By Carl Begai
Folks that know me will agree the only thing I know about fashion is that I don’t have any sense in that regard. I do, however, keep company with a few talented up-and-coming designers (how that happened is anybody’s guess). During my recent trip home to Toronto I went to breakfast with my good friend and former Woods Of Ypres keyboardist Jessica Rose, who launched her own company Corpseknit Clothing a few years ago. Dubbed “Neo-Victorian knitwear”, it was a do-it-herself-at-home venture that achieved moderate success via an online store. I learned, however, that the interest in her work had grown to a level where it made sense to change the name of the company to something a little more welcoming to those standing in Sleepy Hollow gothic fear of the Corpseknit brand name. So it went that A Resurrection Of Romance by Jessica Rose Design was born.
Jessica and her husband entertained me and The Girlfriend with a tale of risking life and limb for her photo gallery (okay, well, ditching Molson Indy security people, hair and make-up done on a streetcar… :-)), which was followed by a photo shoot with The Girlfriend in the historic Distillery district of Toronto for some hat-type things Jessica has created (I believe the word is “beret”, but I’m a guy so I don’t actually have a clue). Over the course of the morning I was aware that in spite of Jessica’s petite stature her enthusiasm for the work at hand puts her at about 10 feet tall. Like everything else artistic these days, the fashion branch is a make-noise-or-die business; she’s up to her eyeballs in it and winning.
The Toronto Star, issued throughout the province of Ontario and reputed to be the Canadian newspaper with the largest circulation, recently ran a story focusing on local artisans and the impact of online exposure / sales for their respective ventures. Jessica was not only featured in the article, the piece ran both online and in the tangible real world paper edition, and she snagged the main photo on the front page of the business section. Check the article out here and call me impressed. Like musicians, talented fashion designers can be found all over the Toronto area, and very few receive valuable mainstream support.
I’ve always had a huge amount respect for artists that are dedicated to a vision and don’t let the naysayers bring them down. Watching the ideas rattling around in their heads take shape and become something more than a cool idea dreamed up at 3:00am is awesome. That said, call this my elbow in your ribs, hinting that you might find something for yourself or your significant other in Jessica’s ever growing box of tricks. It’s also a nod of appreciation for a job well done.
Save me a copy of the article for my Rogue’s Gallery…. 🙂
Not Your Typical Fashion Photoshoot. . . A Behind the Scenes Look from Jessica Rose Design on Vimeo.
Check out Jessica Rose’s official site, A Resurrection Of Romance, here.
Photo by Carl Begai. All rights reserved.
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Awww, this is so nice of you Carl!! I’m sewing day and night these days, but appreciating and loving every minute of it. . . making a living off of any type of art seems to be a constant struggle, but definitely worth the challenge and satisfaction that comes with it! Missing you both 🙂