by Lynette Charters Serembe
Tucked away in the heart of The Hotel Olympia Building, adjacent to Sylvester Park is the raw gem of a fashion enterprise named Enterlope. Cal Ledbetter is the owner and main designer, who has big dreams with plans of bringing couture fashion to our community in a truly Olympian way.
Enterlope is the old English way of spelling interlope which reflects their journey Ledbetter explains. Olympia is not known as a fashion hub, other than of course our usual inclusive and adventurous street fashion culture, but he is running with the theme and taking it all a buoyant step further by introducing a coutured, deconstructionist, wearable-art sensibility. I met with Ledbetter and his son Cleo tell more.
Cal is an autodidactic who started sewing in 2015 prompted by fashion designs sketched and designed by his son Cleo at age 7. He learned how to sew Cleo’s designs with some cool and interesting results. He gleaned tips from experts, reading books, and watching YouTube demonstrations about couture.
He started creating clothes for drag queens, making some very flamboyant outfits, then moving on to make prom dresses. At the time being, inspired by designers of the past, such as McQueen, Dior, Lagerfeld, and Galliano, he says he mimicked their designs to learn their techniques. Then in 2022, he was introduced to local designer Dakota Miller who owns the local menswear store Unseen Articles (@unseenarticles); they teamed up working on their new brand aesthetic. It was Miller who came up with the name Enterlope. The theme of getting involved with something where you may not belong struck a chord with both. Miller hadn’t designed, and Cal saw himself as a costume-maker, but they threw themselves into the collaboration to see what might transpire.
Enterlope is primarily influenced by one of the founding deconstructivism designers, Margiela, but they also admire anyone who gets out a sewing machine and gives it a try.
In the spirit of Vivienne Westwood, Enterlope produces fashion responsibly. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Ledbetter says he tries to buy as little new fabric as possible.
Enterlope designs for a collection, not for a season, giving existing garments a second life and designing clothes that are made to be kept.
For the upcoming Collection 3, Ledbetter was inspired by the moodiness and irreverence of the ’90s TV show “Twin Peaks,” with the environs of the Paific Northwest, he says it speaks to his current frame of mind and informed the collection.
“Enterlope doesn’t choose the fabric, but the fabric chooses Enterlope,” Ledbetter says. He says he hunts around for clothes and fabrics to upscale. What he finds influences what he makes next. He mostly likes to hunt for natural fabrics but enjoys using tulle and organza, which he says elevates, his found garments. He says each of their collections start with an art runway piece, then the wearable clothing follows from that influence. He also likes to redesign and repurpose special occasion outfits such as wedding, prom and bridesmaid dresses, giving them a whole new look and life. They sell off-the-peg outfits, but they can also adjust garments to fit if desired.
Enterlope like their models to be as inclusive as possible but it can be difficult to represent everyone, because they are a small brand, they are limited to people in the community who want to model, usually including people they know. It has always been important to Enterlope to include trans models in their shows; indeed, part of their brand identity is the gender-fluid nature of their designs.
Although Ledbetter is the mainstay seamster and designer, Miller is always a big influence either as a direct designer or as a consultant; they love to share information and collude with similar minded folk. They also take inspiration from art in the community; Olympia artist Austin M Davis worked on collection 2, hand painting many of the garments. Ayden Zylstra, an Olympia High School alumni, designed garments in Collection 2 and Collection 3. His friend and fellow OHS alumni Hunter Elliott came on board for collection 3. Collection 3 will also include vintage clothes styled with enterlope designs. Several vintage resellers in the community including Unseen Articles, Denim Dogz, and Cooper Marquardt are collaborating on Collection 3 to style the looks.
“If you’re adventurous and off-beat, you’ll like Enterlope, they design for anyone who is willing to try something different, most designs are a little askew in a good way, their designs help people be a little more daring in how they present themselves in public,” Ledbetter says.
The fashion show runway will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday October 5 in the alley between Legion and 5th Avenue running from Washington to Capitol Way, directly opposite from the front entrance of The Washington Center. The audience will line the alleyway. In true “Twin Peaks” style, it will be held rain or shine so bring appropriate attire. After the runway show, there will be a champagne reception in the atelier where the photography prints and couture collection can be viewed more closely and will be available for purchase.
This will be the first time Enterlope will present a collection during ArtsWalk.
WHAT
Enterlope couture fashion show with photography prints by Hunter Elliott
WHEN
Atelier open house and photography print sale: Friday, Oct 4, 4-6 p.m., Saturday, Oct 5, 3:30 p.m., runway show in alley
WHERE
116 Legion Way SE, Olympia
HOW MUCH
Open house and runway show free to the public
LEARN MORE
https://www.instagram.com/enterlope