CHRIS GELINAS

FALL 2015

WHEN ASKED HOW LONG IT TOOK TO MAKE HIS LOOSELY NAMED “FLYAWAY EVENING

gown,” Chris Gelinas gives an apt answer: “Six months plus three days.” The 31-year-old Windsor, Ont.native turned New Yorker has only four collections to his name but possesses the accolades and fashion smarts one might expect from an industry veteran. All Gelinas’s prints are developed in-house, including the silk crepe, which was inspired by foulard prints seen in pocket squares and coat linings. “I wanted to modernize it by bringing the scale and the proportion up,” he says. “I gave it this pointillism. If you look close, you can see the depth of the little dots.” The back of the dress is a cotton lace so soft it feels like a knit, and the dress is edged in durable workwear cotton ripstock. “It’s trimmed in such a beautiful way. It’s done with a triple needle pop stitch detail that’s reminiscent of denim. In itself, it’s almost embroidery,” says Gelinas, who worked at Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Balenciaga and Theyskens’ Theory before launching his own line in 2014. “What I love about those types of finishings is that it’s a subtle luxury,” he says. “Something really well-made—that’s luxurious.” —Jacquelyn Francis