When it comes to timeless, feminine apparel and pin-worthy looks, the Montreal-based brand Betina Lou has got you covered. It has been that way since their launch in 2009 and it continues with their new Fall/Winter collection. Designer Marie-Eve Emond set her sights on more minimalistic silhouettes than ever with this collection, and what she created has us reaching for corduroy overalls, shirt dresses, and pullovers to last us through the winter.
“With comfort in mind and a vision for easy-to-match capsule wardrobes, we wanted to create looks that would be both classic and modern,” explains Emond.
It is this combination of comfort and style that drew us to this collection. While creating the pieces, Emond says she had her customers in mind. “[We are inspired by] the girls and women who wear our clothes, firstly and mainly—the day-one clients and the new ones,” says Emond. “We listen to what they need, what they like, what they dislike, and what they feel comfortable in.”
Emond says her team feels privileged to meet her customers every day at Betina Lou’s new La Petite-Patrie store. After getting to know them better, Emond has discovered many wonderful traits about them. “They’re smart, funny, creative…and the best inspiration a designer could wish for!” she says.
With so many timeless pieces in the collection, we wondered which garments were Emond’s favorites—both to design and to wear.
“It’s always so hard to [pick just one],” Emond says. While she admits to wearing the Pauline sweater almost every morning, there are other key pieces from the collection that have her heart.
“The Simone shirt dress was the one I couldn’t wait to grab for myself,” she says. “I consider it a no-brainer outfit that you can dress up or down.”
[We are inspired by] the girls and women who wear our clothes, firstly and mainly—the day-one clients and the new ones.
We, too, feel in love with the Simone shirt dress—available in both indigo and black—at first sight. Its small collar, short cuffed sleeves, and button placket are simplistic, yet flattering, and can easily be paired with a number of different outwear options this season.
Emond also adores the Jacqueline dress. According to her, she designed this A-line piece because she needed a basic black dress to wear to after-work gatherings, like events and launches. “The fact that you can wear it alone or over a shirt or sweater makes it a very versatile piece,” she explains. Also available in houndstooth, it is tailored to perfection with side pockets, a flattering neckline, and rib hem.
Of course, Emond also couldn’t forget to mention Lio, the brand’s iconic corduroy jumper, available in black and indigo. “It was a unanimous favorite even before its release,” Emond explains. “It’s comfortable, it’s fun, and you can layer it over almost any top you own. What’s not to like?”
Now with fall receding behind us and the dead of winter approaching, I ask Emond which trends she is looking forward to embracing the most. While she admits that she loves fall and winter for their “inevitable layering madness,” she’s most excited about “the major shift for straight lines and clean, refined silhouettes.”
“I adore that comfort is part of that trend,” she says. And we are so glad, too.
Browse the whole collection, out now, at betinalou.com.
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BY MEGAN PORTORREAL
