By: Larisa May, Alexia Hill
Photos by: Anna Olp
LOS ANGELES – VELLACHOR was the third collection featured in Revive’s showcase. Designed by Ella Titus, the set consisted of angelic, renaissance-esque men and women’s pieces made with lace, upholstery, three-dimensional forms and more.
Titus said she drew inspiration from childhood memories when coming up with the idea for VELLACHOR.
“I would always go to my grandfather’s antique stores and I would love looking at the beautiful objects and figuring out what stories could these antiques tell us,” Titus said. “It’s so romantic and whimsical to me and I’ve always loved that.”
Her vision for this collection came from the world of classical art, with pieces featuring a variety of prominent works, including oil paintings and statues.
“It’s my second collection and I wanted this one to feel like an art museum, which I now in my adult life find my most inspiration,” Titus said. “I wanted it to feel like an art museum came to life. So everything is either inspired by a famous painting, or it was inspired by an art medium like sculpture, mosaic, oil painting, things like that.”
Putting together such a collection isn’t easy, especially when such intricate pieces are being designed. One such look was a jacket with three-dimensional models of Grecian statues arranged on the back.
“It took a lot of experimenting,” Titus explained. “Some of the things I already knew how to do, but for some mediums, like the sculpture, I did a lot of research. A lot of trial and error, and luckily a lot of success, but I just needed to envision in my mind how to make it work.”
Titus put the collection together in a small time frame, with the aim of displaying it at Revive’s Fashion Week showcase alongside designers: MEGMANSKI, SAULHO and Fayah Athletics.
Revive Fashion Week, an international production company, hosted their biennial LAFW runway series in the fashion district, located at 656 S. Los Angeles St. Arriving at the fourteenth floor venue, it was a blank white canvas with beautiful arched windows that successively allowed the natural light and LA heat in, while guests could shop, drink and admire the city views.
Vendor activations like Maia Ink’s flash tattoos, shopping with Lady Charmel Sanders and permanent jewelry by Permanently Yours set up the production on the right track for a good and engaging show. The cherry on top, was of course, ending their first runway for the day with Titus which proved to be a successful feat from all the crowd’s cheers.
“I have had the collection designed in my brain for a long time, I just hadn’t done it. Then Revive reached out to me about 25 days ago about showing here and I’ve always wanted to show so I couldn’t say no, so I made this collection in the last 20 days. I think it all came together very well and I’m very proud of it.”
Some notable pieces that caught the audience’s attention include a dress featuring a tapestry of The Last Supper, and a bralette top that highlighted the hands from The Creation of Adam across the front.
While all the pieces in the collection Titus showed are currently one-of-a-kind, those interested in purchasing from the brand can reach out to @VELLACHOR on Instagram.