Inspired by the ancient art of Georgian felting, Norman and Gio Gaudet are the creative force behind the Gaudet Fashion House. They debuted their Fall 2009 collection at LG Fashion Week in Toronto, introducing the fashion world to their modern and intricately crafted line of outerwear.

ChickAdvisor spoke to Norman Gaudet after the frenzy of Fashion Week died down, to get to know more about Canada’s newest design house. To see the entire Fall 2009 collection, visit the Gaudet website.

ChickAdvisor: What inspired you to start the line ‘Gaudet’?

Gaudet: We used to make a line of men's clothing in Saskatoon. We were creating a line of women's clothing when someone noticed our felt. She went crazy and encouraged us to create a line just using the felt. We tried it and the Gaudet line was born.

ChickAdvisor: What is the collaboration process between yourself and Gio?

Gaudet: Gio and I work very closely creating our collections. Once the collection is conceived, Gio moves to the factory where his technical skills and training play an important part in the manufacturing of the pieces and while having more business background I move to the marketing and sales of the pieces. With that said, there are many white nights where I find myself felting or he finds himself folding catalogues. Every part of launching a collection is important and we pride ourselves that we can do it all together.

ChickAdvisor: When did your love of felting begin?

Gaudet: It's funny. Being Georgian, Gio grew up seeing the felt used for solely functional purposes; to keep you warm. As someone who had never seen it before, I saw the potential of its beauty. I begged him to teach me how to felt and once we started experimenting with the felt and seeing how versatile it can be, we both saw a new era for winter apparel come alive before us. We were able to blend our artistic ability with our design skills and create works of art. It has truly become a love affair. Even now, as we are planning our spring/summer collection, we are creating a felted chiffon. We love working with felt as it gives us so much freedom.


ChickAdvisor: What are your design inspirations?

Gaudet: We both love the 1940's. We love the glamorous women from that time. We love to see women look beautiful but classic and strong. We mixed that with the spring colours found in Georgia and our collection was complete.

ChickAdvisor: Who are some of your favourite designers?

Gaudet: We have so many favourite designers. We have admired Karl Lagerfeld for a long time and but as men, have always had a great respect for Armani. If you look in our closet, you will find mostly D&G, D’Squared, and Cavalli.

ChickAdvisor: Who would you love to dress in your designs?

Gaudet: Michelle Obama. We love her. She is a powerful woman who is not intimidated by anyone. She is strong and will be as much of a fashion trendsetter as Jackie O was.



ChickAdvisor: How was your experience at Toronto Fashion Week?

Gaudet: We had a wonderful experience. It has been an ideal place to launch our collection. Toronto has been welcoming and the FDCC has been supportive.

ChickAdvisor: What do you have planned next for ‘Gaudet’?

Gaudet: Our Spring/Summer collection of course. There will be a few signature spring coats to not disappoint, and we will also be introducing some felted chiffons and silks for underneath our coats.


by Heather Loney