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THE HEIMSTONE MAGAZINE +

OPINION | 12.09. 2023

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

What lies beneath.
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I am often asked how my collections are born and I never really know how to answer this question because they are all related: I do not know when they start or if they really end. Heimstone is like a big open book: the one of my life, my inspirations, my memories, my trials, my challenges, my travels, what I like but also what I struggle against. The creativity I've been talking about since the beginning is what fulfills me, and Heimstone is the result of all that. If there is no beginning and no end, there is no frontier between Heimstone and I. I think I can say it's like we're one. I put all of myself in this brand which I consider as a whole universe, the extension of myself. These are not chapters one after the other but a great discussion that I opened and never stoped, feeding from each new season, new capsule,  new desire, new person in my life and all my energy.

 

"Heimstone is like a big open book: the one of my life, my inspirations, my memories, my trials, my challenges, my travels, what I like & what I struggle against."
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TRAVEL JOURNALS

I was lucky to have a very happy childhood with wonderful parents who, despite their busy working lives, have always favored us. We had the chance to travel a lot, to have parents for whom art, interior, decoration, well-being, sport and quality food always had an essential place in their balance. Our childhood was bathed by visits to museums, the discovery of new culture, outings to the theater etc. It was our daily life. I give a real importance to creativity,  it’s a tool and an extraordinary force in life. I think my parents have awakened this at home. As far as I can remember, I have always loved drawing. I remember that my father had taken me to see an exhibition of Rembrandt's drawings, and it had been a revelation for me, I was amazed by the complex simplicity of the pencil line. I can't say that I am a very good designer, but I love it. Even more than drawing, I like painting, colors, fabrics and prints. When I was a little girl, I traveled a lot in Africa, Morocco, Egypt, the United States and India. I had a fascination for each different textile work for each of these countries. I love Maine's, old Maine style

 boutis blankets, as much as the beautiful Moroccan Kilim carpets. I find that travelling helps creativity in the sense that we see a lot of new things. I also love jet lag. There’s something about that timeless moment that allows the mind to wander freely, reinterpreting images we’ve seen from a new perspective. I believe I’ve created some of the most beautiful Heimstone pieces while on a plane! I have always wanted to keep a record of my travels, a trace on which I can come back, to remember, to remember how I thought of such a period in my life. I started making travel books at a young age. I do not really like writing, but I like collages, I like to paste all kinds of things: my plane tickets, a restaurant card, a dried flower, a theater ticket, a piece of tissue ... In short, I love to stick! But I also like to color, paint, draw, frame and surround. I find an incredible satisfaction in it. So I started making travel books. They were ugly at the time, I was finding for my style.
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IVORY COAST

Lorsque j’étais adolescente, je me souviens avoir voyagé plusieurs fois en Côte d'Ivoire (les parents de ma meilleure amie y vivaient), et je passais mes journées dans les marchés, à la recherche de tissus. J'adorais voir tous ces tissus Wax. Ils étaient tous colorés avec des motifs qui n’avaient rien à voir les uns avec les autres. Je me disais : "Mais quelle créativité, quel audace de mélanger tous ces motifs !" Je me souviens de ce jour-là, où j'ai compris que tout est possible, que, en fait, les seules barrières que nous avons dans la vie sont celles que nous nous imposons nous-mêmes. Si je les trouvais beaux, c'était précisément parce qu'ils n'étaient pas assortis. Encore aujourd'hui, lorsque je crée mes collections, je recherche toujours cela. Je dis souvent aux filles avec lesquelles je travaille : "J’adore tellement, ça ne va pas ensemble." Cela les fait rire !

UNITED STATES

When I started Heimstone, I was 23, and I was traveling a lot. My twin sister Caroline (@threesevenparis) lived in New York, my brother (@antoineblanchetfilms), lived in Los Angeles, and I spent my time going back and forth to the United States. From that moment, I kept everything. Everthing I had the chance to see has continued to inspire the Heimstone collections. The United States is a major influence for me, they have inspired and continue to inspire many of my collections. In July 2007, I started one of the most beautiful trips of my life: the United States tour by car. The goal was to cross all the states, without ever taking the highway. This trip inspired the Fall-Winter 2008-2009 collection with the Indians of America collection. Six trips and two years later, it was done, in August 2009, I closed this journey with my final destination, Alaska. It inspired the 2010-2011 winter collection, Nome, and was probably the most beautiful trip of my life. I went to Hawaii after.

 

Favorite U.S. Addresses

The Deetjen's Inn in Big Sur, California
Dunton Hot Springs, Dolores, Colorado
Thunderbird Hotel, Marfa Texas 
(The hotel has inspired the Heimstone Thunderbird collection for summer 2013.)
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One of my travels from California to the very bottom of the American Midwest inspired the Echo Winter 2012-2013 collection. A very quiet journey, long and laborious because the landscapes are all the same, the roads are flat between the former lands Kellogg's. Nothing happens. Hours and hours of driving in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, in the middle of August the temperature is around 45 degrees Celsius and I was able to witness incredible thunderstorms, where the sky becomes black and threatening. We stopped in Decatur, Illinois to visit my twin sister Caroline and her husband Jonas who were living there. At that time, they made custom furniture "Three Seven" and were based at Jonas' dad. One day, we went to a Decatur tool shop to look for furniture hardware. All the shops were already in preparation for Thanksgiving (an institution there!). I photographed a whole alley of fake autumn leaves, and I made a print from one.
 

“Creativity is in every corner of my discoveries. I think it's up to everyone to find ideas and inspiration at any moment, just see them..”

À Monterey, en Californie, j'ai photographié des méduses dans un aquarium (juste avec mon iPhone) et créé le motif Jellyfish. Quelques années plus tard, j'ai rencontré mon mari, Onur, à New York. D'origine turque, il a grandi en Australie. Lorsque nous nous sommes rencontrés, il vivait encore à Sydney. Les premiers mois de notre relation, nous nous sommes retrouvés en Turquie, un pays qu'il m'a fait découvrir et qui a inspiré ma vie, ainsi que la collection hiver 2013-2014. Un marché aux poissons à Istanbul a inspiré le motif poisson. Nous avons aussi beaucoup voyagé en Australie, ce qui a donné naissance à notre motif Victoria Bitter. Une photo d'un navire et d'un port de containers au Canada a inspiré le motif "Steamers" pour la collection Alberta hiver 2015-2016. Au-delà de mes voyages, je suis aussi inspirée par des artistes que j'aime, comme la collection Dia, pour l'été 2012. Cette collection faisait référence à la Dia Beacon Art Foundation aux États-Unis, que j'ai eu l'opportunité de visiter à Marfa, au Texas, mais aussi dans l'État de New York. J'adore le travail néon de l'artiste Dan Flavin.
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“I have always wanted to keep a record of my travels, a trace on which I can come back, 
to remember, to remember how I thought of such a period of my life.”

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