PPCO Twist System

bon chic, bon genre
38 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
B
y the time she was a teenager Kate S.
Mensah already had a well-defined
personal style. While other young Parisians
in the early 1990s sported baggy jeans, overalls
and athletic shoes in a Gallic shrug to hip hop
street style, Mensah dressed for school in “real
pants with real jackets and tango boots. I was not into
jeans and sportswear even then. My look was a little
bit boyish, but very classy. I wanted to be elegant. I
wanted to be me, basically. People called me BCBG,”
she added, referring to the French term bon chic, bon
genre, meaning a chic, understated but always well-put
together look.
Today Mensah is still creating her own style. But now
she also produces clothing and sells it under her own
label. Since 2011 she has created five collections of
dressy women’s clothing that she has placed in carefully
chosen shops in North America and Paris. She is also
selling directly to customers through a Seattle-based
e-commerce site and has plans to start selling in Africa
in the near future. She does all her own designing and
marketing, and flies regularly to Los Angeles to consult
with the apparel factory that produces her collections.
Considering that five years ago Mensah did not know
how to use a sewing machine or handsew a hem, her
path from style savvy teenager to founder of her own
small but growing fashion label is a testament to her
remarkable energy and vision.
Nestled on the white leather sofa in her suburban
Seattle home, Mensah, 36, is on this early spring day
wearing one of her own ensembles. It is a pair of olive
wool wide-legged pants, floor-length culottes really, and
a sleeveless cream-colored silk charmeuse blouse. The
pants are slim through the waist and hips but they flare
out into a well-pressed triangle shape as they reach her
ankles. She is barefoot and around her neck is a large,
black neckpiece made by a friend. The neckpiece was
fashioned from a bicycle tire inner tube. Mensah’s look
would be chic in any city; but in a region where parkas
KATE S. MENSAH
EMBRACING THE FEMALE FORM
and hiking boots are
standard at the office
Photograph: Seattle Magazine.
and the opera, her mix
of luxurious fabrics and
frankly feminine style
stands out.
“My Fall collection
for 2014 is about water,” Mensah explains as she pulls a
rolling garment rack from a bedroom closet. The
townhouse she shares with her husband and young son
doubles as her studio and workspace. In a light filled
garden level room there are a couple of sewing
machines and a serger, along with fabric samples and
patterns. “For each collection I choose a theme, often
from the natural world. In Spring 2013 the theme was
nature as woman and in Fall 2013 I called it Une Vie
d’Automne, or life in autumn. I use the theme to decide
on the texture of the fabrics, the feel of them, the
colors. I use mostly silk, wool, leather, and cotton
because I love beautiful fabrics. So, for Fall 2014, there
is a lot of pleated and crinkled pearl-colored silk, which
is like salt you see in the water in places in Africa. I also
have dark red browns for the muddy, earth-filled rivers
and dark blues and blacks for the dark, night-time
ocean color.”
Mensah thinks of her look as “not too loose. I am
interested in showing the feminine form.” Indeed her
pieces are streamlined but fitted and architectural. An
evening gown from Fall 2014 is a strapless black
charmeuse bodice topping a cascading skirt of white
crinkled silk. Another evening ensemble is an oyster
shell silk, floor-length jumpsuit wrapped around the
shoulders by a cropped and cap-sleeved organza jacket.
The jacket has an asymmetrical stand-up collar. The
ensemble has the feel of contemporary Japanese fashion.
Mensah notes, “There is an Asian influence in my
design. I like to keep it simple, but not too simple. I also
like asymmetry and I don’t like to be boring.”
Other standout pieces in her Fall 2014 collection
include a barely pink mohair shift with a prim
turtleneck. With its long slim sleeves and knee-length
hemline, it suggests an updated version of the mod shift
of the late 1960s. Another piece that hints at subdued
retro glamour is a floor-length olive wool jumpsuit.
Mensah is fond of jumpsuits, which in her hands
become high-fashion culottes. Jumpsuits are easy to
39 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
Robin Updike
movement, but not too much movement,” Mensah says.
And the unconventional color combination? “I think
they are both very strong colors, and I think it is like a
marriage. They can go together well, even though they
are so different.”
It is not surprising that the roots of Mensah’s
aesthetic are diverse. Her parents are from Martinique.
She grew up in Paris where her mother owned and
operated a small, neighborhood grocery store. “My
mom was beautiful, sexy. She had a big Afro and always
wore big sunglasses. She had great style.” Mensah
married a man from Benin, and since meeting him has
made numerous trips to Africa. She has also traveled
widely to such places as India, Canada and Brazil. Before
she decided to go into fashion she trained for work in
the tourism industry. “I have to travel. I love traveling
and seeing the cultures wherever I go. My point of view
is when you travel you talk to people and you see that
you have so much in common. This is my inspiration.”
Indeed her home is a stylish mix of minimalist
contemporary furniture and sculpture, antique Asian
rugs, African art, and traditional European touches,
40 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
ALBUS of silk organza; March 2012. Mensah tacked in several parts of the fabric to create the wave shape on the skirt.
Photograph by Jami Davis. Model: Alayna Brandt. MUA/Hairstylist: Tiffany Troiano Lowrly. DEEP OCEAN of lamb skin, deer, cotton
stretch; March 2014. Photograph by Shawn Photography. Model: Lanai Lee. MUA: Veronica Moss. Hair stylist: Leticia Brooks.
Stylist: Laeisha Barton.
wear, she says, and she likes the fact that they look like
dresses, and that they can have a formal look. With its
v-neck bodice and long culotte skirt, pulled in at the
waist with a wide silver belt, the jumpsuit resembles
something Halston might have created in the 1970s.
There are skirts and tops to mix and match in all her
collections. The skirts are usually slim and tops are sleek.
Many of Mensah’s pieces showcase her penchant for
mixing textures, colors and materials.
Mensah follows her instincts when it comes to color.
She likes to stick to basic colors so pieces from a
collection work together. And it is clear that she pays no
attention to trend reports predicting hot colors for
coming seasons. One of her signature fall ensembles is a
brown and navy leather jacket and pants outfit. The
jacket is dark, reddish brown leather with a contrasting
front and draped collar of bright navy leather. It is
fitted, tucked at the waist, and a zipper runs down the
left side. The hem slides from above the waist on the
right side to the fingertip length on the left. A pair of
slightly softer navy blue slim pants completes the outfit.
“I wanted to do something drapey with the jacket, I
wanted to create movement, since water has so much
such as a tall wood and glass display cabinet filled with
cut crystal wine glasses.
Her first trips to Africa were eye opening. “I felt very
European, and I did not know what to expect. I was
amazed by the beauty of the women and the very real
poverty. It was a culture shock for me, but very quickly I
became very impressed with the African women. They
were so elegant. They didn’t have much, but they were
very creative with what they had and very beautiful in
how they wore it. They use a lot of batik and wax cotton
cloth and the textures and colors are amazing.” Mensah
was so impressed with the fabrics that she brought a few
bolts back to Paris with the idea of having them made up
into cocktail dresses. She also considered having
clothing made in Africa based on her designs. Neither
idea worked out and today she laughs about it. “You
learn by your mistakes.”
By 2001 her husband’s French employer had
transferred him to Seattle, and Mensah enrolled in
business and management courses at a Seattle area
junior college. She had ideas for going into fashion, but
this time she wanted to do everything possible to ensure
success. Her husband’s work took them back and forth
to Paris, and briefly to Montreal, but within a few years
they were living in Seattle again and Mensah was
determined to start her own fashion business. She had
friends who knew something about the industry, and
they encouraged her. “My friend helped me make
prototypes, but when I took them to a boutique owner
who started asking technical questions, I couldn’t
answer them. I realized I needed training in clothing
design and construction.” In 2009 she enrolled in a
Seattle fashion design school. “It was the first time I had
ever used a sewing machine. I had to learn to make
patterns, to draft, to drape. I had to learn everything. It
was an eighteen-month course and I learned a lot.”
In 2011 Mensah debuted her first commercial
collection, which she called Femme Fatale. It was
inspired by film noir actresses of the 1930s and 1940s.
The clothing was seductive and feminine. The
collection included a couple of little black dresses that
would have been perfect for Lauren Bacall or Joan
Crawford. One dress features a plunging neckline and a
silk satin peplum plumped up with an under layer of
pink tulle. Another dress from the collection is an
41 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
WAVY of alpaca and lamb leather; March 2014. Photograph by Shawn Photography. Model: Lanai Lee. MUA: Veronica
Moss. Hair stylist: Leticia Brooks. Stylist: Laeisha Barton. ESPERANDO of charmeuse and silk chiffon, a top with pants; July 2012.
Mensah cut the front pant in two pieces and inserted the yellow silk chiffon in the front inside piece. She added a pleat in the
center front of the pant to give more volume in the middle of the pant. Photograph by Jami Davis. Model: Alayna Brandt.
MUA/Hairstylist: Tiffany Troiano Lowrly.
42 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
evening gown made of soft mauve/pink chiffon and
faun-colored wool. The bodice is covered in what looks
like a couple hundred pale pink rose petals. The
collection includes one of Mensah’s signature
jumpsuits, this one made out of a rose and cream print
silk. It has a halter-top and flowing pants. It would
make a terrific hostess outfit around the pool in Palm
Springs or on a Côte d’Azur terrace. “I like jumpsuits
because they have movement and though they can look
like a dress, it is an illusion.”
At first Mensah sewed all the pieces in her collection.
But as she started getting her clothing into a few select
shops, she realized she needed higher levels of
production. She found a factory in Los Angeles that can
make clothing with the detail she wants and for the last
few seasons she has made regular trips to Los Angeles to
work with the factory. She still does some sewing for
customers who want special designs. “It is important for
any designer to go through the process of making the
patterns, grading them, sewing up the clothes. Then you
know how long it takes. But you can’t be one hundred
percent in front of the sewing machine.”
Mensah describes her customer as “an executive who
wants to be different, who has taste and style, who is not
afraid to wear something different and to be seen. She is
very self confident and very put together. She is at home
in the city but also travels.” Mensah’s customers sound a
lot like her. As interested as she is in fashion design,
Mensah is equally enthusiastic about being successful at
the business of fashion. She talks about the need to grow
a business slowly and carefully, the need for well
planned branding and marketing, and how it is
important to know your market.
When she first broke into the local fashion scene she
participated in fashion shows in Seattle, Portland and
Vancouver. The shows helped get her name in front of
boutique owners and private clients. At the same time
she decided to get her collections in shops in Montreal,
Paris, Seattle, and Kirkland, a suburb of Seattle. She
gauged the character of each neighborhood before
selecting specific shops and approaching the owners. “I
spend a lot of time walking around the neighborhoods.
I study the shops. Then I take my book and I explain
that this is my design, my look. Then if they see
something in me they take a few pieces. I like to
approach boutiques. You are selling your line, but also
your personality. And it is a good relationship. After a
while I learn a lot from them about what the customer
likes, what she wants. And I am still learning every time
I make a collection.”
43 ORNAMENT 37.4.2014
AMISSIO of organza; February 2012. Photograph by Jami Davis. Model: Alayna Brandt. MUA/Hairstylist: Tiffany Troiano Lowrly. ALGAE of
wool; March 2014. Mensah added a pleat on center front to create the culotte effect. WATERFALL GOWN of heavy charmeuse with
pleated silk chiffon; March 2014. This white pleated silk chiffon is sewn at the empire waist level so it has more room to create this sense
of flow within the gown. Photograph by Shawn Photography. Model: Lanai Lee. MUA: Veronica Moss. Hair stylist: Leticia Brooks. Stylist:
Laeisha Barton. JOLY of chiffon and silk printed; July 2012. The idea was to create an opened flower. Mensah cut a large piece of silk
chiffon that she folds twelve inches in two and that she sewed with the printed fabric and attached with a wood bag handle around
the neck. The printed fabric has been folded the same way as the yellow silk fabric. Photograph by Jami Davis. Model: Alayna Brandt.
MUA/Hairstylist: Tiffany Troiano Lowrly. Opposite Page: ROSE of Mohair; March 2014. Mensah cuts the front dress in two pieces at the
princess line and adds a leather piping between the pieces. Photograph by Shawn Photography. Model: Lanai Lee. MUA: Veronica
Moss. Hair stylist: Leticia Brooks. Stylist: Laeisha Barton.