MARINE HENRION

• Would you introduce yourself in a few words?

I am Marine Henrion, I’m 23 years old and I just started my designer ready-to-wear brand. In 2014 I graduated from the Atelier Chardon Savard in fashion styling and patternmaking. In my fourth year, I had the opportunity to create my first collection from A to Z.

• Where does this interest for fashion come from?

I think I’ve loved fashion since I was a little kid. But the memory that is burnt in my mind goes back to when I was 9, we were vacationing in Corsica in a big house and I saw a show on TV about the big fashion designers of the time. I always keep it in a corner of my mind; it never left me.

First I turned to an Art prep class at the Atelier de Sèvres to study fashion photography but before I went to Atelier Chardon Savard I had never created clothes and only knew how to sew by hand.

• What is this WHITE SPIRIT collection’s operative word in your mind?

First I went towards something dark. I was inspired by church stain-glass windows and also by the Bird’s Nest in Beijing (Editor’s note: nickname given to Beijing’s National Stadium), a true architectural masterpiece in my opinion. To me, this first collection is organic, futuristic and super graphic.

• What inspires you?

Extracting what I like in architecture and put it on a body.

• What is your favorite model in your current collection and why?

The Bird’s Nest, which I did on a whim. At first it was supposed to be a coat made out of plastic, then I decide to go for more technical materials: leather and neoprene. I spent about 50 hours on it from the first pencil stroke to the finishing work.

• Where can we find the WHITE SPIRIT collection?

By going directly to my website and my future e-shop I expect to launch early August. Other than that, Superstrat workshop boutique in Brussels in the fall. I will also be at the next Who’s Next trade-show.

• What are your future projects?

Launching a more basic line for girls and develop my line of small leather goods. I’d like to address women who like to wear original clothes and are daring. But it has to keep some savoir-faire and the haute-couture spirit. I also create unique pieces upon demand.