No. 180: Stravaganza: The Fine Art of Embroidery in Haute Couture

This morning I was thrilled to visit an atelier of another talented artisan, Fabienne Debastiani, at her purple digs in Paris.

source: http://www.bijoux-stravaganza.fr

Fabienne is a passionate creator of jewelry, costumes and haute couture. She began her career as a dancer and choreographer and her handcrafted designs are heavily influenced by the world of cabaret and Cancan. Her specialty is fine embroidery and her work is breathtaking. Like the flower artists at La Maison Légeron, Fabienne, seems to magically spin gilded thread, tiny beads and sparkling sequence into exquisite, wearable art.

She is another one of Frances treasured artists who is taking care of the details.

source:www.bijoux-stravaganza.fr

All her pieces are one-of-a-kind, and each one reflects her enthusiasm for her craft and for life. Somehow she has managed to continue to combine her love of this unique handcraft with her passion for dance. She choreographs and dances throughout Paris and Versailles and even found the time to choreograph and perform in the Cancan scenes in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. On top of that she has begun to hold embroidery workshops for the public sharing her joy of creating while helping to keep her craft alive. She is versatile and kind, and she moves through many different worlds, some days creating wedding gowns for real princesses, while on other days offering to repair this American’s treasured Siamese beaded clutch.

The unique artisans of this country continue to astound me and never let me forget how important art is to a culture…just one more thing I love about France.