What sparked the creation of AZUR? Why silk, why pleating? And why, for this collection, did you focus solely on indigo?
We had both reached a point where we wanted to have more freedom in our creation and especially to create in accordance with our social and environmental values. We were very interested in natural dyeing and started our first experiments on clothes in 2019. We met Véronique and Claire (pleaters and embroiderers in Marseille) and fell in love with one of their hand pleats. Pleating is only possible on polyester, silk and wool. Natural dyeing is only possible on natural fibers and using synthetic fabrics was never an option for us anyway, that’s why we decided to work with silk for our plissé.
We've wanted to make indigo pieces for a long time. Indigo is a different dyeing technique, the only color we don't do ourselves at the studio. When we met Harumi last year, an indigo dyer based in the south of France, we thought it was a good opportunity to finally do it. Indigo is such a beautiful and unique color, when we made the first prototypes, we thought that it was enough on its own and that making a collection only in indigo would highlight and sublimate this special dye.

How does being in Marseille effect your designing?
Marseille offers us the freedom to create according to our own desires and our own timing. It is not a city dominated by the fashion industry, but a place where you feel confident to build a project from your own perspective.

What has been the most interesting discovery since using botanical dyes in your production?
It is amazing to realize that you can actually create almost any color without harming the planet. All the colors you can dream of are there in nature.
Dyeing with plants made us realize the value of color, it made us understand that color is precious and meaningful. We are now used to having color everywhere and for everything, but for a long time, before the invention of synthetic dyes, having colored clothes was a luxury.

How do the two of you work together?
When we started the project, we did absolutely everything together. I think we needed that to define the project, what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. Now we are trying more and more to separate the work between the two of us. But the creation is still the part of the work that we keep to ourselves together.

Describe the mood in your atelier: is there music? Scent? Chaos or tidiness? What foods do you keep at hand in the atelier?
We moved into a new studio a few months ago and it is still being set up. The studio is where we dye everything, sew accessories, develop new collections and prototypes, ship the orders, process all the production, answer emails, etc. When you're doing so much in one place, it's sometimes hard to keep it tidy, but we like to work in a clean and organized environment, so we do our best to keep it nice.
We have 5 rooms in the studio, one for storage and sewing, one for computer work, meetings and creative work, a dye workshop, a room we rent to friends, a kitchen, and a large yard.
We cook (almost) every day for our team and studio mates, and we all eat lunch together. Many friends come over to eat with us or to have a drink in the yard at the end of the day. We wanted this place to be warm and friendly and to feel like a home.

What is next for AZUR?
We would like to extend the project to textiles and home goods. This is something we've been wanting to do since the creation of Azur, and we hope to finally have time to work on some pieces in 2023.

Photography Cassandre Lafon

Styling Andry Adolphe

Model Madison O'Mara

© Floregraphies