BEE MY BABY WEEK
Bee My Baby...
February 14th is tomorrow, and we're launching our new collection, which isn't about love, but friendship with a capital A.
At the origin of each collection are women, personalities, shapes, conquerors, Justine's head, Alexandra's miles of hair, Maria's sensitivity, my big sausage sister, Charlotte's buttocks, Marilou's happy teeth, my aunt's words, Aurélie's blond hair, Laure's seventies obsessions, Maeva's ardor, my mother's passion for leopards, Maya's perseverance, Mai's colors, Anne's self-sacrifice, Fanny's joie de vivre, Lily's funny chic, my nieces' innocence or Julie's always impeccable lipstick.
All these women who make up my daily life, whether they like it or not, are my inspiration, influencing my drawings and the stories I like to tell.
Finally, I started thinking about this collection when my best friend Justine moved to Italy. She's a sunshine girl, conquering and almost fearless! I think of her as my sister. We didn't grow up together, but there's so much she knows about me that only she knows. And when I met her for the first time 8 years ago, it was love at first sight, she was so sparkling, fragile and funny. In less than 5 minutes, we'd be exasperated by the same things, and we'd throw each other knowing glances... Boom it was done, the people around us already didn't exist anymore. She made me want to eat the world, and just like today with the man in my life, she's one of the people who push me and give me wings by the simple fact of having them by my side. I've regretted all the times I've done as I pleased and not listened to her. Justine knows, she has the perspective that I don't have on many situations.
You might say she looks like Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Portman or Keira Knightley, but in the end she's just like her, and like all those other women who leave an unforgettable emotion in their wake. And I decided that it would be a good idea to design clothes that leave no one indifferent! To design this collection using her as inspiration, the bees of her childhood and the mimosa of mine, the colors of a fantasized Italy and the retro silhouettes that sweep us off our feet. And always cuts that flatter all shapes, to celebrate our differences.
You know, when I draw and show my sketches to Laure, who refines them, corrects them, makes them more accurate, I always wait for her to say: "I can see Fanny or Maria in this", or "this piece will become your cuddly toy", or "I want it in every color!
That's how we work! And then Maria jumps in and gives us pointers on which fabric we should use rather than another, the right color, which will best serve the whys and wherefores. She reminds us why our collections work, that we make fewer and fewer compromises, that we try to take more and more colorful risks, to dust off forgotten cuts, to invent patterns that I hope will be unique. Each of the women in the Studio contributes her stone to the edifice, fighting for her ideas and convictions. It's like a dance, a heated conversation, which I find very amusing because, in the end, it's all about passion. Everyone's passion for our history and everyone's passion for their profession.
And it's not all mine any more, it belongs to all these women. Even if I come to play conductor, there's nothing that makes me prouder than to see my team excited by the reception of the first pieces, as much as I am, if not more. Everything takes on a new meaning!
And I think that today we offer more than just fashion, we offer the possibility of making. If we ever had the time, the desire and the motivation, we too could make that beloved skirt in all its dreamy colors. And it wasn't until recently that I realized that, in the end, it wasn't just clothes, it was a promise, the promise that one day we'll get down to it, or at least give it a try, that we'll take up sewing or our own story, that we'll leave everything behind to go and live in another country, to make our own way with or without someone by our side...
With the feeling that you'll never really be alone, because despite the distances, or the daily grind, you'll always be a bit of a "Bee's baby"...
Photos Laurence Revol <3, Make up Laurence Maestrello Thanks to the whole lemonade studio team for making all this possible and all those beautiful lemons for lending us their faces for the time of a Saturday in the rain!