Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
As a teen, couture artist and designer Victoria Cates was, in her words, a bit of a Goth, but as she got older, she fell in love with color and never looked back. Just take a look at her clothing collection, Potion23. The line is a dream of vintage prints, feminine ribbon details, and puffed-sleeved blouses in such tones as periwinkle and pastel pink. Many of the garments are vintage pieces, found at the City Sewing Room or estate sales, that Rapp has reimagined, inspired by everything from historic buildings’ wallpaper to antique objects.
Born and raised in New York, Cates moved to St. Louis in 2016 and launched the collection last summer while working as a retail stylist with South Grand vintage shop Parsimonia. In recent months, she’s spent her time sewing at home with her cat, Praline Balloon, nearby. She’s experimenting with new projects and rediscovering old ones. The latest: crafting her own facemasks from ruched gingham and floral fabrics.
Why did you create Potion23? I was working at Parsimonia Vintage and handling the clothes directly. I just found myself so constantly inspired, particularly by the 1930s and 1940s pieces that would come in. I fell in love with them. I was enamored with the bold colors and prints. I also loved the bias cuts and the figure-flattering silhouettes of each piece, and how it seemed like whoever made them spared no expense on the tiny details that made them special. Potion23, in a way, is autobiographical, because I wanted to [use] the colors, the prints, the things that really inspire me. At the end of the day, I created [the clothes] for myself.
How did your personal style develop? From a young age, I knew I wasn’t like anyone else. It took me so many years of trying to fit in to get to the point of realizing I was not happy. I was, like, I don’t care anymore about what other people say. As soon as I started really listening to myself and what it was that made me happy—if that meant wearing bright colors or prints—then the people who were right to be in my life would show up, and the people who weren’t really good friends or didn’t really care about me as a person went away. It was actually a blessing. You start to really find your group when you decide to let yourself express yourself externally. I think fashion is one of the most classic ways to do that.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic’s stay-at-home orders affect your brand and creativity? I really had to take a break there for a minute, but I’m glad I did, because it gave me time to revisit what my vision is, what I really am really wanting to do with Potion23, and what it was meant to be in the first place. I’ve started revisiting projects and ideas that I’ve had for a long time. I thought, There’s no pressure right now, and I just want to make what I like. I’ve been wanting to make this ridiculous doll-face purse for a year now, and I finally sat down and made one.
You have been making masks for The Collective Thread to donate to medical professionals. How did your own line of masks come about? I thought, I don’t like the masks I've been making—the basic kind that everybody goes to YouTube and gets the pattern for. I wanted to give the masks a Potion23 spin. I thought: How am I going to make it me? I hunkered down one day and did experiment after experiment to figure out: How can I make these cute? I’ve seen a lot of fun prints, but nobody has really played with the shape of it in a way that’s interesting. I made a couple of prototypes, mostly to go to work and to the grocery store. I posted it to Instagram. I was blown away by the positive feedback I received. Safety is paramount, but how can we make it beautiful and fun?
Fashion can feel a bit trivial during the COVID-19 crisis. Does it have a place in all of this? I think there’s going to be people really finding their style and experimenting with their clothes. [Post COVID-19], they might emerge as a beautiful butterfly of personal style. Or people could be used to wearing sweats, and that will become more socially acceptable again. I think masks are going to become more socially acceptable in everyday fashion. I don’t think that fashion is going to be so defined anymore. It’s going to be whatever you want it to be.
