This season’s featured Artisan of Provence is a sustainable, plant-based, textile designer that we have collaborated with since 2017 in our Luxe Provence slow fashion lines and curations. We are thrilled to collaborate together again this season on a limited-edition version of one of our most popular dresses, our Athena Dress. We first created this piece in a gorgeous blush and will be releasing a new deeper, richer autumn toned palette coming soon. Each is a unique piece and hand-dyed using only local natural plants: garance, pomegranate and walnut shells, to create a champ des fleurs inspired pattern on our signature Italian silk and cotton voile. The results are stunning! These special edition Athena dresses feature romantic, puff sleeves, hand-frayed couture details in a chic, midi length, perfect for a special celebration, or heading off to a cocktail party by night.
ABOUT THIS SEASON’S ARTISAN OF PROVENCE
Aurore studied at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, France in 2009, specializing in textile design. Upon graduation, Aurore moved to London, where she worked on several high-profile artistic collaborations, including an installation for the Hackney Wicked Festival of contemporary art. She was asked to exhibit her large format silk textiles in the historic Eglise du Couvent des Celestins at the Parcours de l’Art in 2013 (featured below). The Celestine Church is located in Corps-Saints Square and was constructed under the orders of Clement VII in 1389. In parallel, she also launched her own namesake brand with the mission of designing and creating unique textile pieces of art working only with natural dyes and materials.
In 2011, she returned to her birthplace of Avignon to perfect her craft integrating natural and plant-based dying and serigraphy techniques into her work, followed by three years working at the lovely atelier Cité d’Artistes du Couvent Levat in Marseille, a former convent set on 1,7 hectares of gorgeous garden space in the center of the city. She has since settled into the artistic community of Forcalquier in the foothills of the Lure Mountain.
I have spent the last few years peeking behind-the-scenes with Aurore in her atelier to discover more about her design process, inspiration and methods on how she creates her beautiful silk works of art. Most recently, I took a deeper dive into her natural dye world to learn more ways to integrate sustainable dye practices into our slow fashion line, by participating in one of her fantastic three-day workshops held in a ancient silk factory in the heart of the Cevanne.
All of the color dyes Aurore uses for her textile art is made from local plant roots, leaves, insects and even pomegranates from her grandmother’s Provence garden. Her beautifully organic, patterned prints are created by impressing the elements themselves into the carefully tinted fabric and tightly rolling them, similar to a shibori technique before plunging each creation into their dye baths. For example, the reddish colors and patterns (picture above and below) were created from the roots of the garance plant, a pesky and sticky Provence weed that she integrates into her design. Truly a stunning example of finding the beauty in everyday living things.
We hope you are as excited as we are to discover more about this season’s limited edition Athena Dress collaboration featuring Aurore’s plant-based textile. Not only is this piece hand-dyed, but also features hand-frayed detailing by our local artisan couturiere, Laure Pailhon which makes each dress a truly, handmade and unique piece.
Part of our passion is to discover and promote local talented artisans while integrating sustainable and local design practices into our Luxe Provence slow fashion and maison lines. We are proud to work with Provence’s top French artisans to create sustainable, ethically created pieces that are designed to last for years to come. Sustainable, artisanal and ethical design practices have and will always be a strong part of our brand values and mission.
Let us know what you think about our latest collaboration and what color palettes you’d like to see next!
We have featured Aurore’s couture silk tunique pieces as a hero option in our first V1: Mediterranean Gold: Climb Aboard curation, our subscription featuring a resort wear inspired collection, as well as, in our Luxe Provence home textiles shipped in our V9: Autumn Impressions – Luxe Provence Blush Subscription.
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