Low Down Articles
Artist Profiles - Monelle Vadier
Article 86 of 89
This article first appeared in the "Artist Profiles" column in the August 10, 2005 issue of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
o o o
Chelsea artist sews dreams for dreamers
by Catherine Joyce
On the wall of Monelle Vadier's haute couture design studio hangs a small photograph of a tiny tent lit by the light of the rising sun - nearby a two-seater plane rests on a narrow spit of land surrounded by water. It represents for her the creative solitude she seeks in dreaming up the designs for her elegant evening gowns, exquisite cocktail dresses and classic suits.
"I love the quiet of the Gatineau Hills. I have such peace here - I am free to create. I would never move back to town."
In March 2000 Monelle opened her atelier boutique in her home on Belle Terre in Chelsea. It was the fulfillment of a life-long passion to create "dreams for dreamers". Since then she has been featured in the Senate Gala Fashion Show, nominated as a finalist for an Excellence Award in Self-Employment by the Regroupement des Gens d'Affaires of the National Capital Region, and participated in the annual Artists in their Environment Studio Tour.
Growing up in Vanier on a quiet, tree-lined street by the Rideau River, Monelle loved to sketch detailed gowns for imaginary lavish balls. "I used to sit by my grandmother and watch her sew. She didn't teach me - I just absorbed through my body how she worked. She was so peaceful, so careful to detail. She made me special clothes throughout my childhood, the last when I was 15 just before she died."
Torn between wanting to be an artist or a doctor, Monelle first went to the University of Ottawa in Sciences. "I always wanted to know how the body worked. I was reading medical books when I was ten but in that first year of university I found I didn't fit with the other students. I missed my artistic side too much."
She enrolled in the Fashion Design program at L'Academie des Couturiers Canadiens in 1975 where she was twice chosen Student of the Year in Haute Couture and Fashion Sketching. Upon graduation, she taught there for seven years before opening her own design company in 1984. She catered to private clients with her made-to-measure service, and sold her collection through specialty boutiques in the Ottawa region.
Now with exclusive control, Monelle combines a strong business sense with her creative talent. A normal workday is twelve hours. "I am a perfectionist. I can spend over 100 hours on a special creation. I want my designs to be timeless, elegant and refined, to skim the body like water, to mirror a sense of proportion and harmony so that the woman feels beautiful, unique."
Monelle is also ensuring the development of young designers with her week-long summer camp where she introduces the principles of good design and the realities of the business. "You have to know how to keep the dream alive. It is not easy to be both a creator and an entrepreneur. The cry of the artist is freedom but you have to be willing to pay the price."
(Monelle Vadier can be reached at 827-1634)