Reality television stars turned models; the Clermont Twins are now set to dominate the fashion world with their clothing label Mont Boudoir.
Who? I’ll be honest with you, I’d never heard of the glamorous duo either. Here’s what you need to know:
Haitian-Jamaican Shannade and Shannon Clermont first made their debut in Bad Girls Club season 14; the reality show that brings together young women who consider themselves to be “bad girls”, all under the one roof.
The duo mocked other girls for not being on ‘their level’. Their stint on the show ended in drama when the sisters were asked to leave the show after the other contestants destroyed $200,000 worth of their clothes.
But the Clermont Twins are more than just former reality TV stars. In the past few years, the twosome accumulated 700,000 followers on Instagram starring on billboards in Time Square, appearing in music videos (Real Sisters x Future) shooting with controversial photographer Terry Richardson and partaking as Kim Kardashian Clones in Kanye West’s YEEZY Season 6 campaign.
They were also present at New York Fashion Week’s Spring 2018 shows, from sitting front row at Vaquera to the VIP section of VFILES and walking the runway for Gypsy Sport and Laquan Smith.
Now the pair has launched a fashion line. The brand avoids the fast fashion Fashion Nova-esque styles that have taken over Instagram; instead, producing a collection that is equal parts Western cowboy and gothic ’90s starlet, in luxe materials like pony hair and silk.
The twins say the inspiration behind the collection came from their time in the south. They told Highsnobiety,
“We made our collection all black because it’s timeless. That’s what we strived to create: timeless pieces. Even the chaps and sheer dresses that may seem a bit revealing are able to be paired with more conservative pieces and still come across as elevated. We wanted each look to be a statement, the kind of pieces that are impossible to forget.”
Though neither of them studied fashion design, the twins always made their own clothes growing up. They were self-taught before they attended college, where Shannon studied fashion merchandising at FIT, while Shannade studied Strategic Design at Parson).
They say in their interview with Highsnobiety, “I don’t think designers need to be formally trained but I do think doing your research and taking the time out to learn about your craft whether it’s the internet, mentor or books.”
When asked how do they see their career evolving, the twins say, ”Our ambitions have always been on fashion and acting. We want to continue to expand Mont Boudoir and even dabble in painting and drawing. We definitely want to star in movies or have our own show. Lately, we’ve been fixated on music and who knows…maybe that will turn into something soon.”
