Hands up: Etudes

In functional mode

“We were looking for a name to express our way of working, the research, the experimentation, the development around various themes. Ten years later, each one of us has a different role; we know what we have to do. We have always approached fashion work in a global way; we are close to the world of architecture, music – whether through collaborations with artists, or book publishing. José (Larmali) works on the collections, I work on the image and peripheral projects, and Jérémy (Egry) is the bridge between the two,” explains Aurélien Arbet, who wears a worker’s cap and jacket

“Our nomination at Aigle in October 2020 has strengthened our point of view. As we were more focused on streetwear, we reoriented our imagination around work related to nature, to the outdoors. Each collection develops a colour, a new story. And we number them: for Études 21, the starting point is the suburbs, the city’s interior ring road. It’s a 33-km circle that surrounds Paris, a transitional zone where colours, materials, vegetation, and architecture, pushed us to revisit a utilitarian wardrobe of tailoring. There is real know-how in the railway conductor jackets, the safety capes, which were extremely well designed with a “true hand”. There is a balance between sophisticated materials such as cold wools and poplins, and more raw textures, reminiscent of cotton canvas.”

Arbet continues: “José’s hands are close to the fabric. I went to École des Beaux-Arts, so my training is more conceptual. Jérémy studied graphic design, his hands are through the screen, or the computer mouse. We met while doing graffiti. We practice photography, we handle papers, covers, we buy a lot of books. We voluntarily wear out some pieces, we add bleach, we dye them, we wear, we rub, we add paint stains, patches. The mannequins will parade on rails. In clothing, what we like is the concept of time”.