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NOW YOU CAN SHOP IT! https://valettestudio.com
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I have often spoken about designers who tweak the classics and
here is a designer who perhaps tweaks it just enough to make them edgy without
looking ridiculous or so over the top that the clothes become unwearable.
So here, today, we have the designer who will tell us all
about his collections, his modus operandi and just about everything we need to
know about the collection and who the Valette man is as well as who is Pierre
Francois Valette.
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To say that Pierre-François has taken a circuitous route to
arrive in the world of fashion is an understatement but then again it is
possible that it is the exact reason why he sees fashion as he does. So here in
his own words is the designer explaining the genesis and rasion d’être for his eponymous collection.
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JF: Can you sort of give us an idea of how you
arrived at the point in your career?
PFV: I don’t know if we can say “career”, I see it
more as an irrepressible desire to make something. Having said that, I haven’t
had an ordinary education. I have been 10 years in flexible music schedules
where I played instruments but also taken part as a singer to various opera
productions, notably La Flute Enchantée
of Mozart directed by William Kentridge when I was 13 or 14. However, this
education gave me artistic sensitivity. This desire to imagine, to create an
atmosphere, to relay an idea, an emotion, a message … Then, I undertook law
studies which I interrupted after my graduation to join l’École
de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture
Parisienne. I studied there for 4
years (Master 1 Promotion 2018). From the very beginning I knew I made the
right choice! After 2 years, I worked a few months at the Isabel Marant’s
studio where I really discovered that this job was for me. All this work around
creative development, from models to toiles; the attention to details, prints,
the functionality of clothing… I didn’t want to leave!
After graduating, I joined
Saint Laurent’s studios and the Saint
Laurent Fashion Institute, which
describes itself as an immersion program
in the history and DNA of the Maison Saint Laurent. I discovered the culture of
beauty, refinement, excellence … I also had the chance to work with the
Ateliers, which are probably among the most competent in the world, and to
learn from their savoir-faire and their history. After these few months at
Saint Laurent, I won the Saint Laurent
Fashion Institute’s Prize. Surrounded by friends and professionals I met
throughout my formation and professional experiences, I decided to create my
own men’s brand VALETTE, the first presentation took place on January 17th 2020
in Paris.
My desire was to start a personal story that
was perhaps time-consuming but just as fascinating! The idea was to get back to
the base of what I liked: developing an idea, creating an atmosphere and
bringing people together around a project. Fashion is above all a dialogue, and
I dared starting it.
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JF: Who is your target clientele and why have you
chosen them and why do you believe they are your audience?
PFV: When I started to think about
this first collection, I did not have a specific customer in mind. I believe
that this is not the first objective for a new brand.
I wanted to express myself
personally and show my universe, the look, tell a story ... more than asking
myself about customer barriers.
I wanted the collection to be understood as a
wardrobe collection with all the pieces needed (jumpsuits, coats, jackets,
shirts, T-shirts, vests, pants, overalls but also accessories like gloves,
scarves, belts).
The VALETTE look is inspired
by the classics, but add a Dandy influence with a modern and sophisticated
attitude.
Rather than imagining a
specific customer, I always had in mind that I call an embodiment (incarnation
in French). It means: an
attitude, an allure of a boy I want to dress - what brings out of him and
reveals. A head carriage, a wiggle, a way of evolving in space.
The VALETTE boy with the most
innocent expression of his face, is daring, adaptable and asserts who he is. He
is free: free to be, to surprise and to surprise himself.
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My idea was to imagine for this modern Dandy a
“cool tailored suit’ adapted for the modern urban and social way of life.
VALETTE clothing is the work around shapes, the cut and the details turned to
functionality and fit. I always keep in mind that elegance, simplicity of
shapes and colours must be a constant concern in order to create a garment that
is both beautiful and useful for everyday life.
VALETTE clothing is the work around shapes, the cut and the
details turned to functionality and fit. I always keep in mind that elegance,
simplicity of shapes and colours must be a constant concern in order to create
a garment that is both beautiful and useful for everyday life.
The objective is therefore
not to divide the creative ambition by age group or customer, but to dress a
plurality of people to enable the total look or simply to accessorize the
outfit.
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JF: Do you have any style or fashion mentors who
have inspired you and why did you select them?
PFV: There are so many! However, I think inspiration
happens every day and all the time. It’s a feeling, it changes and you have to
work on it. Inspiration is a wish, a desire, an emotion, a smell, a touch …
something that is here but evaporates. Imagine how to freeze an idea that comes
to your mind for one second before disappearing! I always thought that creation
was transmission.
I’m inspired by many things: music, literature,
art, poetry, movies… and everyday life. I like to make connections between
things that seem very distant. I think the most interesting thing with an idea
is when it brings together different inspirations.
I am also inspired by the journeys of many artists
from different fields. How they went through life including their joys, their
disappointments, sometimes their sorrows - the difficulty to create and for
some of them, to live. There is always something to learn from others!
Fashion
designers? Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre
Bergé for their Beauty, Raf Simons
for his global design, Helmut Lang
for his modernity AND Martin Margiela for his spirit
Other
sources of inspiration? Cocteau for his audacity, Chagall for his hope, Ravel for its authenticity, Dali for his enigma, Sagan for her Panache (cf. Edmond Rostand -
Cyrano de Bergerac)
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VALETTE is the disobedience of elegance
follow him and his brand at www.instagram.com/valettepf
www.instagram.com/valettepf/
follow him and his brand at www.instagram.com/valettepf
www.instagram.com/valettepf/
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