25. Sophie Theallet, Fashion Designer, formerly Azzedine Alaia assistant | Montreal

Sophie Theallet has dressed Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian. An award winning designer in her own right, she started out assisting Jean Paul Gaultier - and then Azzedine Alaia for 10 years. She saw everything! And in this podcast, she decides she’s willing to tell me about it all. 

It took us three meetings but Sophie was eventually ready to explain what “assisting” really meant - the lines she developed, the prints she designed, the symbiotic relationship between herself and Alaia, who she calls the “Last Couturier.” (Along the way, she was also ready to gossip a bit - and to be honest about how hot under the collar things sometimes got)!

When I interview people who worked as “assistants”, they are always very respectful - careful to protect the mystique of the iconic designers they worked for - Of course, Sophie is extremely respectful of the legacy of Alaia - but she was also finally willing to lift the veil and help me get a real sense of the contributions that so many invisible people working around the great designers made to fashion.

Sophie also talks about how she broke away and moved to New York, built her award winning brand and dressed stars from Lauren Hill to Sharon Stone. We also learn how she ended up in Montreal, launching Room 502, a direct to consumer low waste brand of pitch-perfect pieces every woman wants in her wardrobe - couture quality construction at a small fraction of the price.

Cathy Horyn says her colour sense reminds her of Saint Laurent - Sophie’s many admirers from Obama to Rosy de Palma appreciate her approach to empowering women through clothes. 

Sophie has won the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund award. In addition, to running Room 502, she has been a fashion instructor at the University of Montreal and she offers online tutoring for young designers, including hopefuls putting together portfolios for fashion programs around the world.

Find Sophie and Room 502 at https://sophietheallet.com/

Sophie is also on Instagram @sophietheallet

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A full video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel.

To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation

Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.