PARIS -- Just days before the summer haute
couture collections, the florists in Marcelle Guillet's
workrooms tucked behind the Bastille opera house are putting
the finishing touches to their specialty: artificial flowers.
Whether pinned to the lapel of a jacket, nestling in cleavage
or trimming a hat, the exquisite floral creations that grace
the catwalks of the top designers will all have emanated
from Number 1 Avenue Daumesnil.
At one workbench, pleated white tulle is being assembled
into the house signature camellia for Chanel and carefully
laid into tissue-lined boxes.
At another, one of the "mains" as the women with
magic at their fingertips are known is deftly shaping petals
using a pair of tweezers and a tool like a tiny ice-cream
scoop heated over an open gas flame.
The walls are lined with shelves heaving with 10,000 matrices
and moulds for a seemingly infinite range of flowers and
foliage.
Heavy machinery is used to cut the petals, as many as 20
at a time for silk but more delicate or difficult materials
such as leather must be laboriously cut individually.
Colouring is also done by hand with a paintbrush. Not surprising
then that a flower can take anything from one to 10 hours
to complete.
It was Marcelle's idea, 25 years ago, to take the business
founded by her grandfather into haute couture.
It had started out purely as interior design, although her
father had already began forging links with fashion. He
became famous for his window displays for Dior, Hermes and
Gucci as well as one of the French capital's most elegant
department stores, Galeries Lafayette.
Her initiative to branch out into fashion immediately took
off and soon she was in demand from all the top designers
and houses including Balenciaga, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy,
Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel.
She says that, above all, the job demands creativity and
an ability to work closely together.
With 70 percent of the customers I take them my designs.
They may decide they want a different size, say 30 centimeters
in diameter instead of 15. Or different colors, say, grey
and beige instead of gradations of pink and straw.
"And experience is very important. I create things
with them in mind, which are already in their style."
Chanel is one of the 30 percent of her clients to submit
its own designs.
She set out 17 years ago to conquer Japan, feeling sure
that she could find success in a country with an ancient
civilization and appreciation of art -- and a particular
sensitivity to flowers.
"I wanted to give myself a challenge. I was already
established in Europe."
She was welcomed with open arms. "The Japanese were
so encouraging about my work, I immediately felt at home.
I loved it. The women are so elegant. It is a country made
for me."
Designer Yoshi Inaba placed an order on her first visit
and they have worked together ever since.
She also works closely with couturier Jun Ashida, his daughter,
who designs luxury ready-to-wear and Yumi Katsura. The Japanese
market now accounts for 20 percent of Guillet's turnover.
The trip to Japan has become an annual event and source
of inspiration. "I can't do without it. Every time
I come back with new ideas for flowers."
She is returning again in February, when a major retrospective
of her career will be held at the Takashimaya department
store in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, concentrating on her
collaboration with the late Italian designer Gianfranco
Ferre, as well as Ungaro and Chanel.
While deeply entrenched in tradition, Marcelle relishes
experimenting with new materials.
"The choice of materials today is much vaster. Once
it was only silk, chiffon, velvet, feathers, maybe lace.
Now we use PVC, leather, tweed, fur. We are constantly pushing
the boundaries. I have even tried cork. That is what is
so exciting. Any dream a designer has can be made a reality."
Testaments to her creative genius are crammed into every
nook and cranny of the showroom: from voluptuous silk cabbage
roses to tight buds, red carnations, hot-house orchids in
dusky pale pink velvet and tulle with dangling ostrich feathers
or futuristic gardenias in rich chocolate leather.
|
Select a Florist
