Marine Billet: "I'm here to concretise dreams."

Marine Billet, an independent artisan jeweller, has been bringing Schiaparelli's sketches to life for the last six years. By experimenting, exploring and sculpting matter, she demonstrates with virtuosity that adornment is the key to self-revelation.

Marine Billet 

©Charlotte Debauge

Billet began her adult journey with uncertainty. A graduate of an architecture school in Normandy, where she grew up, the young woman found herself working monotonous days. What consumed her were jewellery pieces, which she collected compulsively. "I began amassing them. From Christian Lacroix to Saint Laurent, I scoured." recounts the creative. In Vietnam for training related to her work, she stumbled upon headdresses, earrings and the like, and became enchanted by the craftsmanship.

"When I decided to change my career, people would say I was brave, when in fact it was survival." 

Still in her job as an architect, she started investigating opportunities for a career shift. "I knew I wanted to work with my hands. What appeals to me about jewellery is that you can create an object quickly, from conception to realization." She set her sights on AFEDAP, a school based in Paris that offers a "Jewellery Author" programme, which includes not only design but also manufacturing." When you wipe the slate clean to reinvent yourself and taste creative freedom, you get carried away, leaving yourself no choice. Yet she threw herself into it wholeheartedly, taking on internships. "I knocked on every door and didn't count my hours." In her second year of study, she held an exhibition at the Hôtel Mariott République for her first collection, "Paris, I Want You". She recalls, "I walked around Paris and moulded a lamppost, a relief on the ground." The connections between architecture and jewellery blurred through her material work and she gradually emerged from her former life. During this period, she discovered the term parurier, which refers to a person who makes and sells accessories used in dressmaking and sewing. It was a revelation: "It was my dream job!" she claims, her hands raised in the air, the emotion still vivid as she finally found her path.

"I knocked on every door."

She also completed an internship with Philippe Grand, a prestigious jeweller who has created jewellery and accessories for renowned names in the industry, including Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton. "With Philippe Grand, I learned more in a month than in a year; I discovered different techniques." she says, of the behind-the-scenes name that the industry knows and shares under the radar.

One day, after ringing the doorbell at Schiaparelli, someone finally agreed to provide her with an email address. The studio had a person overseeing jewellery, but they offered her a first task: to create the handle of a bag, made of driftwood and metal. She starts with the basics: "a workbench, a motor, a handpiece, and a blowtorch," and as the fashion shows unfolded, her equipment expanded. "Once, I even had to buy a large saw to cut a strip of metal for a runway piece, I still have it" she muses. In January 2018, Bertrand Guyon had been the artistic director of the house since 2015. The seasons pass, as do the collaborations. When Daniel Roseberry took the reins of Schiaparelli in April 2019, Billet sensed "a new style and a lot of energy. It was very exciting." Still, the Schiaparelli house only presented during Haute Couture Week, finally returning to the Paris Fashion Week Calendar for ready-to-wear in March 2023 for the Fall-Winter 2023/2024 season.

"When I first saw the sketch of the lung dress, I had butterflies in my stomach."

How viral some fashion pieces can go. On July 11, 2021, Bella Hadid pranced down the red carpet at Cannes, climbing the steps for the film ‘Tre Piani,’ directed by Nanni Moretti in a dress adorned with the golden branche structure of lungs. "When I saw the sketch, I knew it was going to be a beautiful project," she recalls, anticipating a major fashion moment. "The sketch spoke for itself. That's the magic of a good sketch." It was indeed the first time she'd ever wondered how to make lungs, so she decided to find out for herself. "I soon realised that they looked like inverted roots. I went to the park next to my house and uprooted a plant to take a look." The first project took a week to complete. "The central part is made of brass plate, with brass wires around it. If you turn the center over, it is hollow."

Billet was also behind the Schiaparelli’s famous golden resin baby. "The moulding was done on an infant – in plastic, of course – but it was very realistic," she says, describing the demoulding as "a very funny scene, with the baby attached to this breast."

Among other unique projects she has created for Schiaparelli, she also mentions a mask for the rapper Cardi B. "The moulding was done in the United States by a makeup artist. I received her silicone face in the post," she explains with a big smile, miming her surprise when opening the package. 

“Petite main? Belle main!”

"I've been told ‘you're just a maker’", she confides, referring to the ignorance and disdain that intellectual professions sometimes show towards manual work. "A ‘petite main’? My hands are anything but small, I win all my thumb wars," she retorts with a grin, looking at her ring-adorned hands, including the articulated silver finger she crafted for herself. "Even if we receive a beautiful sketch, it needs to be developed, and that is conceptual work. Behind every skilled hand, there is always a brain. There is always a soul connecting the brain to the hand."

Craftsmanship, the art professions, and manual work are being increasingly valued. "It's changing. Crafts are being recognised and associated with luxury, with excellence. Schools are filling up," she explains. The spotlight on manual work and craftsmanship provides a fertile ground for the blossoming of creative minds who were previously hesitant to express their primary passion. "If we pursue excellence and passion, we can achieve anything," affirms Billet, whose early career exemplifies this. 

"I waited, it took time, and things fell into place by themselves."

In late 2023, Billet won two awards within two weeks. The Prix des Artisanes was awarded by ELLE Magazine with the support of LVMH, in partnership with Artisans d'Avenir and the Institut pour les Savoir-Faire Français (formerly INMA). Last year, it inaugurated a "Jewellery-Watchmaking" section. She submitted her application and presented her pieces to a jury that was immediately won over. This was a major recognition for the creative who had switched careers six years earlier. Shortly after, she received a second award in Milan, "Best in Creativity" created and handed over by Laura Inghirami during Milan Jewelry Week. "Everything accelerated at once. You have to take your time, and eventually, it happens," she explains. While this was a strong professional recognition, she reflects on it calmly and humbly. It is when she talks about the metal she bends or the shapes she sculpts that her eyes light up, expressing her passion. 

"Working for others, technically, allows me to surpass myself." 

In October 2023, she founded Incarnem, her own brand, her creative outlet. Her desire for independence, from conception to creation, became a reality. "The further I go, the more I do everything myself. I even do my own gilding, with gold baths at home" she explains. "Every morning, I'm happy to go to my atelier. " Starting her own brand was also about asserting her own style. "I want to make accessories, not in the mediocre sense of the term, but so that they become a second skin." Already, she had been creating pieces on the side for several years; experimenting, because ideas were always buzzing. "My pieces are in silver or gold and are normally hallmarked, which I didn't do at the beginning. I didn't sign my pieces; that was a mistake," she explains, emphasising that she only offers "bespoke pieces that fit a person’s morphology like a glove. I'm not interested in commercial work." Incarnem will celebrate its anniversary later this year, from October 3 through 16, in the gardens of the Palais Royal in the 3m2 gallery. "It will be a mix of collections and body moulds, with a special scenography," she says. It will also be an opportunity to look back, to contemplate the path taken. "I was so driven, I didn't count my hours."

©Charlotte Debauge

Recently, Billet was invited to present her work at her high school in Fécamp, "a small town where, compared to Paris, there are few choices and opportunities for manual trades," she says. She presented her journey, her doubts, and her accomplishments. "I was surprised to receive many questions about my salary and whether I could make a living from it. I earned more as an architect, but I feel much better now," she says. Financial fulfillment cannot supplant personal fulfillment. "One boy wanted to be a cabinetmaker although he was also considering law school. If we can help at least one or two people find their path, that's already something!" she concludes optimistically. 

Billet is an artisan-model maker-prototypist-jeweller-artist (all apply), and her creations consistently stem from a process of reflection and commitment. The pieces are powerful, distinctive and memorable. Even when she's creating for others, she immerses herself in them head-on. "When I hand over a piece I've crafted, even if it's not my design, there's always a snippet of my soul that goes with it."

This interview has been lightly edited.