…Camille Malandain
Hi Camille! How are you?
HI Filippo I’m fine thanks !
Fine, can you introduce yourself?
I’m Camille Malandain, I’m a designer based in Paris. I have created my brand named Stone Paper Feather, a jewelry brand, and both working on many projects at the same time. I like to experiment materials and different way of creating, old ones and really new ones. I’m always looking for mediums.
Sounds great! Did you study to work as designer?
Yes, I first stated in Plastic Arts, then to product design and to finish global design. I think that the fact that I have been in Plastic Arts feeded all my process and the importance of materials in my creations. It is were I started to fiddle with things …
How would you define Paris creative scene?
Paris is a really great place, you can meet people from different design area mixing together and creating another stuff. But for me all the interesting things are hidden, you have to know the good people to discover really good work or process. Or sometimes it is just luck ! I remember one time we were having a drink with friends and just discover that the people next to us were having a little conference about 3D printing. We just asked about what those things they brought were (small 3D prints) and finished the night in a huge 3D print studio with a demonstration and explanation about the process !
Let’s talk about Stone Paper Feather: it’s a name that describe your own style, not?
Yes, These are the materials I am mostly using and it well describe the style of the brand, raw and natural materials mixed together. It represent the most important parts of my creations and with that, you won’t be expecting to see golden stuff or plastic. I think that this name well introduce the brand.
Indeed! When did it come up?
I was thinking about it from a long time and then decided to try. I seriously started on january, but thought about it since more than a year !
What have been your first steps in this business? In this days this article is creating much debate: in Italy there are a lot of problems for a young fashion brand - what about France?
Of course it is complicated, but as usual ! I think it is the same in Italie or wherever, as a designer it is always complicated to get a place in the creation area.
I think it is divided in two parts : first the administrative part, boring of course, many many papers to fill, but in France, with the status of “auto entrepreneur” it is more simple, if I don’t sold anything, I won’t pay anything.
The second part is to increase the brand, give it more importance and make it known. I made an exhibition about it to introduce my creation, and I am using the internet and social media mostly to share my news. My friends are both really good at sharing my brand into talking about it to there circle as much as they can, I really appreicate it, it is motivating for me to be support like that !
What role has the Internet in your creative process?
Internet is the best way to share with people, and that across the world.
I have some feedback from people from everywhere, and that is really interesting. I mean, I am creating things with an European point of view, but how does the other people saw my work, from other countries ?
I am collecting stones, feathers and other stuffs from all other the world, and I really like the fact that for example,in one necklace, the stones comes from Afghanistan, the feathers comes from America, the chain from Europe and some elements from my country side. Internet allow me to find exactly what I am looking for and both share with people. The ones who sold me materials keep in touch to know how it will be transformed to end as a bracelet, a pendant ….
Of course it is a way to get inspirations from every kind of stuff, design or not, and keep in touch with all the new process, materials, way of working…things that put together on my tumblr.
This approach is truly interesting, I like the fact your handmade objects are someway a collage just like a Tumblr page. Do you think the future of fashion design will have to do with this working method?
I don’t know, I think that it is more the fact of the designers. I am often disapointed by the fashion ‘s inspirations because it is quite always inspirations that they didn’t found so far….They seems to feel good in getting easy daily inspiration and just follow it cause it seems to be trendy.
I mean there is so many interesting things to work on, and they just choose the 5 first one they found on there google search…
For me you have to be hungry of new things and we have to go forward the basic inspiration that are accessible to most of the people. The best way to enhance your work is to look in the fields where you are not expected to find something and let a place to the chance !
What are your main visual influences?
Here you can see that my visual influences are huge !
I’m interested in everything, colors, shapes, materials, textures…in every kind of fields.
I really like Naturalist drawings and collections, collecting and classifying bugs, butterflies, stones, animals…They allow us to see that there are a lots of subtilities in nature that we mostly never see cause we don’t take the time to look at it, or just because we are not interested in it. But those collected things are full of details that we will later saw on fashion fabrics, objects ’ shapes etc …
Of course I follow all the designs area, product design, graphic design, fashion, architecture, both industrial and craft ways.
I think that is is important to look at the natural things and the “artificials” ones too, cause they are all linked in a way and complementary.
I also like to watch small videos , it gives atmospheres and it is very inspiring to watch process and others possibilities to create by an other work tool than mine.
As we are a small group of creative people, we share our visual inspirations when we saw something that could interest the other, and then get more and more visuals to discover.
I can recognize an influence by a kind of primitive culture. Am I wrong?
Yes of course, I have always been interested in jewels and set of jewels throught cultures and centuries. I have been to different countries and museums and spent hours drawing them. I went to le Louvre and the Quai Branly Museum to saw a larger range of those. For me jewels and sets of it have always been important during centuries, it showed the importance of people, there culture and they are a piece of the people that wear it. In a way it represent a part of you, it as always been. It is a removable part of you and your body. It is a kind of extension of yourself.
What are you working on these days?
I am actually working on new jewels, larger and in a way of body extension, a serie of tee shirt with very interesting and interactive inks by a silk screen process with my boyfriend, and all the communication that it will need (packaging, photos…), I’m still drawing and updating my tumblr, looking for fresh news from every fields !
What about your plans for the future?
Plans for future….good question ! Actually I have to do an alimentary job to live, cause it is very complicated to find a job in your design area, even if you say that you will do coffee and photocopies and if you are able to do it well. I would like to have both a design job and time to create by my own with the people I want to work with. I already have many ideas with friends to collaborate and I’m sure it will make really good things in the end.
I would like to learn all the time, to get more knowledge and be able do do and share more things.
Good luck, Camille! Thank you, it has been a pleasure: is there anything else would you like to say to our readers?
Thanks to you it was a pleasure too !
What I would like to say to the reader : Never stop supporting little brands, we both have things to say, even if we don’t have the same budget as big ones. Even if we are not known, we have ideas and creativity and we are free to do whatever we want, more than big brands, we need your support to show us that we were right to believe in our own ideas and creative point of view.
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