Inside ELLE Canada’s collab with RW&CO.

Our fashion director, Denis Desro, teamed up with RW&CO. to create an exciting capsule collection. Ready to play dress-up?

INSPIRATION

The idea to collaborate with ELLE came to Karine Laparé, public relations manager for RW&CO., in February while she was reading ELLE Québec. “The girls at work all read it—it’s a fashion bible— and ELLE is a brand that’s recognized across Canada, in both French and English,” she says. “It was a perfect match!” It’s also a first: RW&CO. has created two collections with Hayden Christensen and done similar projects with Marie Saint Pierre and Martin Lim for its sister company, Reitmans, but this marks its first magazine collab.

DESIGN SPARK

In March, Ève Miron, fashion director and senior merchandise manager for RW&CO., met with Denis Desro, our fashion director, to review runway looks for inspiration. Their goal? To create a holiday cocktail collection that would appeal to a variety of women. “I think there is something for every personality, from the most romantic to the edgiest or sexiest,” says Desro. “It was my role to nudge RW&CO. in more of an editorial direction that still resonated with their brand identity.” After Miron and Desro settled on the silhouettes—’50s-inspired sheaths, fit-andflare classics and edgy body-con studded mesh looks—it was Miron’s task to select the fabrics. “I wanted quilted materials, crochet, tulle, neoprene and lamé,” she says. “When we went to Europe, all the fabrics were heavy and textured. That’s what I wanted for this collection.”

By June, the first samples arrived at RW&CO.’s head office on Sauvé Street in Montreal. The walls in the conference room were covered with runway images as well as inspiration photos that echoed themes of the collection, from rock and glamour to gothic and romantic. “It was a pleasure to see our ideas evolve from the page to the actual dresses,” recalls Desro. h

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