Josette Luyckx designs and builds each piece letting the fabrics inspire her. She has been designing for over twenty years, with the last nine years dedicated to wearable art. She holds a degree in fashion design from Ryerson University.

Josette’s methods are a counterpoint to Marie’s. In cutting and designing the fabric, she is guided by a formal, structured classicism.  “Nature cannot direct the way in which a human body is adorned,” notes Josette. “By definition, when we put on clothes, we are turning from nature. Failing to recognize that would lead to viewing the body as canvas - a view I don’t share.”

Instead, Josette views the body as sculpture. Her role is to guide the eye along the lines of the body, following the signposts established by hundreds of years of Western fashion. “It is impossible to design clothes without echoing established icons in the Western view of the body,” she says. “If you did otherwise, you would be designing clothes for art galleries, not for real use. This is art that is intended to be worn.” 

Josette chooses accents, closures and trims that acknowledge this essential conservatism without submitting to artistic clichés. Her framing and shaping techniques hint at Greek statuary and formal Western portraiture, while remaining abstract and non-representational.




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