In the Atelier: Aurore Pélisson
One of our favorite artisans in Provence that we’d like to shine the spotlight on is the sustainable, natural-dye, textile designer Aurore Pélisson. A few years back, we collaborated together on a limited-edition version of one of our most popular dresses, our Athena Dress that featured silk that was first hand-dyed by Aurore, using only local natural dyes derived from plants such as: garance, pomegranate and walnut shells. I asked her to create a champ des fleurs inspired pattern on our signature Italian silk and cotton voile that was used both for this dress and also a line of silk scarves. The results were stunning!
MEET AURORE
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. She has recently launched a stunning line of home textiles and art, available on her website or by commission.
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 in the Luberon where she offers regular workshops out of her atelier and for sustainable-themed retreats throughout the year.
I have spent quite a few years peeking behind-the-scenes with Aurore in her atelier to discover more about this sustainable 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 my slow fashion line, by participating in two of her fantastic three-day workshops, one was appropriately held in a ancient silk factory in the heart of the Cévennes. It was a fantastic experience and she is a joy to be around!
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. Her recent serigraphy work is just stunning and can be seen here in the home of Manon Monge, photographed for the artist by Anna Malmberg.
We hope you enjoyed discovering more about Aurore’s sustainable, plant-based textile designs. Part of my passion is to discover and promote local talented artisans while integrating sustainable and local design practices into our Luxe Provence slow fashion line! Looking forward to more collaborations in the years ahead!
Learn more about Aurore Pélisson’s work here.
Photography by: Anna Malmberg at chez Manon Monge courtesy of the artist.
