Last week, I travelled to Toronto to visit with Mina LaFleur, Canada’s Burlesque sweetheart/ pin-up model, and corsetiere of L’Atelier de LaFleur! She kindly agreed to an interview for my channel, and I asked her a bit about her past notable work (including her experience as a costume maker for Cirque du Soleil!) and she also shares some tips and advice for budding corsetieres.
Use the following time frame to jump to your question of interest:
0:30 What came first, the Burlesque career or the sewing career?
1:30 Mina’s experience making costumes for Cirque du Soleil and Thierry Mugler
5:45 Mina’s reflections as a former judge on reality TV show “ReVamped”
7:50 How Mina’s work stands out as a corsetiere
10:25 What equipment and tools Mina uses in her work
12:05 Mina’s advice for budding corset makers
Huge thanks to Mina for allowing me to come to her studio, try on her corsets, and agreeing to the interview!
Lucy, thank you so much for interviewing the amazing Mina. I cherish my corsets by her and am so happy she’s making me a third; can’t wait to see yours!
Here is one of my Mina corsets:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/561613016001844228/
Suzanne, thank you for your lovely comment! Mina is a peach, she’s so pleasant yet professional, and I think we ‘clicked’ really well! I believe that the colour scheme of the corset I commissioned was similar to one of yours shown on Mina’s website (pink and black!) I’m supposed to pick mine up next week and am so excited! :D Best wishes, and thank you for your comment.
I really enjoyed this interview. Thank you for introducing me to Mina’s corsets, they’re absolutely stunning.