Everything in between

A nice chat with Fabrice Tardieu

I’ve always been very proud of my Haitian heritage. I’m even prouder of when I discover some of the most inspiring Haitians having success in their endeavors and are proud to showcase our beautiful culture.

Speaking of inspiring Haitian entrepreneur, I have the chance to have a fun and really cool chat with one of the most famous designers in America Fabrice Tardieu. He is passionate, insightful and clearly very smart.

Let’s discover this classy and fabulous human being.

Sab: You were born in Haiti, The Pearl of the Antilles and you went to Paris to continue your college education. Could you tell us about your experience of leaving Haiti to go to France to discover the city of light?

FT: Moving to Paris on my own at such a young age was very challenging and scary.

But at the end, it is certainly the best thing that could have happened to me professionally. It opened my eyes on so many different levels. But the most important was the different cultures it exposed me to. I believe one of the reasons my brand is successful today is because I am able to understand what each market is looking for and feels comfortable buying. Therefore, I design collections that are understood by the North American, European and Middle Eastern markets due to my understanding of their cultures.

Sab: After college, you were an intern for Giorgio Armani and you did work for the fashion house after your internship. What is the biggest lesson from this once in a lifetime experience?

FT: My biggest lesson from Giorgio Armani has been:

To always Design a collection that has a very strong identity that is recognizable from a mile away.
Distribute to a minimal number of places while maximizing sales
Always be on top of everyone from the assistant designers to the warehouse guys.

These were the main guidelines from My first brand shirt Bogosse back in 2004 and today 14 years later I am still applying the same rules.

Sab: Did it come naturally to mix your artistically side with your analytic side together?

FT: My business side is actually what put me in touch with my artistic side. God gifted me with the talent of understanding what people would like to wear. I, therefore, became a designer without ever learning how to even draw. It has always been something I visualized. My talent has been to be able to communicate these visions into others and bringing them into life.

Sab: I find it inspiring that we see more and more Haitian designer like Stella Jean and yourself making some waves in the fashion world.

In our culture, our parents want us to be the greatest doctors, lawyers, engineers you name it out there. Even if we may have some artistic aspirations, they will strongly recommend you to put that aside.

Do you feel that slowly but surely, this mentality is changing since more and more artistic Haitians artists are having success in their field?

FT: I think that we do see more and more young kids of Haitian descent take an artistic direction. I believe it is a bit more accepted now due to social media. What I mean by that, more and more people have access to information and can clearly visualize success stories. Whereas in the past if you didn’t read an article or was told about a brand or an artist etc… you would have never known about them.

Sab: A quick Haitian food questions for you:

a) Griot ou Lambi?
b) Riz djon-djon ou du riz à pois?
c) Accras ou pâté?

FT: Accras for appetizers, griot with duri ak pwa to finish with lambi and duri djondjon.

Sab: I could eat Lambi with duri djondjon all day, every day.

FT: That’s right I EAT LIKE AN ANIMAL!

Sab: I love asking this question. What would you tell to the young 19 years old aspiring fashion designer if you could go back in time?

FT: Never take the word NO personally. Keep trying until no becomes maybe and maybe becomes YES!

In fashion, you get turned down constantly by buyers, manufacturers, banks, etc… It is one of the most challenging business in my opinion. You can only succeed at this if you are truly passionate about it and NEVER GIVE UP!

Thank you, Fabrice, for this opportunity to have a quick chat with you.

Most welcome….

https://www.fabricetardieu.com

Le Trio en délire… Volume Uno

Écrit et filmé par Sabine Démosthènes

Quand tu réunis ”The Preacher”, ”Le Fou Éduqué” et de ”Brain Gal”, tu ne peux pas savoir à quoi t’attendre.

Une des questions du jour était si LeBron est un héros ou pas.

Regardons ce débat avec attention.

Le trio était d’accord que LeBron est considéré comme un héros.

Yeah.

Bon, passons au prochain sujet.

Dans une des épisodes de South Park, le professeur de la gang a dit aux petits enfant: La drogue, c’est mal…

Ce prochain segment est un avertissement pour notre belle petite jeunesse.

Ce n’est pas bon la drogue les enfants.

Ah, les questions à la Sab. Il y a une leçon à retenir à la fin.

Restez brancher à la même Batchaîne, à la même Batheure avec ce trio.

Northside!

Le trio:

Le Fou Éduqué – Donald Démosthènes

The Preacher – Gregory Renaud

Micky – Mikelsie Féquière

The heat is on!

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

The heat is on…

The heat is on, on…

I’m trying to sing one of Glenn Frey’s classic songs. I was always singing this song when I was younger. My dear Mamma’s poor ears, singing was never my greatest attribute.

It’s so hot in Montreal and yes, we are complaining, like little babies. Let’s all remember our state of mind from November to April.

I was the first one to chant like a gospel singer that I cannot take this cold weather anymore. Even if I’m a very proud child born in the NorthSide, the North Pole.

I’m being a little bit too melodramatic. But damn, it’s so hot outside.

Even Raymonde’s plant (in memory of my father-in-law) in my living room is all saggy.

But the heat was worse Sunday night. While I was watching the highlights of the World Cup match between Haiti hmm I mean Brazil vs Mexico (what a game!), I went to check my Twitter account.

And boom! I thought I was passing out because of the heat (ok ok, I have AC at home but still), I saw a tweet that King Lebron is going to the City of Angels.

Holy macaroni!

For two days, I had to contain myself. But with the first official episode of The NorthSide, I will let our Educated Fool analyze this historic trade. I wonder if the Educated Fool will talk about Kobe Bryant not being the golden child of the Lakers anymore.

The heat is really on…

I got Toronto on my mind

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

I’ve still got Toronto on my mind, even after a few days back to the city of a thousand church bells, Montreal.

It wasn’t my first time in the Tdot, but it was my first time alone as an adult in the city. A few days disconnecting with my usual non-orthodox routine, that is – my crazy life, and without speaking the Molière language was interesting.

Montreal does have a special European charm and a certain je ne sais quoi, but Toronto is more a cosmopolitan city, with hidden treasures to be found every few streets.

I was in Toronto especially to listen to a nice conversation.

This conversation was insightful, funny, charming and so authentic. I’m really happy to have been part of it as a listener. Especially since part of this dynamic duo is my ultimate favorite journalist and person I try to emulate the most in this kind of journalism.

He is one of the most respected men in this field.

Nick Clooney is the journalist I am talking about. I won’t deny, listening to him gave me chills. Listening to him talk about Hazim “Haz’ Avdal, a young Yazidi Iraki refugee who is like a second son to him, I saw the pride of a father whose son gave him hope to believe in goodness in people again.

Both Amal and Nick were proud family members when they spoke about Az, as well as with Nadia Murad. Nadia is a young Yazidi woman that was captured by Isis. She escaped with some scars, but that hasn’t stopped her from being the sister, the mother and the ultimate superwoman to all the Yazidis.

She is proudly fighting the good fight with her secret weapon, Amal Clooney.

Amal is more than the woman who married one of the biggest movie stars in the world and one heck of a director (come on, Good Night and Good Luck was a masterpiece).

Yes, the media talks about her latest look. I do have to admit, she mixes fun and sassiness in her look like the majority of us women in this world aim to do.

There is even a blog dedicated to her fashion sense, but my point is that even the blog dedicated to her fashion sense talks about the cause that she cherishes. I definitely have more respect for a blog like the one I’m talking about over the TMZs of the world.

Why she is more than a celebrity?

It’s because, like Audrey Hepburn, her main focus is to shine light on causes that may not been known or talked about much. It’s not be easy to have this growth in attention when only 6 years ago, she could go to eat at her favorite Italian restaurant in Notting Hill without being mobbed by a hundred photographers.

But she has a good co-pilot in George and a good family unit that will continue to be her fortress.

I came back to Montreal with a refreshing perspective on life and the act of compassion.

I didn’t think that the city of Toronto would be the type to remind me to continue being compassionate and to keep up the good fight.

Speaking of keeping up the good fight, the best boxing trainer is in Toronto! Go check him out, Jorge Blanco. If you are in Montreal, you are not forgotten. You can train here in Montreal as well.

I’m so overdue that I will give my coach a call.

In the end, Toronto and Montreal are the perfect couple (except in the NHL). They are complementary to each other.

Can we take this as an example and be more complementary to each other as human beings, especially with regard to compassion and human decency?

I did see it last weekend in the Tdot!

http://spaniard.ca

Clooney Foundation For Justice official website

Did Deadpool pass the Alex Armony-Fridman test?

Written by Alex Armony-Fridman

The first Deadpool movie almost didn’t happen, it was only because someone at Fox leaked the test footage and the fans demanded to see a full feature movie that Deadpool was made.

It crushed records, beating all other sony superhero movies while on a relatively low budget, it was the second highest grossing R rated movie of all time, after Passion of the Christ and spawned other R rated superhero movies like Logan.

But even with such a high bar, Deadpool 2 did what few other sequels do and actually built on what the fans loved from the first one.

The movie was fantastic.

The first thing that the movie did right was add way more meta jokes, Deadpool himself mentions all three reasons mentioned earlier as to why Deadpool 1 was so great. The movie had way more meta humour than Deadpool 1, even going as far as to make fun of the DC Universe.

I do however think that most can agree that the best part was the second post credit scene when Deadpool “unfucks the timeline”. The movie’s plot was engaging and fast paced, the humor and action was well balance and some might even say that this movie surpasses Deadpool 1.

In conclusion, if you haven’t seen Deadpool 2 yet, go see it, and stay for the post credit scenes, you will not regret it.

The Festival Season Opener: The Santa Teresa Festival and the Power of Love

Written by Sabine Demosthenes

This past weekend was such a nice weekend.

It was something we actually needed with all of the bad news we have been getting and the state of this world lately.

For some of us, we witness this weekend the power of love (I just love Reverand Curry).

For others, they meditate on how we can make this world a better place.

And for the young at heart, they dance the night away at the best music festival on the North Shore of Montreal, the second edition of the Santa Teresa Festival.

I pretended I was still a young twenty-something ingenue this past Sunday; trying to act cool like in my twenties with the young folks but, my age betrays me. I still manage to party like it was still 1999 (my favorite sentence).

The atmosphere was electrical.

Everyone was happy. For a split second, I didn’t think about how the world was falling apart. I must have still been under my “Power of Love Spell”. Festivals like this are good opportunities to discover new talent.

I was impressed with the Mount Kimbie band from the UK, just by seeing the crowd sing along, you could tell Montrealers were enchanted.

Mount Kimbie and King Krule Santa Teresa 2018

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In my mid-twenties, I was a die-hard fan of electronic music and synth-pop. Listening to Mount Kimbie made me fall in love with this style of music all over again.

Many others artists were there too: Feist, Charly Bliss, Rose Bush, Milk & Bone, and many more.

For a small suburban community like The North Shore, they sure know how to get us to groove like there was no tomorrow!

I can’t wait to see round 3 next year!

https://www.santateresa.ca/en/

Let’s not throw the first stone at Kanye … Yet

Written by Sabine Démosthènes

When I first listened to Kanye’s “The College Dropout” album, I felt like I was rekindling my love story with hip-hop. It was during the era of Ja Rule, DMX and Nelly. I wasn’t feeling the love anymore and had not been discovering new artists.

And then, Mr. West came into my life in an epiphany kind of way.

With his sophomore album, I was still in Kanye’s land. Until this day, listening to both his albums, I had the feeling he was one of my big brother’s childhood friends and I was listening to their conversations discussing the greatest NBA players to who shot Mr. Burns in The Simpson’s (we all know it was Maggie Simpson).

On those two albums, Kanye was saying some pretty hard cold truths about life in a very clever way. I have to applaud his song writing during that period.

But, as the years passed and the social media empire took control of so many things, including the option of thinking before writing or saying something that could end up being the stupidest thing you read, not of the day but of the minute! Kanye seemed to have been more lost and less focused.

He married a woman whose entire empire and fan base was in big part due to social media creations (and that is okay) but I always expected Kanye to be with a woman of substance. Someone with more going on in the brain department, more an academic girl (hmm hmm like me) or an intellectual. But, it wasn’t the case.

And then, he goes from someone that was not afraid to tackle the subject of slavery in a very smart and clever way, like in his song “We Major” featuring Nas The Great and Really Doe to supporting the current president of the so called free world (I really don’t see what the free world stands for anymore).

In my mind, something seems odd. Last week, Kanye brought up the subject of slavery again. It was as well put, just as he sang in his first two albums. This is what I thought at first, since I didn’t see the video but read the headline on a website that I won’t name because I’m ashamed. I was just numb.

But then, (and of course my brother tried to make see his comment in a different light), I realized the problem with Kanye is that he takes himself way too seriously. When you are really listening to what he said, it’s not almost crazy. The way it came out was damn crazy! As the very black girl that I am, I know that this subject always brought us into discussions.

Actually, in a funny kind a way, Kanye is making us think about this delicate subject. My problem is why do you go to TMZ (of all organisations) instead of having a very intelligent conversation with Christiane Armanpour at CNN or Gayle King at CBS. Those journalists would have pushed the envelope and asked him to be more clear.

No, he went to TMZ.

For him to be a supporter of the man that is the so called Commander-In-Chief of the Free World is so weird. Especially for someone that had blasted George W. Bush. But, can we assume that maybe he is supporting this person for a very selfish reason?

Maybe, because he is going to be less rich, he needs this person?

It’s only a question I’m asking.

Please, don’t throw the first stone at me. I am innocent.

The weeks to come will be something!

We will listen to the upcoming albums and maybe after one song, we will be so mad at ourselves for even listening to it, or maybe, it will be another masterpiece. For the masterpiece part, I wrote it because one of his collaborations will be (if it’s still happening) with Nas. So, it could really be good.

In the meantime, let’s hold our breath for the next Kanye moment.

And let’s not throw the first stone at Kanye… Yet.

The Chronicle