The insight into a student project Folies Créatures on the transformation of flora and fauna into a set of bags realized by a sculptural approach of creating clay and 3D modeled prototypes
Folies Créatures is a collection of bags and shoes
Inspired by Eva Verwicht’s research on Ron Nagle and Ken Price. Ron Nagle, the San-Francisco based artist, creates surrealist sculptures fired, glazed, or airbrushed; Ken Price is known for creating biomorphic blobs and bubbles that trace a certain fluidity to creating unconventional shapes. There is a correlation between the ceramic sculptors and Verwicht’s designs, as her working process also includes clay. She shapes the bag or shoes using clay like a sculpture, which later will be 3D modeled and cast into an aluminum mold to finish the piece. During this process comes the idea of material choice and additional details to add. «It is a perpetual dance between rationalities, utility, and sculptural objects», says Verwicht while elaborating on her working progress. Along with Alexander Hedouin, a choreographer, Verwicht produced a five-minute video with duo artists ERAXVI, where she mixed dancing motives with her Folies Créatures collection.
Verwicht does not give a lifespan to her accessories since the atypical forms of the bags should, in her opinion, suggest a dimension to make the owner more caring towards these pieces. That is why she is a supporter of handmade products that communicate quality making it timeless. And to reach ‘timeless’, Verwicht involves herself in mastering craftsmanship and know-how that goes in-hand with the beauty appreciation and transmitted values. Currently, she participates in a leather-good workshop in Marais, Paris.
Lampoon review: Eva Verwicht sustainable approach
All her designs are made locally, allowing her to form a team of professionals with whom she keeps in close contact. Speaking of sustainability, she emphasizes her aspect of interest in the topic, pointing out the importance of thoughtfully forming a team of craftsmen and choosing materials. As she works towards considering eco-responsibility as an alternative for her brand Verwicht believes that there is no such term as zero-waste: «the only way to move towards this zero impact would be to work with your hands on a raw, unprocessed natural material where the only energy is given would be that of man. And it all starts with consumer awareness».
There is a specific image of a woman that Verwicht puts ahead when creating – an individual who is not afraid to dream and reflect her inner desires and convictions. Since accessories can reveal the character of the wearer, it can also bring people together. The shapes of the bags follow the trace of their names. The Anemone bag from the Folies Créatures collection is a surrealistic representation of a flower with cylinder petals boldly assembled into a silver-blue holder. Medusa takes the shape of the jellyfish with a particular draping completed on the main body of the bag that reminds of trailing tentacles. The topics of flora and fauna are present in most of her leather goods accessories and shoe collection as a primary source of inspiration. In the next five years, she plans to continue working on accessory design but focusing more on the lifespan of her products and supporting the local economy through collaborating with local artisans.
Eva Verwicht designer
Young Paris-based designer from a small commune Château-Gontier in Mayenne, France. She has started her career path without aligning herself to the fashion industry by referring to it as ‘fleeting’. Furniture design and sculptures were her main field of interest before she instinctively found a way to merge the body and the object into a single concept through designing and producing accessories. In the beginning, she was getting absorbed into the surface and textile design while studying at ESAA Duperré in Paris, later self-taught to make shoes, and discovered leathergoods during her internship at Isabel Marant. 2020 marked as a success for her career as she has managed to become a finalist of both the Hyères international festival in the Accessories category and the International Support Talent Contest in Italy. She has presented her first collection Folies Créatures as a final project for the master’s degree that she pursued in Fashion & Accessories at the Geneva University of Art and Design.
