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Writer's pictureDerek Tokarzewski

Étoffes et silhouettes


Designer : Étoffes et silhouettes, World Class Designers Magazine, Photo by Jean Marc Cresson our Editor in Chief of World Class Paris Fashion Week Magazine,
Designer : Étoffes et silhouettes, World Class Designers Magazine, Photo by Jean Marc Cresson our Editor in Chief of World Class Paris Fashion Week Magazine, Make up: Campus des Maquilleurs

World Class Designers Magazine would like to present amazing French brand Étoffes et silhouettes.


World Class Designers Magazine: please tell us about your brand. When I created my brand, my wish was to build a haute couture house, because I wanted to continue this art work that I did in haute couture workshops. This work of art is to dress a client with the model she has chosen. The set must be perfect from the point of view of the cut, the finishes and the choice of materials. Every time I create a new collection or customer model, I work around the body. With my sketch, I create a canvas or pattern taking into account the proportions and volume between silhouette and model to have a silhouette with proportions balanced, chic and elegant. In parallel at the suppliers of haute couture, I will look for silk materials such as satin, crepe, taffeta, Chantilly lace or Calais, etc. These beautiful noble materials that increase the breathtaking vision of the creations. Then there is all the work of cutting, fitting and sewing by hand which represents a large part of the work, which are the preparation for fitting and finishing. It is a know-how that exists only in haute couture. When I work for clients, sometimes the fittings are done in my workshop or at home. Moreover, in 13 years of activity in my workshop, I have not made the same model twice. During the year, I exhibit my creations in pop-up shops, in a hotel or art fair thanks to my qualification of “craftsman”. World Class Designers Magazine: Tell us about your brand’s history. The history of my brand began in late 2006. I have been going from big houses to big houses for 15 years. I had the wish to work in continuity, to have more freedom and to add creation in my work. It was from there that I decided to create my brand. I contacted the fabric and lace suppliers of haute couture. Some have agreed to be my suppliers. At the beginning of 2007, I started my activity with special clients who wanted wedding dresses, then I continued with evening dresses and little by little I included cocktail dresses. Since each year, I make new dresses and in parallel every 2 or 3 years, , I create a mini collection of accessories like stoles, collars, bags. For a few years, I worked with Fendi for the press department. With them, I worked for national and international celebrities. World Class Designers Magazine: tell us about yourself and where you come from. I am from the Paris area, parents and grandparents Burgundian. I went to school like all children, but very quickly with the desire to learn to sew and to create. From the age of 15 I went to sewing schools in Paris for 5 years.During these years of study I was an intern in big fashion houses and I graduated several times. I went on to become a temp for 15 years, it allowed me to work in several major haute couture houses (Loris Azzaro, Pierre Balmain, Chanel, Christian Dior, Louis Féraud, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent). In 1996, I took a training course in haute couture embroidery at Lesage. This allows me to create embroideries for my models. In 2007, I created my own tailor-made fashion house. Since then I have obtained the certificate of Artisan d'Art and I am also a finalist of the 26th competition of One of the Best Workers of France». I love history, seeing exhibitions in general, visiting cities for their architecture and history. I love the countryside for its rhythm, which leads to reverie and contemplation. World Class Designers Magazine: Tell us about your collection. My collection is made around an active urban woman. The idea, it metamorphoses according to its meetings of the day and evening events.During the day, she starts working girl, then changes to shop. At the beginning of the evening, she donned a slightly more elaborate outfit to go to a cocktail party or for a vernissage. Then finished wearing a long evening dress for a gala or walk on the red carpet. For the wedding ceremony, she has the choice of getting married in an urban way with short wedding dresses or more ceremonial fancy in long dresses with a bustier or corset. My entire collection is made of fabrics of noble materials such as silk, cotton, wool, cashmere, Calais lace, velvet purée, sweat. World Class Designers Magazine: What makes this collection different from the previous ones? This collection is different because it is mine.Until then, I was doing the collections of the big haute couture houses. It is mine since I drew it, I chose the fabrics, created the canvases and sewn from A to Z. Like any stylist, this collection I imagined from my theme, styles of model. I had doubts, certainties, questions, to find my theme through my sketches. I did some research on the volumes of my creations, on fabrics when I went to my suppliers. This work of sketching and I didn’t do it in the other houses, it’s also in that this collection is different. World Class Designers Magazine: What was your inspiration? My inspiration comes from several elements.Being a woman from the Paris area and life is getting faster and faster. I expanded my geographic area and focused on active urban women. Then I wanted to rework some forgotten fabrics such as sweat and velvet. Another element, I realized that the small dress of cotton easy to wear became impossible to find. With these early elements, I began to develop models for the events of the day, evening and life. It is through this process that I found myself with a collection of models. It is as if I had unrolled a ball of wool. World Class Designers Magazine: Tell us about the filming experience with an amazing photographer like Jean Marc Cresson and what you like about him and his work. Jean-Marc has several facets that make him a sharp and professional photographer. He has the sharp eye of a fashion photographer.He listens to the wishes or ideas of others. He has a sense of teamwork. For example, for each day of shooting, I organized fittings in my workshop. He was present and participated. We worked as equals, where each one brought his vision without destroying the vision of the other. All the time of the preparation gave rise to constructive exchanges for an increasingly elaborate result. From a human point of view, we worked in relaxation and good humor. What I like about him, his humour from a common cultural source and his respect for the work of others. World Class Designers Magazine: What differentiates Parisian Haute Couture from the rest of world fashion? What differentiates Parisian Haute Couture from the rest of world fashion is its past. Paris saw the birth of haute couture at the initiative of Charles Frédérick Worth followed by other renowned designers. The starting point is to protect the creations of artists in an association (1868). You should know that Haute Couture houses are luxury couture houses that have received the Haute Couture Label by decree. To receive it there are specific rules to respect, such as having a minimum number of employees working by hand, do 2 shows per year with minimum 25 models per collection. The models are custom sewn in the house. This label does not exist anywhere else in the world. The rest of the world fashion is ready-to-wear or luxury ready-to-wear, they are models in several copies with standardized sizes. Assembly workshops are often outside the walls of couture houses. World Class Designers Magazine: What big fashion shows have you been able to present your brand so far? Indeed, I participated in parades, but not exactly fashion, rather wedding dress parades. It was in the early years, I participated in parades at wedding fairs. My dresses paraded on the podiums of Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre for the «Wedding Show at the Carrousel» and at the Floral Park for the «Grand Salon du Mariage», but also in Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum for the «Fashion, Beauty & Wedding Festival». World Class Paris Haute Couture Magazine: What local, national or international celebrities have you dressed up so far? I’ve dressed national and international celebrities. They are actresses and singers I worked for at Fendi in the press department: Ladies: Dita Von Teese, Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Virginie Ledoyen, Mme Carlo Ancelotti (football coach of PSG 2011 - 2013), Beth Ditto (former singer of the group GOSSIP), Emmanuelle Béart. It is important to know that there is a rule common to all large haute couture houses which is to keep the names of the clients secret, unless they agree. This rule applies to me as well. Consequently, I will not give you the names of my particular clients. But I can tell you that I dressed a princess. World Class Designers Magazine: What inspired you to become a fashion designer? During my 15 years in haute couture houses, I could not create. When working in workshops, you have to follow fairly strict technical rules.Each house has its own. It is not systematic that you realize the creation(s) you want, since they are imposed by the head of workshop. Over time, it frustrated me, I felt a lack that was growing. The lack was creation and freedom of expression, so I decided to take the plunge. I created my company. This frustration made me want to show my vision of haute couture, to do art work, tailor-made, beauty. World Class Designers Magazine: Okay, let’s share some of your knowledge with the next generation of designers. What were the obstacles as a young designer that you had to overcome. As a young designer, I had to learn a lot of things and do actions that I wasn’t used to doing. These are all actions outside the workshop, that is to say all the administrative part and communication. It’s a very different thing to have personal administrative relationships and professional administrative relationships. In the administrative part, there is the State (taxes and taxes) and accounting. I started by registering my business with the state services, then I looked for an accountant. I took training for new entrepreneurs in the business registration services. All these actions were carried out in parallel with my creative work. Then there is the communication part.This part looks like a construction. You need to think about what you want to communicate, how you’re going to do it, and where you want to communicate. That’s a lot to integrate and put to good use. I have overcome all this thanks to the training offered by the business registration services and also to the exchanges with the human network which is made up of creators like me and friends. World Class Designers Magazine: What are your 3 secrets of success that could help or inspire others. I would say that the 3 main secrets would be to work a lot, challenge and have a well-stocked address book or a very good network. But there are other complementary ones to that. - Work: because tailor-made sewing or haute couture requires mastering one’s art, because it is an art. The Art is acquired only by means of work, of restoration on the job, the repetition of the gestures of work. - Questioning: because reflection allows us to take stock of what we have done by asking ourselves questions, and then move forward or change direction if necessary. When we work, we can sometimes losing sight of the external evolution. We tend to lock ourselves in our bubble to create, it is sometimes a need. - Address book or network: because it makes it possible to contact the right people for suppliers, crafts, photographers and customers.For his creations, the designer is surrounded by an ecosystem of several arts and crafts that interact with each other. (Fabrics, lace, embroidery, jewelry, shoes, milliners, feather makers, ennobligators, make-up artists, hairdressers, etc.). So when one of these things is missing, you have to build it, and sometimes it takes a long time. World Class Designers Magazine: As an established designer, what are your goals now. I have several goals that are on different lengths of time. First of all, I would like to expand the circle of my clients internationally and continue my communication work with Jean-Marc. Second, I want to find someone who would be an ambassador for my brand. It could be a client or a model. Third time I want to do a fashion show. World Class Designers Magazine: What can we expect from your brand in 2020/21? Since the shootings with Jean-Marc and the posting of the photos on social networks, I have received a lot of feedback from users and my clients.Following this impact, it allowed me to have a more refined vision for my next creations. So for 2021, there will be new creations, a new mini collection of accessories and continue my communication work. World Class Designers Magazine: How can customers buy your creations or contact you? Customers can contact me by phone or send me a message via email, instagram or Facebook. To buy my parts, it is better to make an appointment since they are made to measure. Appointments are used to take measurements and make fittings.They are possible in my workshop or in another place, such as the client’s home. World Class Paris Haute Couture Magazine: What heritage would you like to leave? The legacy I wish to leave is that of a brand that has worked in love with well-made haute couture work. I want my models to be timeless and whose cut seems obvious. World Class Designers Magazine would like to say thank you for this wonderful interview.

Designer: Étoffes et silhouettes, World Class Designers Magazine, Photo by Jean Marc Cresson our Editor in Chief of World Class Paris Fashion Week Magazine, Make up: Campus des Maquilleurs Models: Mélissa Dalla, Malika Laude, Susana Pizarro, Indya Jouvry, Laetitia Helfer Derek Tokarzewski Owner/Editor in Chief Mr United Nations 2018 Platform: Women Empowerment Ambassador to International Foundation for Orphans iffocares.org

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