Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Alyce.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
VIVRE Couture is a crossover brand from my paper dress making days of Garbage Gone Glam. I started Garbage Gone Glam as an environmental outreach company – eventually becoming a unique and fun ways for products, brands, or services to market themselves in an already busy, saturated world. After making hundreds of paper dresses I had an idea for a charity event. “Let’s have an artist live paint on a white paper cocktail dress!” It was a huge success and people still talk about the event. Since that day, I realized that we had to create way more of these “hand-painted dresses.” But it would have to be made of something more substantial and that’s when canvas came to mind. A hand-painted dress created from artists canvas was an incredible way to turn my paper dresses into wearable garments. Now, the couture canvas gowns fitted to each individual client are lined with quality fabrics, finished with a beautiful zipper, and 100% hand-painted. No two dresses are ever alike. We have had 2 successful collections with the third now to be our first ever bridal line. It will launch in March 2018.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s definitely not easy making dresses from something that should hang on a wall. Primed artist canvas isn’t buttery smooth like silk or chiffon. It definitely helped knowing how to shape paper and plastics to a human body. I’m able to manipulate the canvas in the same way to get flowing, beautiful shapes that people love!
It’s also challenging for the masses to understand that these are actually hand-painted. Once the garment is fully made, it’s turned over to the artists. They spend hours and hours hand painting each item from the ball gowns and cocktail dresses to the purses and bow ties.
We want the world to know that these aren’t easy to make, but they’re worth it. The people that wear these pieces literally become a work of art. Every designer hopes to achieve this, and we can do it every single time with our painted garments. The colors, the textures, and the overall concept is something unique to the fashion world and we hope people can appreciate and see the beauty in each stitch and each brush stroke.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the VIVRE Couture story. Tell us more about the business.
We are truly proud to hand-make each piece of clothing and hand-paint them once they’re made. We are known for the Palm Beach Collection of bright blues and jellyfish, along with sandy beaches and palm trees. We are so proud to have seen our collections walk the runways in New York City and showcased in Los Angeles. Our entire concept sets us apart from many other couture designers. Once the pieces are fitted and finalized through a series of fittings and alterations, they are passed onto the next phase to be painted. Just as a designer can sew on 1 bead at a time, our creations are painted one stroke at a time. There is talent on both sides, but hand-painting a full canvas gown is something completely spectacular. We’ve never seen anything quite like it.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The fashion industry is always changing. But it’s goals and ideals are always the same. Make people look and feel their best. Our colorful and black and white collections have graced so many different men and women. Each person to experience VIVRE Couture absolutely falls in love with it. We hope to start a new trend, and a new way to do couture. Hand-sewn, hand-fitted, and hand-painted all over the USA. This is something that should change the industry.
Pricing:
- Cocktail dresses start at $3,500
- Gowns start at $6,000
- Purses start at $395
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vivrecouture.com
- Email: info@vivrecouture.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivrecouture/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vivrecanvascouture/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/VIVRECoutureUSA
Image Credit:
Palm Beach Photography by Criss Gomez and Ian Jacob, New York City Photography by Designer Kristen Alyce
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
