The beautiful marriage of fur and embroidery

An article about creating Saga Furs Fur Vision 2021.

Baqué Molinié is French textile and embroidery design studio, which carries the names of the two owners Laetitia Baqué and Victor Molinié. Hard work, being open to experiment with the new things and saying ‘Yes’ to almost everything has given both lots of experience in fashion, haute couture and made their own business highly successful in quite a short period of time. For the past three years the duo has developed samples for the biggest fashion houses in Europe, many of the same brands that Saga Furs supply fur pelts to. Now they are collaborating with Saga Furs in Fur Vision 2021 collection and as everything they touch seems to turn into gold dust, we cannot wait to show the result to the industry!

 

Your company Baqué Molinié carries your both names. How did you guys meet in the first place?

We both studied in Duperré Paris, Victor studied in Fashion and Leatitia in textile design. We met during our final year as we were assigned to do a final thesis project together. We noticed that we loved working together and we had similar love toward textile and embroidery. After graduation we always kept in touch. But only later after many years of experience in the industry, we decided to both quit our jobs and to start our own company together.

 

As I understood you both worked together at the Alexander McQueen. How was it?

It was intense and unforgettable! We learnt so much about the embroidery process, and it was even more valuable since the embroidery has such a strong place at the Alexander McQueen. It truly teached us a lot.

 

 

What are your main sources for inspiration?

Everything, but quit often books and the library are the things for us to get the ideas. We are suppliers for designers, and it is our duty to bring their idea into life, so it is more about what inspires them. Usually designers have the vision and we try to create it in a way they had hoped for. It is so interesting to explore what can you create with different materials and we love embroidery because it gives you endless ways to work with textiles. But we do get inspired by Paris and the beauty on the streets.

 

Oh, yes. Your studio is in Paris. Tell me about it?

We have had our studio in Paris since September 2019 and it is such a creative place for us! We share the studio with many artisans from different fields from goldsmiths to seamstress… so we do get a lot of inspiration from them, for example using embroidery as jewelry. Of course, Paris is very inspirational place altogether and there are so many fashion houses, creativity and beauty.

 

How did you ended up using real fur and did you have experience about fur before this collaboration?

Well, while we were working at the Alexander McQueen, we got to know Emma Vivian, who works now for Saga Furs. She contacted us and asked if we would like to collaborate. So, it was November last year that we came to Design Centre to meet Emma and to learn how to work with fur. It started with just learning the basic techniques and how the material behaves. We had some experience with fur in the past, but what was different now, was that we had a proper training by the furrier. We loved the incredible texture, so this was a great opportunity for us to explore fur as a new medium and to experiment how to combine embroidery with fur.

Tell me about the collaboration with Saga Furs and what are you working now on?

We are designing several swatches for Saga Furs’ Fur Vision 2021 collection. They all include embroidery and Saga Furs fur, both mink and fox. The process is a bit same as how we work with designers, we feel that Emma, who works for Saga Furs, has a vision of the techniques and we try to come up with an embroidery to make it possible. It is also a lot just to try out different things and see what works with fur. Emma knows techniques and we try to bring something new to them!

 

How do you feel about working with fur?

The collaboration with Saga Furs on Fur Vision 2021 collection and this training in the Design Centre really made us to develop professionally. Fur is very interesting and versatile material. It has a texture which is very different from any other fabric we are used to work with. How you’re applying embroidery materials on fur depends on the length of the hair. There are so many different techniques that you can use when working with fur, like with embroidery. And it was challenging to combine these both techniques trying always to highlight them and to give both an equal space in the spotlight.

 

How do you see sustainability in the fashion industry?

It is so complicated with fashion and sustainability. Everything is happening so fast in the fashion industry – we would need to appreciate craftsmanship and quality more, and that means slowing down the pace with collections and trends.

Craftsmanship means higher quality but also that it is more expansive, seasonality in fashion should change so that people would like to invest in things that last. Hand embroidery is giving a very high value to a garment, it’s a luxury technique which obviously has a cost due to the time it requires to make.

We also think it is important to support young designers, because young designers can have so much creative solutions for sustainability.

What is the best part about your work, or which are the projects you are most proud of?

We have done so many great things that it is hard to mention just a one thing, and maybe just simply being able to work together has been the best part! Working for the fashion houses is very interesting but we are also very involved with different collaborations that takes us outside of the fashion industry. It can be an association or an artist. For example, we had a very exciting project with an association called La Fabrique Nomade that helps various people to work with crafts in Paris. And the fact that our job offers us the opportunity to meet new people and discover new forms of arts and crafts is amazing.

 

You work with famous fashion houses in Europe and we saw J.lo wearing an amazing Versace piece with your embroidery at the Super Bowl in 2020. How was it to create a garment for her?

Oh, it was crazy! But honestly, we were not aware at the beginning that it will be for this event and to J. Lo! One week before the event we heard their plans and we were in the rush to finish all the panels for her outfit. It was great and took us by surprise! Obviously, the Super Bowl is a remarkable event and we were astonished to be part of it in that way!

 

What are your biggest dreams with your company in the future?

Our biggest dream is to always keep learning more. We want to develop embroidery as an art form and create new ways to use it, as you do with fur for example. Opportunities with embroidery are endless so we would like to see it in all kind of products from furniture to art etc. We don’t see embroidery as a part of fashion, fashion is just one way to use embroidery!