Born in Florida to Belgian parents and growing up around Europe, I have had the privilege to experience and see a lot of the world and its cultures. Spending my primary school years at a Waldorf Schule exposed me to a way of learning through art and self expression. This has resulted in a deep appreciation for handwork and traditional craftsmanship. At the age of 16 after having seeing a making of " savoir-faire" documentary from Christian Dior and seeing the magnificent embroidery work done at Atelier Lesage Paris. I was struck with awe and had to master this craft. I enrolled in their professional training program and spend my school holidays learning at the atelier.
My Bachelor collection –Mme Bricolage – dealt with the idea of appropriating non conventional materials to produce new textures and fabrics which were inspired by the work of Linda Benglis, Jessica Stockholder and Sebastiaan Straatsma. It resulted in a special silicone spray technique that produced a fluid fabric that looked like fresh wet paint. With this collection I was awarded the "Louis Prize" for most promising student of 3BA and the "ASAP print Award" for most photogenic collection.
For My master collection I was inspired by fly fishing flies and the delicate artisanal way they are made, in combination with 'power woman' from the 70's like Bianca Jagger and Anjelica Houston. I strived for very elegant yet empowering cuts, which are heavily decorated to a point where the embellishment becomes part of the garment construction. Creating a very precious look with a cutthroat edge just like the delicate fly fishing flies are used to kill.