Opulence of Velvet Gala in Honor of the Best Designer of 2023
Melina Cortes - Nmili
By Associate Director of Fashion North East Coast
Ogla Kwasniewski, Photography by Andrew Dunne
Melina Cortes-Nmili is not a stranger to readers of the “Gladys” magazine. In 2018, she was featured in Influencers Issue and won a title “Women of Influence”. Watching Melina’s journey since then is simply inspiring. In 2023, one of the most prestigious Boston medi publications, “Boston magazine”, named Melina Cortes-Nmili as the Best Clothing Designer of the Year of 2023.
What makes Melina’s design stand out? Every collection is dedicated to a motto: “Beauty that transcends the trend”. Melina’s brand “Lalla Bee” was launched in 2016 and since then every woman who wears a piece of the collections tells a story of strength, effortless beauty, and unveiling confidence. January 17 of 2024 was marked as a date of an official tribute to Melina”s Award as the Best Clothing Designer of 2023 and it took place at the historical world famous Isabella Stewart Gardner museum (Boston, MA).
Isabella Stewart Gardner was a pioneer of transcending traditional societal norms of her gender and class. She created and cultivated her own identity through art, fashion and photography. It was given to debut Melina’s first Velvet collection at such an amazing landmark of history, art and fashion.Over 400 guests attended the “Velvet Gala”. The cocktail reception was accompanied by a life violin performance of Frederick James Woodard III. Two ballet dancers, Polina Asanove and Andrea Gutierrez were greeting guests on a staircase, dressed in Lalla Bee’s newest collection of dresses that were a combination of velvet, taffeta and silk in a silhouette of the ballet tutus. Polina Asanova and Andrea Gutierrez, professional ballet dancers, added grace and poise to the event. From the reception area, guests were led through a glass corridor that was transformed into an alley of rose sculptures, created by JNG Event Consulting. The fashion show started with beautiful remarks from Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and from the Honoree of the event, Melina Cortes-Nmili. DJ Freddy Fontaine aka DJ Backspin was curating the whole evening with dynamic and eclectic music, which created an unforgettable vibe and atmosphere of the event.
The Velvet collection was presented by professional models: Akou Diabakhate, Erwin Dimagiba, Shweta Rawat, Andrea Gutierrez, Kristina Ksander and Olga Kwasniewski. Each model was walking down the alley of the court garden accompanied by a specifically designed music composition. Each dress had a story, a meaning. The presentation of each dress was theatrical and dramatic. Models were creating beautiful choreography on a runway. The collection’s finale was a gown presented by model Olga Kwasniewski.
As Melina described: “I had never had an incline to work with Velvet so this was a perfect opportunity to play with something new. this was an amazing opportunity not only to showcase my designs, to work with friends and to create!This collection is very romantic and close to me - all of my collections are close to me but in the past I was very cognizant about people’s taste and I would squeeze in my desires and in all honesty for this show I did what Melina wanted....period. I was not designing for anyone I was designing purely for the sake of showing the audience who I am and what my brand is about: authenticity. Roots. and Perseverance. and it was all so well received it was music to my heart!
Probably one of the most special dresses of the night is the strapless full skirt with a split. It is an ode to my grandmother: a Matriarch and really the woman who taught me to walk with my head held high despite the circumstances. I was raised by my grandmother so that my mother had the time and quite frankly the chance to go to college. My grandmother, Doña Maria was a self taught seamstress but she did not do it professionally. She made all of our uniforms and party dresses. She always made herself dresses that looked very different from what the other ladies were wearing... ruffles, color, print you name it. I did a fashion show years ago and asked my friend Juan Miguel Guirado, a verytalented painter, to make a picture of my childhood. I sent him several images and he made a collage and painted what I believe is a fantastic representation of who I am. I had his images printed on fabric and by the time everything was set and done there was not enough time to include it on the show. years later here we are... This dress is so very special as it is the result of pure collaboration by different artists and worn by none other than my dear friend Olga. It was definitely a highlight to close the show with this dress. Doña Maria would be proud”.
Producing a unique presentation of each dress would be impossible without the talent and dedication of top makeup artists Jeremy Anaya and Janell Akoi. Exquisite hairstyling was done by the amazing Tatyana Kovaleva. Beautiful images of the behind the scenes and during the fashion show were taken by photographers Andrew Dunne and Micah Holder of Bash _pics. Thank you to these photographers for their dedication by working under harsh and restricted conditions and still being able to produce moments to remember. A heartfelt gratitude goes to Peggy Fogelman, Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the museum, for curating the “Velvet gala” and Mary Thompson, who helped enormously during production of this event. The staff of the ISGM were going a mile ahead to make sure the event’s flow would be nothing but perfection.
This grand event would be not having astonishing success without hard work for months of Abdou Nmili, a music curator, Florence Flanaggan, a dressmaker, Olga Kwasniewski, a consulting producer of the event.
“Win as though you were used to it, and lose as if you like it”
-Isabella Stewart Gardner
