Raphaële Lenseigne

Purple-blooded was about a woman that never really fits anywhere. Her story being partly auto-biographic, I used references from the nobility's apparel (jabot, country coats, tailored pieces) that I left to evolve into more fluid, organic, laid-back homewear.
The whole project was articulated around 3 residencies during which I developed knitwear pieces in collaboration with outsider artist Barbara Massart, whose work struck me when I discovered it at the beginning of my research process. This was for me an unprecedented creative experience and, as we worked towards ways to understand one another despite our difference, I came to cast a new eye on garment making. More spontaneous, more free, slightly wilder maybe. I wanted to illustrate that wildness through textile treatments as well, so I recreated feather-like textures from fringed straps of fabrics, and later on sisal fibers that I would fringe off woven sheets and assemble together into a bursting new textile, spilling out seams and collars, eating severe tailored sleeves away.