorts and capri pants for the MONARCH Collection, made primarily from silk.
“Silk is a natural fabric, so it drapes really well, and I like using draping to create volume in looks,” Monteiro said.
Many of the ensembles in the MONARCH Collection featured lavender organza inserts and trim. For example, the 14th piece in the collection was a white, silk crepe strapless ballerina dress. This angelic cocktail dress has a small lavender organza insert at the top of the neckline and two delicate crisscrossing elastic straps in the back, which is otherwise bare. Monteiro said that this dress was particularly difficult to design, as the suspension on the elastic had to be just right for the dress to fall correctly.
“It was a six-hour process just to figure what was going to be attached to what,” she said.
The Isabella Blow Series is a tribute to the fashion icon Isabella Blow, who is credited with discovering Alexander McQueen. This collection featured six pieces, all primarily mini-dresses and rompers. Monteiro used suiting material in black, white and gray for the collection, creating a look that evoked school uniforms. An extreme back silhouette was used in several of the pieces that evoked athleticism and showed off the back and shoulders.
Houndstooth, plaid and herringbone patterns were used with many inserts in the ensembles, creating the illusion of slashed fabric and layering.
“I like playing around with textures and seeing how you can make something seem a little bit different,” Monteiro said in reference to her use of layering illusions.
Monteiro was featured in last year’s show for Rising Designers at Boston Fashion week. She created the ENAMOUR label in 2010 and previewed the MONARCH Collection during Boston Fashion week.
Monteiro said that she is designing “for women of all ages, if something is beautiful then people will wear it,” and that her goal is to create “fun clothing that people enjoy wearing and feel beautiful in.”
She said she wants to continue styling for women, so that she can master the fundamentals of styling clothing to a woman’s body. She eventually wants to have a flagship store with an attached studio, so that she can work and show her clothing in one central location.
Monteiro’s next collection will be inspired by Ancient Egypt, and will be shown sometime next year.
