Audrey Cantwell is one of those girls who is just So. Damn. Cool. At just 23, the Montreal based designer has already had a cult following for her creations for 4 years. With her bleach blonde hair, adorable personality and deeply bad ass sense of style, she’s an unstoppable force on the Montreal fashion scene. The campaigns she creates are (literally) spellbinding, and the clothes speak for themselves: sheer shifts adorned in witchy spells, deconstructed knits with rough leather pieces, and hints of fur and metal. Audrey’s designs have a spooky, mythological quality that makes them both ethereal and edgy, a perfect combination for the fashion forward Wiccan hottie.
CW: How did you start designing clothes, and what were your original goals? How have they shifted?
AC: I've been sewing and making my own clothes since I was 14, I made my first collection while in school. I realized in my last year of college that I wanted to have my own line, rather than work for someone else. I worked as a stylist after graduating and started my own line. It soon got to be too much to keep a job as well, so for the last two years I’ve been working on it full time. My main goal hasn't changed much, I want to stay small, have the entire collection handmade in Montreal, collaborate with other designers and artists whose work I admire, and stay true to my aesthetic.
CW; Who are some designers that inspire you? Where do you get your source material outside of the fashion world?
AC: I love Junya Watanabe, Ann Demeulemeester and Rick Owens. They don't have to reinvent themselves every season like some designers tend to do, they just build on their past collections, developing their signature. My biggest inspiration is nature, the colours and textures of the Canadian wilderness. I also find inspiration in history, mythology and mysticism, and of course in music - punk, hardcore and metal specifically.
CW: Where does your work fit within the Montreal or Canadian fashion world? Any words on the Montreal art / fashion ~scene~?
AC: I'm not sure exactly where Ovate fits in, somewhere in between the dark/minimal look and the artisan/handmade scene. There are a lot of emerging designers in Montreal that really have got a lot of talent and whose work I admire: Genevieve Savard, Maude Nibelungen, Ursa Minor, UNTTLD,..to name a few.
CW: If one person could dress you for the rest of your life, who would it be?
AC: Definitely Ann Demeulemeester.
CW: Theme song?
AC: Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath!
See her designs and lookbooks at http://www.ovate.ca/
-- Chloe Wise
