Co-creation of workwear
by valentin Porcher, co-founder of OLOW and Pierre-antoine Arlot, co-founder of La maison
Photographs by Nina Ducleux,
Video made by Marine Bréhin
For some time now, OLOW has been developing collaborations with craftsmen, from Ombre Claire for jewellery to Joël Dagès for dyeing.
We've now taken things a step further by teaming up with Nantes-based bakery La Maison. The aim is to offer practical, robust and creative workwear. We're really proud to be able to present the fruit of this collaboration today: an apron, a jacket, a T-shirt, a shopping bag and a cap.
To immortalise this collaboration, we invited video artist Marine Bréhin to come and film these pieces in situ, in the heart of the bakery/café/bistro. It was also an opportunity to hear the respective co-founders of OLOW and La Maison, Valentin Porcher and Pierre-Antoine Arlot, talk about this collaboration.
CREATIVE LIFE FOR SIMPLE FOOD
"Every day we see the sun rise.
Every day, we get to work.
Every day, we shape new edible territories.
Every day, we let creation surprise us.
We are the craftsmen of today, yesterday and tomorrow.
OLOW and LA MAISON are joining forces to forge a new relationship with our clothes and work. The intelligence of the hand is at the heart of all our crafts. It's essential to have robust, comfortable work tools to give this manual creation complete freedom.
Workwear created by craftsmen, for craftsmen. Combining the demands of European manufacturing, with responsible materials, and the reality of the intensity of manual work. A new page for workwear at the service of craftsmen and creativity."
Pierre-Antoine Arlot, Co-founder of La Maison
OLOW x La Maison, a natural match
Valentin Porcher : At OLOW, we know La Maison bakery because we had our offices right next door, not even 30 metres away, for at least 2 years. We used to go there to buy both our lunches and our bread. We knew it was a great reference. Then it was you who contacted us about making workwear.
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : Yes, that's right. In fact, what we're really interested in is working in a way that reconciles gastronomy and ecology. We try to apply this to everything we do, including our products, our sourdough breads, our pastries, our kitchen and our team's equipment. We want everything we use in the workshop to be in line with our philosophy.
I think what's most interesting in terms of reaching people is when you can use creativity to take up this challenge around gastronomy and ecology. I think that OLOW, with its highly creative approach, its sourcing and its manufacturing methods, is a brand that fits in well with our values. When we started looking at what we could do in workwear, it was a pretty natural match for us.
Valentin Porcher : Did you know OLOW before?
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : I knew without knowing. In fact, I used to see pieces in your shop that I'd come across in the street or in concert halls. I was at an event at Le Lieu Unique, for example, and immediately recognised OLOW clothes. But it wasn't until I went into the shop that I realised there were lots of clothes I'd seen before.
What I found interesting was not just the design, but also the quality of the materials and the durability. You get the feeling that these are pieces that are going to last and that can stand the test of time and passing fashions. It's true that when you make workwear, it can't just be pretty, it has to last. And for us, these are clothes we wear every day, with tasks that are sometimes repetitive and movements that can be quite intense. We need something that's both comfortable and durable.
Making the most of working with your hands
Valentin Porcher : I think what we've done with La Maison is a little bit in line with the “artisanal” collabs we've had. In other words, we're trying to refocus on the local, the artisanal, and to give importance to creating with our hands. It's not that we don't believe in artificial intelligence, but in concrete terms, we believe more in the intelligence of human beings and their hands.
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : Yes, and it's funny because I often think about it. In “artist” and “craftsman”, there's “art”, which comes from the Greek “ars” for “to make with one's hands, skill”. For us, it's really the basis of everything we try to do, i.e. to work 100% by hand on everything we produce in the workshop, but also on the equipment, tools, materials, which are designed by other craftsmen, and so to create connections like that.
I find that we have things that are much more long-term. For workwear, I saw a lot of pieces that were certainly durable, but not necessarily adapted to our activity as bakers, where we need fairly light, flexible things that can adapt to our type of work. We have teams of baristas, bakers, cooks and patissiers, all with different needs.
In the end, I think that in the collaboration and discussions we've had, we've tried not only to make something that makes sense from a philosophical point of view, but that is also useful for craftspeople and the work of the hand, with all the little details that we've been able to put in place.
Combining creativity, sustainability and practicality
Valentin Porcher : The aim was really to create clothes that went beyond the aesthetic we're used to, and that were also functional and practical at work, with a real purpose. You kind of managed that part to come up with pieces that help you and thought about all the details you were talking about. We already had experience of clothing, durability and materials, and with what you've given us on these issues, we've managed to come up with pieces that we hope will last a very long time.
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : We really have this unique combination of function, durability and comfort. I thought it was interesting to combine that with creative elements. We also work a lot with artists. They work on design elements, furniture, ceramics and joinery. I thought it was interesting that OLOW was open-minded enough to work with a designer with whom we collaborate, like Oliver Helfrich, to illustrate the T-shirts and certain details. This also showed that the identity of the house could take on another dimension on OLOW pieces, with a different kind of freedom.
Valentin Porcher : There's the creative aspect, so to speak. I also think that the sustainable, local, organic, family and work atmosphere aspect of the business coincides well with La Maison. I think the values are totally in line. Finally, working with craftsmen, as we did for the project with Joël Dages, leaving the assembly to a back-to-work workshop near La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), allows us to be closer to home, and perhaps relocalise production a little more. On top of that, it also goes with the idea of reducing: reducing the number of artists per collection, reducing the collections. Overall, it's in line with the idea of less but better, but still with an important place for creativity. The aim is really to combine all that.
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : When you manage to bring creative elements into a piece that combines simplicity and quality, that's when you can create an emotional connection with the people who wear it, or the people who see it. It makes you want to know more, how it's made, what goes on behind it. It's also used a lot in baking. When you create things that are different, that are singular, it creates a positive emotion, it questions people about how it was made, and there's a whole story behind it that can be told, giving more meaning to these pieces. So you create something that's part of an ecosystem and part of a global approach, from production right through to the product.
Valentin Porcher : Can you tell us about your relationship with Oliver Helfrich, the artist who created the visuals?
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : We've been working with Oliver Helfrich, who is a designer, and with whom I did quite a bit of work when I was in London. He's also a craftsman, in the sense that he started out as a sculptor. This gives him a very tactile, very manual approach to his graphic design work. Right from the start, we had this idea of creating something very warm, organic, vibrant and colourful to represent La Maison with the idea that it could take on lots of different shapes, textures and materials.
I thought it was quite natural to ask him to work with you on our first clothing line. We wanted to see how he could go beyond just communication pieces and create things that would be more long-lasting. So the graphics on the T-shirt, and the various embroideries on the other pieces in the collab, were developed with your teams at OLOW and Oliver Helfrich. The designs are geometric and quite graphic, but at the same time very danceable and lively. There's a lot of colour in Oliver's work.
Valentin Porcher : I was wondering, you wanted to make an adjustable apron, how did you come up with the idea of being able to shape and adjust an apron like that?
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : I must have used about twenty different aprons, with different cuts, textures and settings, without really finding the perfect combination of durability, agility and adaptability. In the end, with all the testing we did, we came up with the OLOW x La Maison apron.
I can see that everyone in the team has a different way of wearing it, from those who wear it high and taut to those who wear it a little looser for greater freedom of movement. So this press stud system is designed to adapt to all types of body shape, but also to very different uses. You don't move in the same way, you don't have the same movements, the same repetitions, so it leaves quite a bit of flexibility. You can even wear it as a full-body suit or a skirt, depending on how you use it.
Valentin Porcher : For the bag it's the same, you had thought of compartments, does that correspond to a particular need?
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : It was really inspired by the Talensac market. We used to see a lot of customers arriving with shopping bags, often re-purposed from bags or tote bags from well-known brands, given to them when they made a purchase. People thought it was pretty cool, because they could put lots of things in them, from salads to heavier items. We thought it was interesting to have a compartment to protect the baguette on one side, and a counterweight on the other to hold a bottle, for example, while still leaving room for weekend or weekly shopping.
Valentin Porcher : For the jacket, you chose a fabric that was both robust and durable, but also fairly light. You really wanted a light, practical piece of workwear, so in the end it's almost like a smock, isn't it?
Pierre-Antoine Arlot : It's not the traditional blue overalls, which are very thick, a bit mechanical, very hard-wearing, but also very stiff. It was one of my big frustrations as a baker when I first put on this kind of jacket, not having that freedom of movement. It's a job where you need quite a lot of extension, especially when you're in the oven, but with something that also protects your forearms from burns. And it's true that on the first one you had me try on, in this light material, we tested it in situation and I found it quite comfortable straight away. I think we managed to strike a balance. In fact, you can either find garments that are robust and quite thick, but not adapted to work in restaurants and bakeries, or jackets that are lighter, but not quite resistant enough. Here we have both.
