Maison Montloup’s very first fabric collection will launch in June 2021. This first edition (Edition 1)[1] is the perfect opportunity for us to look back on the inspirations that led to the creation of this colorful selection.
Colors carry meaning, in the same way words or knits do. We communicate through our clothing, as well as through the fabrics that were used in their creation.
First and foremost, my goal was to create a selection that would be both timeless and versatile, using colors that can navigate from one palette to another with ease, creating a new sense of direction each time.
This collection was built upon five founding pillars which are all interconnected by an invisible thread. Writing speaks of our connection to time, and the Blank Page marks new beginnings. Correspondence resonates with the two preceding pillars, when Mirages blur the way. Lastly, Comfort veils us of the necessary gentleness to envision new beginnings. Enjoy the ride […]
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For starters, we have our basic colors: Black, white and navy blue (Blue Nights), to which we add Natural.
Natural is the original color: That of yarn devoid of dyes or chemicals. A soft and pleasant color upon which we can imagine thousands of prints.
It’s also the color of fresh parchment before writing, which leads us to the first pillar of our collection.
Writing
There’s something deeply intimate about writing. From the shape of the letters, the choice of words to that of the paper, be it checkered, lined, tissue or Armenian, a simple white blank page, etc.
When the time comes and we start a new chapter, a page is turned, and a new segment of life ensues.
I’ve got a limitless passion for notebooks. They withhold both very intimate feelings, mixed to all these other thoughts that forge my creative persona. I put them away there, on a piece of paper, waiting for them to ripen. It stems from this need to clear my head, but also from the pleasure of walking down memory lane when I so please.
It’s a tool that measures passing time, a communication medium: Writing shares, expresses, tells.
Photo : Research notebook, Lila Rousselet
I felt the need, for this collection, to close a book and start a fresh one, opening up to new horizons. And what better than a blank page to embark on this journey?
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Blank Page
« Color exists solely because we look at it. »
Michel Pastoureau
As I was scrolling on my phone, my eyes landed on a comment thread in which participants were arguing on whether or not white was actually a color.
In Antiquity, white, along with black and red, was part of a system based on these three poles. It represented the absence of color, whereas red represented the idea of color itself. It’s only following Newton’s discoveries that a distinction was made between these two-color types. For colors producing light, white is the sum of the colors on that spectrum. As for colors producing matter, white is the absence of color itself. If white unites all colors composing this spectrum, it necessarily becomes a color itself.
Speaking of which, white comes in many shades. I hold, within my sample binders, the numbers associated to each and every shade of white.
White never acts alone. In its’ eternal ball intertwined with black, white comes and supports the words that black lays bare on the paper.
Photo : Research notebook, Lila Rousselet
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To this quartet are joined nine colors, from deep green (Pine Grove) to light pink (Almond Peach), along with accent colors such as Jaffa Orange or Keesake Lilac.
Correspondence
This season, as I’m surrounded by talented craftswomen, I felt compelled to celebrate the importance of the human work and hand. A prime occasion to balance out the growing presence of the digital and virtual world in our lives. To expose the correspondences between artwork and artist, between paper and fabric, between color and light.
For this collection, I sought out inspiration from my mother Corinne Bourru’s work. It’s been a way for me to feel a bit of her presence by my side. She’s the one who created the fragments of plant-based paper found on the boards of the collection. Her work is sensitive and delicate, and matches nature’s natural cycles expressed through the seasons.
Corrine Bourru
Amongst the other artists, we have Mariane Laforest of Atelier 1N in partnership with Cath Laporte for the exhibit “ Le cercle chromatique de l’invisible ”[2]. This series of artworks created in partnership with various creators stemmed from Cath Laporte’s desire to better understand her inner-world, and to assess what unites us all.
Cath Laporte
“ Inspired by Beuys “sculpture sociale” concept to guide her potential comprehension of art as a means to transform society, the artist believes that through cultivating our creativity, we activate what is most powerful within us. “Imagination is the highest form of research” Einstein said. Such as portals to what is most creative and real within us, our artworks call for a both spiritual and artistic interpretation. ”
Finally, Lucie Leroux’s work resonates with the three other pillars through her sensitive research on textile finishing. In her collection, Mille et un plis, the artist creates fabric lamps using pleating and screen-printing technics.
Lucy Leroux
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Amidst a year marked by the unknown and inner withdrawal, I felt the need to share my uncertainties and doubts. They’ve been translated in the Écumes Brumeuses collection that sources its’ inspiration in a text written a few years ago.
Mirage and blur
“ When we’re apart, I forget. I don’t forget you, I forget what it feels like to be with you, to be in your home. I tell you “ so long ” at the station, I kiss you before this underground subway, I say “ see you soon ” as I watch you leave. But I am the one leaving. I watch you from above, as you shrink. I leave.
I bring with me an odd home every time I leave you.
This home has no proper wooden or stone walls: rather walls of love, whispers of love. It is bound by precious moments, solid friendships, happy memories. It uplifts me, and I bring it everywhere I go.
And when by the smell of fresh sheets, the pattern of a cloth or the taste of lavender ice cream lead me back to you, I feel whole. You inhabit me in that moment, no matter where I am. ”
Photo : Research notebook, Lila Rousselet
Comfort
In these often dishonourable times, the need for comfort, safety and tenderness is more present than ever.
Lucy McRae - Future Survival Kit
“ This idea of absolute comfort, the misty atmosphere of the bathroom, body soaked in foam, the soul filtering words ever so softly on a still voyage, some sort of gentle levitation. ”
Le Trottoir au soleil, Philippe Delerm
Tightly bound, knitted clothes are of the comforting kind : the ones we go to in order to feel cozy. Whether tightly interlocked to mold the body (undergarments, tank-tops, t-shirts) or thicker (sweaters, cardigans, coats), knits are undeniable symbols of comfort.
The act of knitting itself is often associated with calmness, women and more specifically to elderly people who practice this craft in the comfort of their homes.
Numerous are the soft color palettes that we’ve been longing to share this season. Écumes brumeuses, Souvenirs pastels or Douceur quotidienne all offer warm and reassuring colors.
Words soft as a knit blanket.
[1] Edition I corresponds to all the fabrics that went into production following the collaborative pre-sale in April 2021.
[2] https://cathlaporte.com/filter/work/LE-CERCLE-CHROMATIQUE-DE-L-INVISIBLE
