About Us

Multidisciplinary designer Evalina Schmidtke chose the craft of couture as her specialty, spanning the genres of fashion from technical outerwear design to custom tailoring and dressmaking. Her career, spanning 27 years, has established a broad foundation for expressing her craft in the world of residential styling. With childhood roots in the Okanagan, Evalina grew up on an orchard, establishing a strong work ethic at a young age with chores tending to the orchard and gardens. One of her first jobs was as a wine tour hostess for Mission Hills Vineyard. “I loved working at the winery and being amongst the process of winemaking. I was able to observe the meticulous attention to process and how timing and favorable growing conditions were essential elements to perfecting results. There were no shortcuts. I loved the earthy, raw, and brute processes that resulted in such refinement. It is the same ethic in each of the disciplines of fashion and home interiors.” With sights on a career in fashion, Evalina moved to Calgary to work at her aunt’s factory, SUN ICE, where she spent ten years honing her skills in active sportswear design. Sylvia Rempel, her mother’s sister, was a pioneer of skiwear in Alberta and became a master mentor to Evalina in developing her trade of fashion design while working through the processes of manufacturing. Her passion, however, was directed toward high fashion, with experiences on fashion runways – a part-time job that introduced her to the world of evening wear, luxurious fabrics, and galas. Just one year after moving to Calgary, she entered and won the title of Miss Calgary 1986 and was awarded a talent scholarship for her fashion collection. Her sights were firmly set on designing evening wear, but she realized that she needed to learn the trade of manufacturing, an essential understanding for all fashion designers. After a decade working at the Sun Ice factory, her dreams of couture fashion honed in on Paris. After studying the custom fitting process of bespoke pattern drafting and draping techniques in 1994, she applied to enroll in a seminar course on Haute Couture at the Paris Fashion Institute. “One must work consistently towards your goals to be successful in achieving them with your aim on the target.” It was a dream come true to be accepted as one of 18 students for the semester to learn from the best in Haute Couture. That autumn of 1994, while her class was attending a surprise grand finale tour at the highly esteemed Maison Lesage Embroidery, Evalina encountered a chance meeting with the master embroiderer himself, Monsieur Francois Lesage. Prior to attending the Fashion Institute, Evalina had found a book in the Calgary Library titled *The Master Touch of Lesage*, gaining her attention. She read the family story of Lesage Embroidery in her desire to know everything she could about the world she was to encounter in Paris. The story of the Lesage family was filled with life journeys rooted in history, both in Paris and in Hollywood. “His desk was an artistic jumble of fabrics, embroidery swatches, and invitations to the upcoming fall couture collections stacked in order: ‘must attend,’ ‘give away,’ and ‘undecided.’ Antique home furnishing textiles draped a chair, with embroidery dating from 1858 from the House of Michonet, the foundation of the Lesage family legacy. Framed fashion photographs displayed on his wall featured famous models wearing couture gowns embellished with Lesage hand embroidery, each one with a personally written note of gratitude from the designer himself. Christian Lacroix, Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Valentino! A vintage Spanish matador jacket hung with elaborate scrolls of gold-plated metallic embroidery swirling in an arabesque rhythm amidst the sounds of cars and vespas entering through an open window.” It was impossible for Evalina to know that in a few months’ time she would be nervously sitting in the office of the master himself. Monsieur Lesage entered the room, sitting opposite Evalina, crossing his legs and taking a long inhale on his cigarette held in his left hand. Leaning his head back, he exhaled and proclaimed, “Ah, Italian knit,” as he commented on the camel-colored cashmere cable knit jumpsuit Evalina had recently purchased in a fashion boutique located at Place des Victoires. He smiled and listened, cigarette in hand, speaking with heavily accented, perfect English, more as a statement than a question. “So, I hear you have ideas for my school.” After only getting a few words out, he interrupted her, saying he was hungry. “Let’s speak over lunch!” “I listened to him with awe as he spoke of his personal experiences working with couturiers at Hollywood film studios and his encounters with Hollywood actresses and famous fashion designers.” Evalina was transported into a world of fantasy, filled with a kaleidoscope of stars and fantastical stories, recounting in person what she had read in the book selected off a Calgary Library shelf only months prior. This event left an indelible mark on the pathway of her career.