About
Corinne Monique Long has been sketching and sewing since she was a little girl. Corinne attended the University of Alberta, Canada, graduating in 2009 with a BSc degree in Human Ecology with a Major in Textiles and Clothing, and a Minor in Design and Product Development. In her graduating year, Corinne organized and produced the Faculty Fashion Show, in collaboration with Edmonton Fashion Week.
During her studies, Corinne traveled to Paris, France, and attended the Paris American Academy. There she trained intensively, learning the haute couture techniques of Nina Ricci, draping methods of Madame Gres, millinery skills of Jean Paul Gaultier, and the handbag and accessory craft of Anne Valerie Hash, as well as Japanese Shibori dyeing and nuno felting techniques. During her stay in Paris, Corinne also worked as a backstage assistant and dresser for Elie Saab during his Fall 2008 Haute Couture Collection runway show.
In 2009, Corinne was chosen from 116 Canada-wide entries as one of 25 Télio Design Competition finalists and was featured during Montreal Fashion Week, as well as in the press nation- wide, including The Canadian Press, and on television, including Breakfast Television and City TV. That same year, Corinne was honored with the Dr. Elizabeth Feniak Award for Excellence in Writing for her essay entitled ‘The Little Black Dress,’ published in the Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2010. In 2010, Corinne competed as a finalist in the Nuit Blanche Art of Fashion Design Competition, and was featured in various media including The Toronto Globe and Mail. Corinne has worked as a design and production assistant for many Canadian as well as American designers, including Greta Constantine, House of Spy, Jade Kinrade, Mariah Amine Couture, Penicullus Bellum, Sofiss Apparel, Stefanie Bezaire, and Wildhagen Hats. Corinne has gained an excellent appreciation of colour, pattern, texture, materials, construction, and current trends. Corinne currently freelances and enjoys styling and photographing her designs as additional creative outlets.
Through Rogues Gallery Presents Emerging Designer Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week, February 2013, Corinne debuted the launch of her own eponymous fashion label, Corinne Monique, an innovative, timeless, luxurious line for the modern woman. Corinne also showed her label as an up-and-coming designer on an international platform at Tobago Fashion Week in May 2013. Both fashion weeks garnered the new label national and international media coverage in both print and online articles, including The Montreal Gazette, The Edmonton Journal, Desirable Magazine, i- Fashion Magazine, and Fashion Zone Egypt Magazine, as well as on television and radio, including C News, RamaTV, Caribbean SuperStation, and Hott93. The label's second collection, 'Medusozoa,' was shown during NYFW, including a presentation at Lincoln Square, as well as at Virginia Fashion Week, in September and October 2013, respectively. In May 2014, during her European/Middle Eastern inspiration tour, Corinne was invited to speak as an international guest designer at Vichi Blog's Fashion Night Out, Cairo, Egypt. Later that year, In October 2014, Corinne was invited to showcase her entire line in a European debut at Salone della Moda in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Besides design, Corinne enjoys fashion journalism, blogging, photography, and illustration. Corinne regularly blogs and her articles, photographs, and illustrations have been featured numerous times on Independent Fashion Bloggers’ Links à la Mode as well as other fashion journalism websites. She has also written for international publications, such as Fashion Zone Egypt magazine and Modelboard Magazine. Corinne’s unique position in the fashion industry gives her a backstage pass to many exclusive, insider events around the world, as well as a sneak peek into the life of a fashion designer.
After an inspirational tour, which included visiting New York City, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Egypt, in the fall of 2014, Corinne moved to her mother’s home town of Saint John, New Brunswick. One year later, Corinne founded and launched Canvas & Cocktails, now Create over Cocktails, Canada’s most sophisticated create and sip company. Besides freelancing, Corinne is devoted full-time to running Create over Cocktails, both behind the scenes and as an artist and host, managing the company's rapid expansion throughout Atlantic Canada and beyond. Corinne loves assisting others find their inner artist and nurture a sometimes neglected creative side. She herself has overcome a lifelong fear of public speaking through working for Create over Cocktails and has continued to learn far more than she ever imagined in managing the start-up business. Having an entrepreneurial spirit, she loves being her own boss and she considers herself lucky to have been able to create something out of necessity which has turned into something so sustainable for herself and others. Corinne considers herself even more fortunate to be able to support herself and others while building a company which enables her to work towards her dreams alongside her partner. In 2018, Corinne became the head designer for Ocean Mimic, producing an eco-friendly swimwear collection set to launch this fall. Also this year, Corinne was invited to show a small resort collection of her own line at a fashion event in Saint John. Corinne is currently working on a few art and design projects as well as the expansion and re-launch of her own clothing line, which are set to release soon!
If you have an inquiry, project, or commission you'd like to discuss, or if you are interested in placing an order, please contact me. I would love to hear from you!
Corinne draws design inspiration from her lifelong passions: art, music, photography, dance, film, literature, travel, and nature. She designs for the strong, confident woman, choosing clean, feminine lines to enhance the female form.
Corinne Monique's debut Fall/Winter 2013 collection, ‘The Year of the Serpent’, focuses on a sense of wanderlust surrounding the exoticism of the Far East and is a modern take on the Orientalism of bygone eras for the global warrior-empress of the future. The decadent and dramatic yet controlled collection examines the symbolism of the poisonous serpent, a powerful mythological creature familiar to all cultures, by conjuring up folkloric images, opulent finishes, seductive colours, and sensual textures, such as brocades, silks, wools, velvet, and lace in crimson, persimmon, ruby, fuchsia, ultramarine, midnight, cobalt, emerald, malachite, onyx, and gold. Cloaked in mystery and majesty and a hint of danger, each gilded piece combines the techniques of haute couture methods with ready-to-wear ease. The combined effect is an escape into a dreamlike, narcotic state of enlightenment.
Corinne Monique's Spring/Summer 2014 collection, entitled ‘Medusozoa,’ was inspired by the designer’s recent inaugural visit to the tropical Caribbean. The current collection continues last season’s ‘Year of the Serpent’ focus on a sense of exoticism, this time centering on the colourful and exuberant carnival celebrations or fetes of the Caribbean islands and their joie de vivre. The collection also draws inspiration from the equally exotic and beautiful sea life found in the Caribbean ocean, especially as relating to the jellyfish. Medusozoa is the scientific name for the strikingly exquisite yet fearsome and poisonous creature, alluding to the powerful and intelligent mythological character Medusa. Medusa is the embodiment of all things feminine, having qualities and symbolism similar to the serpent, and the term also means ruler or queen. Like the jellyfish, Medusa is said to have been ravishingly beautiful as well as terrifying She could turn men to stone with one glance.
Using the power of attraction, the feminine collection seeks to tempt onlookers with clean, modern, seductive lines, reminiscent of the structured yet fluid jellyfish, featuring asymmetrical hems and cutouts. The pieces showcase alluring colours and opulent fabrics, such as chiffon, metallic silks, and dazzling sequins in hues of sea glass, hibiscus, orchid, sun-drenched gold, moonlit silver, and brilliant white. The result is a dramatically confident collection with a zealous spirit.