Getting to Know Levatino Couture before Gotham Glamour

Athena posing in a beautiful pink dress of her own design at Megashoot X Photo Credit to Eyecam Photos

Just a little more than a month prior to Athena’s showcasing her gorgeous designs on Gotham Glamour, I got to catch up with her at a Christmas Shoot. It was there that I got more insight as to where her passion for fashion came from, and some of her other aspirations in regards to the fashion industry.

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Angid

I'm here with Athena or Ashley, and we're gonna start with your handles on Instagram, TikTok, whatever social medias you may have.

Athena

Athena.Levatino on Instagram, and Levatino.Couture on both Instagram and TikTok.

Angid

I’m gonna start with some basic questions. How long have you been modeling?

Athena

I would say I have been modeling since I was 17, but as far as really digging my claws into it, four years.

Angid

What got you into modeling?

Athena

Aside from the elephant in the room, being my height, I have always been a glitz and glam girly. Growing up watching Gossip Girl and things of that nature, you just become obsessed with the fashion. And to a certain degree, the nature of the industry.

Angid

So you mentioned glitz and glamor, you do your own designs and clothing. How did you get into that? What inspired that?

Athena

When I was going prom dress shopping, ironically enough, you have to be tall enough to model couture dresses in those stores; those dresses were really never long enough for me. So when I was shopping for prom dresses, my ankles were out. And I’m like “I don’t want my ankles outside.” So I was like eff it, I’m gonna do it myself one day. And I also never got a sweet 16, so wearing a ball gown was also something I always wanted to do.

Angid

So it feels more personal?

Athena

Definitely more personal.

Angid

You mentioned runway and Eyecam has a runway show coming up in February (Gotham Glamour). Would runway be something you’re interested in doing in the near future?

Athena

Oh, absolutely! You’ll catch me sinking my teeth into that one. I’ll absolutely be apart, or rather aim to be apart of that in the highest degree possible. Not only to showcase what I’m capable of as a whole, but also for it to be like, a serious checkpoint in my career. That will be the first time that I put things on a runway - that my pieces are on a runway. Gotham Glamour is the first show I have lined up for my pieces. So it will definitely be a standing point in my career, and definitely a big one.

Angid

And thinking about your pieces being on the runway, how would you feel if you not only designed the clothing but get to model it yourself?

Athena

I love doing that. That’s how I started. Before I met Eyecam, it was just me modeling my stuff. So I had already done it. But I also felt like… there’s like a etiquette when it comes to designers. Like designers don’t really wear their own stuff or put on the same couture they put on the show.

Angid

Like an unspoken rule.

Athena

Literally like an unwritten rule. So I don’t think I would ever be the ending or the opening (of a show). As far as being in the same production, like Gotham Glamour, would I model for another designer? Absolutely. I would model for other designers. As far as myself and my designs, I would really want to highlight other models and the dresses.

Angid

So aside from your prom dress and your experience with wanting a sweet 16, what’s you inspiration?

Athena

I would say that a lot of my inspiration obviously comes from Disney. But there’s also a whimsical sense to it aside from your cookie cutter Disney. There is a regality to it rather than your copy and paste of serial number, wholesale ball gowns. These are custom, they are birthed from my brain and my inner child. This is what I would envision myself wearing if I was stationed in the 1700’s. But you know, being able to chill out in a ball gown in the royal court, designing for those in nobility; that’s what I envision. I also envision myself as a modiste. I’m like, what would I want to see a young woman, or a pregnant woman, or an older woman wearing to feel their most beautiful and they can also see that. Like, you can be that level of nobility. You can embrace that and carry yourself with that energy.

Angid

When you’re designing, do you take into consideration the models personality, what makes them pop, what will make them unique to them dress?

Athena

Absolutely. One example is one of our own, Aly, I paired a brown dress to match her skin tone. Her having such a long inseam made me like - “okay. We’re gonna give you a long part of the dress, and then a short part of the dress too.” So that she can have a leggy moment. Then the sleeves highlight her height more than say a shorter model. Like I have a model as an elf. I might even put them in a long dress, but do a split because despite couture being more favored towards taller models, I have met so many shorter models where there's so much base in their walk, that you would think that they’re six foot five…. I really like using the dresses to highlight their personality and also their capabilities as models.

Angid

What are some of the difficulties and kinks of designing?

Athena

Any designer will tell you, when you run out of thread. If you sew - let’s say you’re making a ballgown, a petticoat takes anywhere from 100 to 200 yards of tule. That’s football field. So when you think you’re almost done with finishing those ruffles on that tule, and then the bobbin, which is the threat responsible for for connecting the top needle to stop the thread from pulling and attaching the two pieces of fabric together. When that little shit runs out and you don’t realize it, and you thought you were done and then you realized none of it was attached. That is one thing that will really try your mental stability. Any technical difficulties with machinery, I feel is like the largest inconvenience sewing.

Angid

Well thank you so much, Athena!

Athena

Thank you girly!

Athena receiving a round of applause at Gotham Glamour after her designs were showcased. Beside her is model, Leilani Jade in one of Athena’s gowns. Photo Credit to Eyecam Photos