Leading Threads | Brittany tourism

Four craftswomen, four leading lights who embody the effervescence of Breton creativity. Stylist, embroiderer, knitter and artisan-designer: each of them creates in her own fashion, with convictions and identities firmly rooted in Breton territory as their common thread.

In the blink of an eye

1. The most international of Breton stylists

Nolwenn Faligot

Nolwenn Faligot has always woven links between other lands and her native Finistère. This Brest-based 34-year-old, who trained at London’s most prestigious fashion schools, creates timeless ecodesigned garments in limited series in her little workshop in Dirinon.

How did you become a stylist?

When I was eleven, I already knew I wanted to work in fashion. I followed my sister and joined the Celtic Circle when I was seven or so, and I was fascinated by Bigouden costumes. And then I’m lucky enough to have parents who are open to the world. I started travelling when I was very young and they supported my choices. After passing my Applied Arts Baccalaureate in Brest, I set off to London, without overthinking it, and enrolled at the London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins. I remember that our teachers threw us in at the deep end to see if we could swim, but that builds character. There’s an English expression that goes “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. And that’s exactly what I believe.

Why did you choose Brittany for your brand?

After seven years in London, a traineeship in Japan and three years in Slovakia as artistic director of an eco-responsible luxury brand, coming back to Brittany was the obvious thing to do. What with the Bigouden costumes and nautical menswear that inspire me, my brand’s whole identity is Breton. I could only create here. Right from the start, I had a very specific vision of what I wanted to do: create timeless, comfortable clothes, as virtuously as possible, in this region so dear to my heart.

How did you go about it?

I did an enormous amount of work sourcing raw materials in Europe. Then I contacted Armor-Lux to see if they had any surplus fabric to recycle, and they were won over by my approach. I’ve created several collections for them since then. The other key criterion for me is to create fashionable yet timeless garments. I’m inspired by the Japanese vision of clothing, where comfort takes precedence over fashion. I particularly like working with linen as it’s a living material that does what it wants, which is very much akin to the Breton character. And then, linen and Brittany are closely connected.

2. (The) Modern-day knitter

Mona-Louise Gillet

Behind the Rizom brand you’ll find Mona-Louise Gillet. This 29-year-old creator living in Bon-Repos-sur-Blavet in the south of Côtes d’Armor creates lampshades and cushions using an old mechanical knitting machine and meticulously chosen or recycled materials.

Where did your interest in yarn come from?

I’d always watched my mother sew and knit. Everyone in my family has an artistic side to them. I think I’ve always been attracted by materials, volumes… I started off by training as an architect at Ecole Boulle in Paris. After completing that very challenging course, I became fascinated by textiles after enrolling in a course in traditional weaving in Angers. I combined it all by creating my Rizom brand focusing on interior decoration. Just like a plant’s “rhizome”, the fabric I create is a network of intersecting strands and woven links. Rizom speaks of my passion for yarn as well as the links I’ve been able to create with other craftspeople in this rural region.

How do you choose your raw materials?

I started off during the lockdown, right in the middle of the “fast fashion” scandal… Taking a sustainable ecological approach seemed to me to be the obvious thing to do. I looked for wool producers in Brittany and linen producers in Normandy. In parallel, I got my hands on as much good-quality unsold stuff as I could. I very much like working with linen – it’s a resilient, silky material – as well as with wool. Each material has its virtues!

What kind of machine do you use to produce your cushions and lampshades?

When I was studying in Angers, I came across a mechanical knitting machine from the 1970s that’d been abandoned in a corner. It intrigued me and I learnt how to use it. Combining mechanics with knowhow, what could be more fascinating? One thing led to another and, by talking with other craftspeople, I got my hands on two other models. This type of knitting machine is amazing as it enables me to create an openwork weave for my linen lampshades and a denser weave for the woollen cushions. But as my stock of raw materials above all depends on making best use of what actually exists, I can only produce in limited series…

3. Outstanding embroiderer

Françoise Kerjose

After twenty years spent in mass distribution, Françoise Verbose returned to her first love: fabrics. This 56-year-old native of Quimper has lived a thousand professional lives. In her workshop in Plobannalec-Lesconil, she reworks traditional Breton embroidery to suit contemporary tastes with her brand Atelier Boem.

Where did your love of embroidery come from?

It’s a family legacy – I’ve always been drawn to materials. I took up silk painting alongside my grandmother. But as I came from a farming background, I had to have a “real profession”… so I stored couture away in the cupboard. And then, one day, I met Gildas Le Minor, from the eponymous brand, and rediscovered my love of quality fabrics. After a few years working alongside him, I felt the need to spread my wings and create my own household linen brand, Atelier Boem.

How did your brand come into being?

Boem is a Breton word that means furrow, charm, wonder. I knew that I wanted to communicate the heritage of Breton embroidery through fabric, highlight our region’s artists and reconnect with Brittany’s knowhow and quality materials: linen, felt and wool… I obtained a Cornely embroidery machine – an old model produced in 1863 that creates chainstitch embroidery. Unbeatable when it comes to giving relief to the thread, and strength and power to the patterns on the fabric! I started off by creating glass cloths; then I developed an exclusive range of household linen. I’m an art lover and I keep a close eye on up-and-coming Breton artists. I try to combine traditional knowhow and avant-gardism in my creations.

What’s your most recent creation?

With Nolwenn Faligot, we’ve created silk squares inspired by motifs from Pays Bigouden’s embroidered garment collections. The collection’s called Goenvic after a famous Bigouden embroiderer in the 1920s. I really enjoyed collaborating with Nolwenn as we share the same vision of work well done and a liking for combining tradition and modernism.

4. The most sea-salty artisan designer

Violaine Buet

After completing a course in human sciences and obtaining a degree in industrial creation, Finistère-born Violaine Buet set off to India to learn traditional methods of manufacturing textiles. She came out of the experience a changed woman. Back in her native Brittany, she decided to devote herself exclusively to seaweed and established the Manufacture des Algues in Gâvres (Morbihan).

Why did you choose to work with seaweed?

I grew up on the Glénan Islands’ rocks in Finistère. All that pliable material under my feet, I told myself it needed to be put to good use. And then, as a designer, I still ask myself the same question: how do you create without harming your environment? We’re ultra-technologised beings, but we’ve lost the ability to read the earth. Working this living material with my own hands anchors me, lets it guide me. It’s a fascinating material, wild yet structured. And then, when you’re touched by something, you take care of it…

What study pathway did you follow?

After my apprenticeship at a workshop in India, I enrolled at the National Higher School of Decorative Arts and took a course on textile and materials design, where I was given carte blanche. I had a lot of fun working with nori sheets (sheets of black seaweed used for making makis). The course, along with my return to my Breton roots, made me want to work with this living material. I went on to obtain a specialised Master’s in sustainable innovation through design. The subject of my thesis was “From artisanal techniques to shaping environments: towards design centred on living things”.

And what technique do you use to work with this living material?

I use a loom on which I combine seaweeds and linen. I worked with a team of researchers to find a natural way of dyeing seaweed. There’s an endless aesthetic and technical palette when you’re working with seaweeds. It’s a material that can be used in scenography, haute couture, design of objects, decoration… Seaweed was used for a costume in a Marvel film, for example.

In her workshop, strands of seaweed are hung up, woven, dyed or in their raw state. A world of its own that has led the artisan designer to exhibit in New York and Tel Aviv and have a permanent collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Arts.