Speaker, lecturer

SHARING MY EXPERTISE...

At it's very heart, haute couture fashion is about tradition, history and craftsmanship.  I have had the opportunity to learn, explore and discover the history of fashion through my hands-on training and experience in couture traditions, sewing, pattern making, corsetry and draping.  Working alongside Christian Lacroix on couture gowns in the 1990s and then creating my own made-to-measure fashion and bridal collection, Gilles Montezin New York, I have made it my business to know everything about how clothes are made.   These skills have given me the opportunity to work with many of the major fashion brands in New York City including Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen and Isabel Toledo, as well as provide expertise in period costuming for opera, ballet and film productions.

In the past few years, I have had the opportunity to share my expertise, outside of the atelier, with students of fashion, history and culture.  I have been a reoccurring guest speaker at The Faces & Places in Fashion lecture series at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in addition to speaking engagements at Berkeley College, AmeriChina, ISEM and more.  What's more, I often work with organizations to develop speaking series, drawing on my vast network of fashion professionals in the area of textile design, costume design, styling, buying, and bridal wear.