Tell us something about yourself?

⟶ I would describe myself as a curious and intuitive person who “travels” between the notion of heritage, culture, experience and knowledge versus a passion for the unknown and the sensation of discovery. This has become the driving force of my creativity and explains my choice of work to travel around the world in search for rare vintage silk fabrics. My curiosity has driven me to explore the world of prints and to find out about their origins. The diversity of the fabrics evoke the idea of travel and discovery as I have sourced them from around the world and within different cultures. Each one of them has a traceable past and a story to telll and this storytelling has become the leitmotiv of my collections.

Do you separate yourself from your design?

No, I don’t think that would be possible. My work is part of me and my designs reflects my personality in various ways. I have a very intimate relationship to my creativity and identify each design with my way of life.

Do you consider yourself as an artist or a designer?

I see my work as a platform of creativity, not necesseraly from a perspective of a designer nor an artist. I think all types of creativity has a notion of “artistery”. Creativity can move in all kinds of directions and do not necessary have to stay within one specific discipline. There is a fine line between design and art today, and artists or designers are more and more multidisciplinary and uses all kinds of different media to express their creativity.

What is your method of design?

The concept of my collection offers me a lot of freedom and instinctive possibilities without taking in consideration the present trends or other boundaries. As the collection is based on reusing rare printed silks from seasons past, one-of-a-kind or limited editions, I never know in beforehand what I will discover during my researches and can therefor not plan the collection ahead of time like other fashion brands. It is a journey of surprice effects and constant improvising. This method of work gives me total freedom to create a collection only trusting my intuition and choice.

Tell us something about your work with sustainability?

I thinks that creating a timeless, longlasting collection is the only reasonable and sustainable way forward. Quality and durability are key to reduce our impact on the planets resources, and sustainability is an inbuilt mindset, culture and lifestyle of my collections. Close to 90% of our products are made out of vintage dead-stock fabrics and we produce the entire collection locally in Paris/France.

charlottebialas.com

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