Garde républicaine
Inside the Workshop
Consider the atelier. The creative landscape for whatever the work is, whatever the task at hand. Where canvas meets brushstroke, where paper meets pencil, where raw material meets the tool wrought and refined over generations. Where the day is greeted just as the world is explored. An expansive, confident gesture of experimentation. The atelier as the space of creation, of optimism, of absorption: late to bed, back before the sun rises. Style as something ceaselessly crafted, forged, timeless and unique.
A look, like a life, like a sketch, takes shape in layers. Versatility is the rule, in the studio as in the street: a chestnut silk twill romper whose detailed pattern marries block printing and screen printing. A wrap dust coat in silk and wool with pockets and loops for glasses. A flowing calfskin coat that contains a drawstring vest and a bomber jacket. The resourcefulness of the artist’s palette, elevated and imprinted on each moment.
Style as a game of perception and refraction, light and opacity. Clothes that hover over and reproportion each other. A long zip-down skirt in light silk mesh, a slender Médor belt buckled on the high-waisted culotte proudly peeking out. An apron dress in ebony brown with bands of organdy woven into bas-relief. A cotton poplin smock dress in bronze green, a reversible utility jacket in alabaster chevron denim. A Birkin à l’envers bag, the stoic Plume bag. The graphic Eau d’artifice drawing with its two-tone fountain blurs the lines between stamping and etching: a trompe l’oeil conjuring the palpable touch of the artisan.
Style as sensory, tactile, a texture lined up with the grain of the day. Wood-soled sandals, a tote in fauve Barénia leather, geometric earrings made from the same tabs that reinforce leather bags. Denims in rose bougainvillea. Supple leathers in muted greens and beiges: camel, nutmeg, rooibos, kraft paper. Abundant surfaces on which to draw a silhouette, a destiny.
The paradox of lightness through craftsmanship, of the utilitarian as aesthetic, of femininity as subtle and strong, seductive and tough, seen and felt and wielded. The alchemy that is function, repeated with intent, until it blends into sensuality.
