Kalistan

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Gabrielle Montgomery Hits Kaliburg Runway
Del Valle's Winter Couture Collection anchored by new Spokesmodel
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 30, 5647


Gabrielle Montgomery, Del Valle's new Lead Model, shows off Couture Collection

The new face of House Del Valle, Ms. Gabrielle Montgomery, hit the runways at Kaliburg's Fall Show to the delight of buyers and tastemakers in the Nation's Capital. She was the anchor for Del Valle's Winter Show, which featured elegant couture designs, primarily put together by Designer Michele Martinique of Dulnerstaad. Sleek lines, asymmetric accents and fine fabrics were definitely the mode for the longstanding Kalistani Fashion House this season.

Despite her long history of runway and magazine modeling, the Winter Fashion Show this year marked Montgomery's formal debut in her role as Del Valle's primary Spokesmodel. She led a bevy of both female and male models as they showed off the catalog of Del Valle's options for the Winter Season. "I think people are really taking to Montgomery," said fashion reporter Dale Popper. "She has a natural leadership about her. Her aura is seriousness, and it's something quite different from what we saw under Kelsey Ryan's reign."

According to Popper, where Ryan was daring and playful, Montgomery is refined and arrogant. "Ryan definitely kept her youthfulness and almost kind of an anarchic attitude toward fashion. I mean: we all remember the notorious 4645 summer show where Kelsey more or less disrobed on the runway as the show switched from beach to swimwear. Kelsey just didn't care and she did what she wanted. Just knowing Gabby, I think those wild days are kind of over--You will never see that sort of delightfully scandalous behavior from someone like Gabby. Kelsey was like cocaine compared to Gabby's Merlot. Gabby is very reserved, very conservative, and very professional."

Designer Martinique said that Montgomery is a little more difficult to dress than her predecessor, but this challenge forced her to think about how the clothes would fit women of different sizes. "Kelsey was your classic model size. She was almost waifish in a lot of ways, kind of boyish, and I don't mean that in a negative way. She fit Del Valle's clothes really well, because you could say they were made for her, or for people her size. But Gabby is a little taller, a little curvier, especially in her hips. Plus she's still pretty strong from PT in the NSP. She certainly isn't a model's model, if you follow. So we have to give her a little more slack than we are used to, and it got me thinking how these clothes would fit women of different body shapes and sizes. It's a blessing in that way to have to return to my fundamentals of silhouettes and lines."

Martinique said she focused mostly on expensive natural fibers for her clothing. "I wanted something that looked great, but also was functional enough that someone could wear it out even in a night that is a bit chillier." She said she focused on a cotton and wool blend that is smooth in appearance like cotton, but is a little heavier than you would find in a cotton blouse or in a synthetic skirt. "These clothes are meant to fit you well and be comfortable to wear. Nothing too silly."

Martinique also said she went for simplicity of colors. "Gabby is one of the Brethren, and she further challenged me that she didn't want anything too crazy color wise. I took the challenge seriously, and stuck to light colors, to bring some levity to the season. We don't see a lot of snow outside of Vrassan and Nevaras, so the white itself was not too much. She loved it: we went with light ivory as the main color in the palate, and employed colors only for accents, if any. No blacks, no reds, no purples. When we did have colored fabrics they were pastels, blues, oranges, greens. And flat colors too, no prints."

In all the collection was a hit, and received rave reviews from across the fashion world. Meanwhile, Casa Gran Cultura will be debuting their own Winter Fashion line next week in Sulari and will feature designs by Yoshimi's Jenny Ann Douglas. It will be anchored by Danielle Warren. "Gran Cultura is more focused on more populist fashion this winter," said Popper. "I am eager to see what they bring to Sulari's show. They have a way of offering very modern and interesting designs that are meant for more general consumption. As such, they are rapidly filling that niche that Del Valle more or less surrendered when they put their money behind Kelsey Ryan and went for the refined high end markets. It's exciting how both firms offer competing takes on Kalistani Fashion."

Del Valle's Collection will be on racks in Kaliburg and Sulari by the end of November.

@LaModa