Niche products might just be the flavour du jour.
Graduating students of fashion marketing at LaSalle College presented their projects at the annual Enterprise presentation this week: the products included transgender underwear, unisex kids’ clothing, and wearable towels. (One of those towels, marketed as something completely new, showed up on Jennifer Aniston the next evening at a preview of the flick Mother’s Day.)
And the next evening, another niche item was on offer – Mélodie Ties for women, not a student project but a real launch by Mélodie Pilon, with 14 years experience working with Chanel and Guerlain.
Mélodie Pilon at the launch of her line of feminine ties.
Mélodie and I.
From the Mélodie Ties lookbook. Photos: Marielou Théorêt, Creative director: Azamit, Model: Jenna Castilloux, Stylist: Linny Alexa Grahen, Hair and makeup: Julie Cusson
Somehow, the idea seems right in tune with the zeitgeist of the moment.
And everything about the launch was just right, too, from the event, to the photo campaign, to the hard copy invite with my name in silver letters – to the product.
At Denis Binet’s V pour Victoire loft in Old Montreal, guests included quite a few women in Mélodie ties – bright florals, skinny and wider, solids including red, black, white and a pretty shade of pink, and a cream lace print version studded with pearls. I, too, wore a Mélodie tie, and those who know me know I don’t often wear the designer to the show or launch.
(I wore it with a frayed-edge black silk low-V T-shirt, flared jeans and a black sweater coat, with a traditional single knot. Lessons welcome on the Windsor, folks. The floral on black provided just the bit of colour to punch up the look, and required a jolt of red lipstick for balance.)
Other women wore the ties tied every which way – double wrapped, flipped over and in a bow, for instance. Stylist Azamit provided lessons on ways to wear it – from boho to with a tux – during the evening.
The art of tie-knotting is something like the scarf mystique: a 1999 book by Thomas Fink is titled The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie.
Pilon, in a bright green Marie Saint Pierre blazer with skinny pink tie, said she conceived the project three years ago and has read up about women’s equality in the workplace.
But it’s not about unisex dressing, or women dressing in a masculine way.
Men wear the tie in a specific way, with business attire, she said.
“For a woman, a tie is like a necklace. It’s a piece of jewelry,’’ she said, adding one can tie one on in either in a classic or eccentric manner.
Her favourite way to wear it: in a double knot, not too close to the neck and sometimes with a long necklace or pearls.
Mélodie Ties are silk, made in Italy and cost $90 to $115. They are available online at www.melodieties.com
