I am a twenty-six-year-old French designer. I was born in Toulouse (in the south of France); I studied at the Fine Arts School of Toulouse (ISDAT), where I developed my taste for fashion. I later went to Paris, where I studied for a year at the Atelier Chardon Savard. My graduation collection worked very well, so I decided to launch my own brand and this past January I presented my second collection.

I discovered this film during an analysis class at the Fine Arts School and I remember it marked me; it’s been a reference for a long time. The theme, the lightning, the narration of the film, the music by Mickael Nyman; all of it accompanies my travel. Many of my friends know that I often refer to it as an obsession. And this was an opportunity for me to pay tribute to this film.

Yes, of course, it's a recurring theme in my work. My graduation collection was titled The Feast of Trimalchio and was referring to a chapter of Petrone's Satyricon book. This chapter speaks of a banquet organized by Trimalchio, a new rich upstart, a freed slave who’s heir to a wealthy master. His Pantagruelian feast is a pretext to impress his guests by displaying his wealth and sufficiency. This theme has fascinated me for a while, and latex is a very good medium to talk about it.

Working with latex requires a lot of research – this is one of the reasons why I keep developing this material. At a very early stage, I was told to stop using it because it’s not wearable and difficult to sell – people still envision latex as something related to sex –, and I persisted because I found the challenge interesting. I spent time researching how to make it wearable, and I’m currently working with a specialised laboratory that treats latex. The discovery revolutionised my practice. But I can’t reveal anything else, it’s my secret!

I think it’s a process that needs to keep evolving. There is still a lot to do with this idea of ​​reinterpreting latex and trying to introduce it to a classy wardrobe. I find new ideas and techniques each season, and the clothes are more and more worked. My function isn’t just to redo a trench but also to do research on how will we be able to make it in latex with all its details and characteristics.
Latex is a very beautiful material but it has a lot of technical constraints; we can’t do whatever we want. And finding ways to make it happen, to make it possible is what interests me. But I’m still in my second collection, so there is still a lot to do. As for the leather, I developed it as it makes sense go along with latex because of the sexual universe, but also because I thought the clothes in this material would sell more.

The relationship between art and fashion is totally a part of me; my parents went to the school of Fine Arts so I was born in an artistic universe – and it is in this one that I feel good. Last September, I joined L’Atelier de Paname to have more place to work on the production of orders from my first collection. I was supposed to stay for about two weeks, but the atmosphere of the place, the exchange with other artists, and the creative dynamism really seduced me, so I never left. I’ve found my place in this artistic universe. Salomé Partouche and Damien Moulierac are two artists I see every day at the workshop and with whom I share a lot. I told them about the idea of ​​the banquet and that I thought their ceramic pieces would make sense with both the collection and the show. So they agreed to manage it and I gave them total freedom to express however they wanted. And it’s been successful!

Yes, I really wanted the staging to have an important place this season, especially when we refer to a film as strong as that of Peter Greenaway. I called Aymeric Bergada Du Cadet to choreograph the show and asked Mehdi Bizien, with whom I worked on the previous show, to compose the music. My stylist Léa Cellier also played a very important role in the development of the staging. It really was an exchange between the creator, the stylist, the choreographer and the musician.
For those who’ve seen the film, they’ll know it’s characterized by the changes of colour through each space, so we played with different types of music, lights and rhythm for the show. I really give creative freedom to the people I work with; this time, I just gave the film as the starting point.

Firstly, I do the casting myself. I do not work with agencies or with a casting director and I think it will remain like that for a while. It’s a very important part of my work and I really integrate it into my creative process. I am constantly looking for faces, physiques and personalities that interest me. I don’t think I have a particular type of model; if you look at the casting of my last show, you’ll see there are boys who look more masculine and others who are more androgynous. I look for a variety of profiles because I try to show that there are a lot of different conceptions about what masculinity and femininity are. I think the Arthur Avellano’s man or woman is a person who assumes what s/he is or what s/he has chosen to be.

The next few months are going to be very important and decisive for me. I was selected by La Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode to present Le Banquet during Paris Fashion Week (women’s) at the showroom in Palais de Tokyo. And the next collection will also be an important step for me because it’s going to be Spring/Summer, so there will be less latex and leather. It’ll be a surprise!