During
the period in which you worked in Laurent Fetis’s studio, several brilliant
collaborative designs by the two of you were released. What did you learn from
him, and out of everything you gained during that time, what do you use the
most in your present creations?
He is very
talented and I learned quite a lot, in
particular everything that I expected school would teach me in matters of
typography but did not. He gave me a very good foundation on how to
construct books. I’m forever grateful for that.
What is
the biggest difficulty or trial you experienced up until now? Also, could you
tell us how were you able to overcome it?
Knowing when
something is finished.
In 2017, you established your own studio. Now that you
are working independently, how has your work process changed? Also, what are
your policies as a studio, and what motto do you follow?
Working independently changed everything, because suddenly I only had to refer
to myself. I intend to have absolutely no policies or recipes except the fact that I want to tame every project without having a single
style. Of course, in an
ideal world I would like to blend perfectly in with every new
project, reinvent myself every time according to it; but I’m also very well
aware of how this is utopian, and my personality will always leak
into each project. Instead, I just try to change my point
of view. Change something that seems a bit comfortable. Ballard wrote, “try bad taste”, in Crash. It struck me. I saw this
idea of the comfort zone from a new angle and, while I don’t have a
motto, “try bad taste”could be it. I can try what I
wouldn’t try, use a color I think I hate, etc. I
can’t stand this idea that “you’ll get tired of it”. Why should I if it’s beautiful, if it
sparks imagination?
Including
style and characteristics, could you express what kind of designer you are?
I think I am very narrative-based, and in constant need to reproduce a feeling I once had. I
need to refer to a story, to recall a memory, something personally relevant
and not a house of cards that would blow away
six months later. I am
also quite nostalgic, but in the sense of knowing the past in order to bring something new. I’m very careful with quotation and
pastiche. I
feel design requires a story— I need to know what tale my designs relate
to.
What
is your understanding of “graphic design” to you?
I’m much more satisfied with the English understanding of “graphic
designer” than the French one, “graphiste”. Nor do I identify as an illustrator, because I am designing my own ideas, even
if they are tailormade to each
project. “Designer” translates well to “dessinateur,” but I do
such different things that I have trouble defining myself!
The
pattern design for the Françoise SS20 collection was very impressive. Could you
tell us in more detail about this project?
Johanna Senyk, Françoise’s designer,
wanted to send her to Miami with a wardrobe inspired by Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface.
I imagined those palm trees dancing in the wind and those pink halos in the
background, much like the ones that stay behind your closed eyelids after watching sunsets due to the persistence of vision. The
brightness, the color beat, and twisted trunks undoubtedly bring a touch of psychedelicism. I have a huge thing for the seventies— Françoise does
too. The silky pastel pink shade was a reference to Halston’s
zenith. The following season, Françoise went to Russia, with a
suitcase influenced by YSL’s 76 collection. I saw the opportunity to design
from a dream I had where it was raining legs like in Paul Thomas Anderson’s
movie Magnolia, and at the same time, pay tribute to Leon Bakst— whose work
I always admired – and his costumes drawings for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets
Russes. I saw these dancers’ legs jumping around, and tried to get them look like strange flowers. Françoise is stuck in France this summer due to COVID restrictions
and she’s staying at St Tropez, and so we
designed a BB liberty inspired flowery pattern for
her.