The Early Years of Immortelle: 2021 — Ascension

If 2020 was the year Immortelle learned how to hold herself,
2021 was the year she learned how to be seen.

This was a pivotal year — not because something new was invented, but because something long held privately was finally presented with intention.

Early in the year, Immortelle received her first official magazine feature — and cover — in AYME Magazine. It was a moment of external recognition that mirrored an internal shift already underway. The work was no longer circulating quietly among those who discovered it by chance. It was being acknowledged as a cohesive vision — a house with authorship, identity, and point of view.

That recognition did not change the work.
It confirmed it.

At the same time, the studio itself was producing some of its most defining jewelry to date. Many new designs were born this year, including the Anne Boleyn Necklace — a piece created as a tribute rather than an accessory. Rooted in history, symbolism, and quiet defiance, the necklace reflected a growing shift within the house: jewelry was no longer being designed as adornment alone, but as narrative. Each piece carried lineage, intention, and voice.

It was becoming clear that Immortelle’s language — whether expressed through metal or fabric — was unified.

Shortly thereafter, Immortelle crossed another defining threshold.

For the first time, the house hired a professional model to wear the garments. Her name was Megan Rice, and this decision marked a decisive shift. Until then, the designs had lived through mannequins, instinct, and imagination. In 2021, they were allowed to move — to be carried by a living presence.

A full photoshoot was produced at the Immortelle building within the Ohio Renaissance Festival — photographer, makeup, wardrobe, and model assembled with care. This was not documentation; it was declaration. The garments were no longer simply objects of craft. They became statements of proportion, posture, and authority.

That shoot became a launchpad — the moment it became undeniable that Immortelle could no longer be approached casually. The work demanded seriousness, coherence, and elevation.

As the garments stepped forward, the house itself followed.

Throughout the year, Immortelle underwent further interior refinement. The ceilings were transformed with flowing lengths of chiffon, creating a softly draped canopy overhead — an intervention that altered the atmosphere of the space entirely. The effect was immersive rather than decorative, enclosing the interior in softness and movement.

Additional trim, moldings, and crown details were introduced, bringing greater architectural cohesion. On the exterior, small false windows were added to the front façade — not as illusion, but as suggestion — reinforcing the sense that the house holds more within than can be seen at once. The IB monogram was etched into the glass of the doors, quietly marking the threshold as belonging to the house.

Yuletide Village returned this year as well, and with it a renewed ceremonial presence. A monumental nutcracker — salvaged from a vintage parade float — was painstakingly restored. During the winter season, he presided over the space as a figure of ritual and pageantry, anchoring Yuletide in tradition rather than novelty.

One of the most defining additions of the year rose at the back of the shop.

A balcony was built — not merely as structure, but as stage. From it, a mannequin dressed as Marie Antoinette presides over the space below, elevated and unmistakable. She watches the room as though from history itself. Above her, a new chandelier was added, along with a painting depicting Marie Antoinette entertained by cherubs and a pianist — reinforcing the balcony as a place of ceremony rather than display.

It was also in 2021 that the final wardrobe dress cabinet was built and brought into the house. Its presence completed the architectural language of the interior, allowing garments to exist not as inventory, but as a curated archive.

Throughout the year, countless finishing details were addressed — painting, trim, balance, alignment. These were not additions meant to be noticed individually, but refinements meant to be felt collectively. The work of this year was about coherence — bringing every element into agreement with the vision Immortelle had been moving toward since her beginning.

2021 was not a year of invention.
It was a year of ascension.

The work was witnessed.
The house declared itself.
And Immortelle crossed the threshold from becoming to being.