INTERVIEW

 

Aurélie, who are you?

I am a ceramist, both in design and craftsmanship; I get inspired, I imagine, I create and I make. I live here, above my studio with my children, two boys, aged 9 and 12.

 

Can you tell us about your atypical journey, to say the least?

I trained as a graphic designer, and I always had the idea of working with volumes, in stage design, or puppetry for example. I forgot about that idea when I started my career in a design and brand identity consultancy agency. A desire for independence and freedom has then led me to open my own specialised bookshops in graphic design. I organised encounters with artists, exhibitions, there were a lot of events, it was very rich. However, I felt something was missing: expressing my creativity and above all using my hands. I followed pottery courses in the evening and the weekends and did apprenticeships during my holidays. And then I reached a crossroads in my life: I had two children, I needed time for me but for them too. We left Paris for Bagnolet, I sold my shops and opened my studio to dedicate myself to ceramics.

 

Why ceramics?

My mother did pottery before my birth. Although I never saw her do it, we always had hand-made crockery at home. It left a mark on me. Ceramics to me represented a return to the real world, and counteracted the virtual and digital one. It also is a meeting point, fed by daily life and travel or art. It is an extremely rich discipline: you can learn all your life.

 

Can you tell us about transmission?

My mother transmitted the pottery virus to me. And I, in turn, teach in the studio. I love that shared time in creativity. It is gratifying to teach, to transmit, to give students the basic elements that will enable them later to enjoy themselves.

 

Pottery traditionally is quite a masculine job...

It’s true that most famous ceramists are men. But many women are learning and take the plunge. Maybe men spontaneously verge towards the more technical turning, whereas women prefer modelling, the traces a hand leaves on a material.

 

How do you manage the balance between work and personal life as a mother and company manager?

You juggle! It’s not always easy. Your planning has to be flexible; I wanted to work from home to be present for my children, but to do so, you need to be willing to work in the evenings again, at different times than employees. Children become more independent that way. The border between personal life and professional life tends to get blurred, everything is entangled.

 

Can you tell us a bit more about your home?

A former workman’s house, in Bagnolet, with my studio on the ground floor. Inside, flea market finds, many mementos collected when I had my bookshop, illustrations bought from randomly encountered artists, and of course, lots of ceramics: mine - tests or misses that end up here, and also a real collection of pieces that I regularly exchange with other craftsmen.

 

Tell us about your passions...

Of course. I am passionate about ceramics. But it is a challenge when your passion becomes a job. There are all the administrative and commercial additional jobs to do, pure creation becomes a luxury, a bonus. I also like to learn other crafts techniques, like weaving that I am currently learning with that loom in my living room!

 

A mantra?

That quotation by Eames that I love: “We have to take pleasure very seriously”!

 

What is elegance for you?

A woman can be elegant in so many different ways... You feel elegance more than you can define it. Above all, it’s about authenticity.

 

What type of consumer are you?

I am a very contradictory consumer. I think that over-consuming is not necessary, and that you absolutely can have allure without wearing a new outfit every week. But I love fashion! It is a great way to express personality and creativity. I like to buy things destined to last, or vintage, which alleviates my schizophrenic relation with fashion!

 

Your style in a few words:

I am maybe slightly hippie, sometimes rock. I love beautiful natural fabrics, linen and wool. I don’t go for extreme sophistication, I don’t like frills. I love dresses as much as well-worn jeans. I like overalls, big skirts and very short skirts... I like everything really!

 

The essentials in your closet:

A vintage overall I bought in a second hand shop in Germany, that lasts throughout the years. A belt with a big gilded mushroom, my extravagant piece! A denim jacket, my joker piece. A black lamb’s leather jacket, like a second skin.

 

A favourite piece:

My trench coat. I bought it when I was pregnant and I had to wait a long time to wear it, and since then I wear it non stop!

 

My day-to-day look:

My day-to-day is in the studio, I often wear an overall. I also like to wear high-waisted very slim cut jeans: I love them so much that I want to wear them every day.

 

The ideal week-end bag:

Books, lots of books! Everything I haven’t got the time for normally: my sewing, embroidery, weaving projects, my drawing books. I don’t forget my denim shorts, tank tops and white T-shirts, canvas sneakers and scarves to tie my hair up.

 

What you always carry with you:

My gold chain that I bought years ago and that never leaves me.

 

Comptoir des cotonniers, for you, is...

Simplicity with subtle cuts, nice textures. Classy, non ostentatious femininity. Trusted pieces, easy to combine. I think it’s touching and gratifying that Comptoir opts for placing real women in the spotlight. Women with a real life, who have things to say and share. Women who are not afraid of their contradictions or imperfections. Also inciting the public to consume differently, to buy responsibly and sustainably, to emphasise know-how, it’s a strong message. These are values that are particularly dear to me.

 

Your favourite piece in the new collection:

A big black tricot dress with a high neck, very feminine, that I would not have spontaneously tried on, but that I adore!