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Daniel Scheffler

CHRIS GELINAS
OCCUPATION
Fashion designer
INSPIRATION AND PLANS
“I’m thinking a lot about weightlessness, both in form and also as a state of mind.”
WORDS OF ADVICE
“Learn from everyone around you and collaborate with those around you. I have never believed in the idea of a designer as a singular vision.”
 
With fashion's ebb and flow of titans and toilers, an innate part of the industry is the rummage for bright young things. Fashion, potentially more than any other industry, relies on keeping everything as sprightly as possible and goads design all the way to production with gusto. The Canadian-born womenswear designer Chris Gelinas has emerged from a city of commercial fashion with a contempoary take - and has caught the attention of the industry.
For a young fashion designer just coming into his own in the undimmed lights of the fashion industry of New York, it can be a struggle to carve out a place of one's own.
"I want to start a conversation, not just be part of one, and I think if you create things with integrity and passion, people will take notice," Gelinas says. In the world of fashion, where the words "signature" or "voice" come up as a way to define a designer and his vision, Gelinas' position is somewhere between an understanding of luxury and utter femininity. "I try to create options for women who are modern in their need for comfort and mobility, but still have some attachment to classic conventions of dressing."

The designer says there was a time when defining womenswear was easier, but now, "things change so quickly". "When I look back at different eras, there are such clear moods in the way women dressed, but now it's really hard to tell," he explains.
Gelinas is keen to emphasise that his label, CG, isn't about adding to the clutter of fashion labels hanging on racks or getting clicks from online stores. The New Yorker, who observed his grandmother, a seamstress, and his grandfather, a woodworker and upholsterer, while he was growing up, adheres to the idea of "what we design needs to be replaced with how we design".

The concept of craftsmanship and construction is clearly important to him. "I have always been a visual person, so being able to work with materials and understand them and use my hands to enhance or reinvent them, is for me a total privilege," he says. "Keeping my craft a true 'craft' is the most worthwhile thing for me."
Given his background and young age, it's no surprise that the designer appreciates the sewing machine and modern technology - he understands the appeal of instant gratification but is nonetheless determined to "stick to a 'quality over quantity' approach". This design philosophy has gotten him far in his career, which has been a whirlwind of awards and accolades.
Gelinas graduated from New York's Parsons School of Fashion and enriched his know-how at the houses of Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler and Balenciaga. He soon became first assistant to Olivier Theyskens at Theory. He went solo last year and won the 2013 MADE for Peroni Young Designer Award.
The award, exclusively given to Parsons graduates and alumni, provided funding and mentorship that made it possible for Gelinas to present his autumn/winter collection in February in Manhattan. "The award was a huge help since resources were limited at the beginning, but I'd never want to create a collection that felt like it was limited. Setting the bar high out of the gate has always been my [goal]."
As Gelinas worked on a second collection for autumn/winter 2014, he was spotted by the Vogue Fashion Fund and Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The CFDA award has produced now-famous brands such as Thom Browne and Reed Krakoff, and Gelinas made it through the strenuous process to become one of the 10 finalists.
But mentors and opportunities have always been around for Gelinas. "I am very fortunate to have an amazing network of advisers and mentors who are helping me navigate these early stages of establishing my line," he says. And when it comes to creative inspiration, he looks to "strong, intelligent, powerful women who are confident, but are still vulnerable and delicate - the CG woman sees fashion as just one of her many forms of expression".
It is his shrewd vision and humble nature that make Gelinas a new and significant voice in the fashion industry.

 


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Fashion

Chris Gelinas captures the attention of New York's fashion world

Chris Gelinas' designs are modern and futuristic, yet comfortable.

The designer's expert tailoring skills are evident in this outfit.

This statement piece features a stunning mix of materials.

Bright and intriguing looks from Chris Gelinas' autumn/winter 2014 collection.

Magazines

Style

Chris Gelinas sets the bar high and creates womenswear with integrity and passion


Chris Gelinas sets the bar high and creates womenswear with integrity and passion, writes Daniel Scheffler.


Chris Gelinas captures the attention of New York's fashion world

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chris Gelinas sets the bar high and creates womenswear with integrity and passion

Chris Gelinas sets the bar high and creates womenswear with integrity and passion