Lets begin the story of today's Closet Archive with this interview of Agnès Troublé from Vice. This helps you build up with the profile of this tender-hearted founder from the well-known French design collective house, Agnès b.
Who she is?
Born on the day of November 26, 1941. Agnès Troublé came from a middle class family in Versailles where she was ranked as the second child of the four. Under her father's influence, Agnès is very fond of art and studied drawings at the École des Beaux-Arts after her normal schooling time. Back then, she was inspired to become a museum curator. At the age of 17 she was married to Christian Bourgois, a publisher who was older than her for 11 years. The couple soon had a pair of twins one year after their marriage, but soon divorced when Agnès turned 19.
The Formation of Agnès b
As a single mother with two boys, life was somehow difficult but Agnès was happy. While attending a dinner party, she was spotted by Annie Rivermale; an editor from Elle was impressed with her personal style (surplus khaki jacket, petticoat and cowboy boots). She had mixed and matched from the items she bought from the flea market. Rivermale offered her a junior fashion editor position where she only worked at for a short while. With creating in mind, she began her designing career at Dorothée Bis in 1967. Two years after, she started freelancing for other companies; Cacharel, Limitex, Pierre d'Alby and V de V.
Following a random day in 1973, she received a phone call from Elle, enquiring her crediting preference over a design piece she had done. "Agnès b for Limitex," she answered. The name was then decided and she registered in lowercase as she always favoured simplicity. Soon after, she met
her second husband, Jean-René de Fleurieu who encouraged her to start her own shop in order to stop designing the overly decorative and complicated apparels that she disliked. In the year of 1975, Agnès b was officially founded at Les Halles, Paris. A former butcher shop on Rue du Jour.
Early Stage/Timeless Piece
The first collection of Agnès b was inspired by political influences where her political stand lies in her desire to liberate all social classes. Through her collection, she wanted to create something that would represent freedom where people could simply convey the expression of liberty through wearing them on the streets. She had found a specialised work-wear manufacturer located in southern France, near Bordeaux to produce her sleek street wears as the details had been improvised. It became so popular and people were coming all over to buy the apparels. They even took it while the clothes were still wet from the dyeing process.
At this very early stage of Agnès, some of the timeless signature pieces were then evolved. For instance, the striped rugby cotton t-shirt and her renowned snap cardigan. In fact, the very first piece of the snap cardigan was actually made on a scorching summer day in 1972 when Agnès cut through the front and added the buttons to the piece. The product was then officially released in 1979. Imprinted with Agnès's beliefs, the piece was to offer comfortability, flexibility and individuality for the wearers to blend in with their style and break through the stereotyped boundaries. Today, this essence remains in Agnès b's designs and the snap cardigan has sold over two million pieces.
So how did Agnès continue pursuing her vision and expanded the label into the current conglomerate over the years? Return next Monday to find out on our Closet Archive for Agnès b part 2. See you soon!
Image via Agnès b, Me and My Green Bin, Exhibition a
No comments:
Post a Comment