Growing up in Montreal, designer Tristan Réhel remembers always having an interest in fashion—specifically he was obsessed with designing clothes for his dolls. “I was constantly drawing and making aluminum-foil dresses for my Bratz,” says Réhel, who is still based in the city. It only makes sense that Réhel’s vibrant fashion brand today reflects those creative childhood beginnings. “I describe my aesthetic now as fever-dream-core,” says Réhel. “My last name, Réhel, translates to ‘real’ in English. My work is a play on that word, balancing the fine line between reality and fantasy, the grotesque and the playful.”
Launched in 2020, Réhel’s namesake label focuses on kooky, eccentric pieces meant to make the wearer smile. When he decided to pursue design full-time after studying fashion at the University of Quebec in Montreal, the designer wanted to create clothes that blur the line between fashion, costume, and art. “I don’t let myself be in a box when I create,” he says. “For me, fashion is all of the above. It’s important to break those codes, and I want my work to encourage authenticity and self-expression to whoever wants to dream—to escape reality.”
Réhel’s surrealist clothes are certainly not your everyday staples. Minimalism and stealth wealth—two buzzwords of 2023—have no place in the designer’s playful world. “Most of my work has a catharsis feel to me,” says Réhel. “As a child I was often bullied for being queer, and as a result I created my own universe in my head as an escapism—a safe place full of creatures, weird beauty, and fantasy.” Citing major inspirations such as Dr. Seuss books, Alejandro Jodorowsky movies, and Björk’s music, Réhel imbues his signature pieces with an otherworldly—and slightly cartoony—feeling. He creates pink floral blouses with oversized bows, sheer dresses with wavy hemlines, and giant purses made of ribbons. “My fever-dream-core aesthetic is always a mix of beautiful chaos,” says Réhel. “We find colorful pieces full of horsehair ribbons, frills, and glitters that exist alongside contrasted spikes, raw edges, and nightmarish textures. They’re often rendered in big sculptural proportions, losing the shape of the body.”
Last month these motifs and more were on full display when Réhel debuted his first runway show as part of Fashion Art Toronto, a multi-arts Fashion Week dedicated to creating a more inclusive space. In his collection, titled Wake Up, It’s Not Real, were velvet cutout dresses with feathered bonnets and sculptural ribbon dresses paired with psychedelic face paint. “The collection takes a deep dive into my fever-dream world, where each of the models was a beautiful and weird creature,” says Réhel. “I wanted the runway to feel like you were watching a theater play mixed with a fashion show. There were some notes of Dr. Seuss children’s books, queer club culture, and personal family references.”
Réhel’s upbeat vision is certainly a breath of fresh air in a fashion climate that, as a whole, has been more sober and serious this year. And the up-and-coming talent will be bringing his wonderfully weird energy into the new year. He has his sights set on dressing everyone from drag queens (recently he dressed Denim from Canada’s Drag Race) to megawatt stars like Björk. “She has always been a big inspiration in my life,” he says. “It would be an honor to dress her.” He also wants to continue broadening the definition of what fashion design can look like. “I want to diversify my brand in different spheres related to the fashion world—work on music videos, ballet shows, art exhibitions, maybe even furniture,” says Réhel. “Inspiring people to dream more—be less real and more Réhel.’’
