Waistless Wonders

In an Instagram photo from the recent launch of what Baton Rouge fashion designer Grace Chetta has laughingly dubbed her “post-pandemic transition wear—the waistless wonders collection,” a young woman in a bold, aubergine floral, a-line dress leans her fresh, makeup-free face toward a tangle of wisteria dangling from her fingertips. She’s inhaling, smiling with her eyes closed. The caption reads: “Always one to stop and smell the flowers.” It’s a fitting motto for Chetta’s intended client, who she endearingly calls “The Gretta Woman.” Laidback but elegant, The Gretta Woman can effortlessly transition her look from a posh garden party to a movie night on the couch. “It’s lazy girl chic,” joked Chetta of the aesthetic guiding her line of inclusive, sustainable women’s wear, Gretta Garments—and especially her most recent collection. “I don’t want anything to be too serious. Feeling comfortable and good in your body and being real—that’s what’s most important to me.” Gretta, a portmanteau of Grace Chetta’s first and last names, captures the whimsical spirit of its creator with free-flowing floral frocks.

“It’s lazy girl chic,” joked Chetta of the aesthetic guiding her line of inclusive, sustainable women’s wear, Gretta Garments—and especially her most recent collection. “I don’t want anything to be too serious. Feeling comfortable and good in your body and being real—that’s what’s most important to me.”

Authenticity has never been hard to come by for Chetta, the youngest child of four, who playfully attributes her freedom to pursue a creative occupation, at least in part, to the impressive professional successes of her older siblings, who work as engineers and doctors. “It kind of takes the pressure off of me,” she quipped. In reality, Chetta’s desire to design clothing took root in childhood, and, she explained, “I just never grew out of it.”

To call Chetta a scrappy designer is more than just an irresistible indulgence in wordplay. She recalled squirreling away scraps of fabric from projects in college, wondering, “How can I reuse this?” During her final year in the fashion design program at LSU, she created a stunning collection from repurposed salvaged denim, which took home the top honor at her senior fashion show. Though her design aesthetic has evolved since college and further developed during her three years as a technical assistant to the New Orleans designer Suzanne Perron, Chetta’s commitment to sustainability has never wavered. She officially launched her brand in 2018.

[Read about Sigourney Morrison, founder of eclectic cross-stitching line Dressed New Orleans, here.]

Her affinity for scraps became especially useful during 2020, when face masks became mandatory, and the demand far outweighed the supply. “Fabric stores were running out of cotton, but I had so much stored up I thought, ‘I’ll just use mine.’” What followed was a formidable run of vibrantly patterned Gretta Garments masks that gave back to the community with a one-purchased-one-donated distribution model. Now that the need for face coverings is, fortunately, waning, Chetta has been busy designing custom wedding dresses for private clients and celebrating her latest collection, featuring unstructured dresses that will have even the most zealous quarantine sweatpants devotees confidently rejoining the world of in-person social engagements. “Of course, all of my dresses have pockets,” she assured.

Such a resourceful detail would have likely pleased Gretta Garments’ posthumous benefactor, Chetta’s paternal grandmother, Jay Chetta, whose stash of fabric has supplied the materials for all of the line’s creations so far. “She was a doctor, very well-read, intelligent and ambitious. She sewed, but not as much as she would have liked, I think,” Chetta said of her late grandmother. “She loved beautiful things, like fabrics, and she collected them all her life.” Pulled exclusively from Jay’s collection, all Gretta Garments pieces are limited-run. “Some of them I only have enough for a few dresses,” she explained. “When it’s gone, I can’t get more.”

[Read about Baton Rouge milliner Mimi Holaday and her hat line HALO MIMI here.]

Working from a finite range of patterns challenges Chetta as a designer, especially when her idea of beauty clashes with the original collector’s. “There are a lot of ugly prints in there,” Chetta confessed. “The challenge is to design for the fabric and make something cool and groovy out of it.” She is particularly influenced, she said, by the styles of the sixties and seventies. “The silhouettes were most flattering. I think during those decades, women felt empowered.”

With a firm nod to the billowy psychedelic-prairie vibe of the 1960’s music festival scene, Chetta’s most recent designs are meant to revive a similar sense of confidence in her modern clientele as they re-emerge from a year-long quarantine. “Right now, I want to wear a muumuu, and I’m hoping others feel the same way,” Chetta laughed. Though the comfort level and ease of wear might very well resemble a muumuu, the open nature of each silhouette in the collection offers multiple styling possibilities.

She is particularly influenced, she said, by the styles of the sixties and seventies. “The silhouettes were most flattering. I think during those decades, women felt empowered.”

Sustainability for the brand depends on Chetta’s ability to procure secondhand materials once she’s depleted her current fabric stock. “I have found some here and there in estate sales,” she explained. “Sometimes people contact me wanting to donate fabric.” She’s even considered establishing a system in the future in which clients would receive a discount in exchange for material donations.

Right now, Chetta has more than enough old bolts to keep her busy, and is currently adding ready-to-wear dresses named for streets in Baton Rouge to her inventory to  sell on her website and at local makers markets. For those looking for something even more unique, Chetta also welcomes custom orders. With fall quickly approaching, Gretta Garments will soon launch a line of one-of-a kind patchwork sweater vests upcycled from donated sweaters and, for the first time . . . actual pants. Hopefully, by then, the post-pandemic world will be ready.

grettagarments.com and on Instagram @grettagarments.