Page 11 - Real Style April 2018

UNTTLD
As the designers behind up-and-coming Montreal label UNTTLD, co-creative directors Simon Bé- langer and José Manuel Saint-Jacques have been making a name for themselves. Besides being regulars on the Toronto Fashion Week runway, Bé- langer and Saint-Jacques also won a Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent in Fashion at the Cana- dian Arts & Fashion Awards in 2016. Two years later, the boys are back at the CAFAs, and this time around they have been nominated for the Wom- enswear Designer of the Year award. “CAFA has been amazing to us. For the past two years, they have taken us everywhere, to all of their events. They have introduced us to wonderful people. I couldn’t ask for greater support,” says Bélanger.
It’s safe to say that the past couple of seasons have been a whirlwind for the duo, who design eveningwear with a classic yet edgy aesthetic. Spring 2018 at UNTTLD includes black dresses, tailored pantsuits, little white frocks and hints of lace. Staying true to the strong, structured theme, Bélanger describes his spring wardrobe essentials as “stripes, stripes and more stripes—and then more stripes!”
However, it’s not all black and white on the run- way. Bélanger and Saint-Jacques recently brought colour to UNTTLD, in the form of bright scarlet and peachy nudes. “Introducing colours at UNTTLD is kind of a new thing for us. Reds and flesh tones are going to stick around for a long time,” Bé- langer tells us.
At the end of the day, he believes that UNT- TLD’s emphasis is on the label’s ideal customer, a strong and stylish woman. “Women today are truly people who do everything, from being moth- ers to lovers to businesswomen,” Bélanger says. “You want to help these women feel powerful and sexy.”
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