A French woman for three days Isabel Daeron became the curator of the training program on window dressing, offered in the new studio-workshop format. In co-authorship with 12 Ukrainian designers, she developed and embodied the concept of window design of the Vsyki store. Your | Home and Decor on ul. Khreshchatyk, 34. The event takes place within the framework of the "French Spring 2019" festival, and since its current theme is color, the project was named "Your showcases. Colors of Ukraine".
The atelier-practicum began with two open lectures by French specialists in color and design. The first of them was conducted by the founder of the Argile paint factory, Jean Frederic Nothomb. The motto of this famous brand is: "Nature does not make mistakes", and the name itself is translated from French as clay, soil.
Together with the artist Pierre Bonfiuy, who stood at its origins, they developed the Couleurs de Terre palette of 128 shades, inspired by the colors of the Earth, and the Vegetal collection of 56 colors, born of the beauty of the plant world. In addition, Mr. Notomb told how to correctly choose background and accent tones, how to combine them and correctly determine the proportions, as well as about the features of Argile palettes and those specially created tools that facilitate work with them.
Isabelle Daeron designs interiors, public spaces, and urban design, but window design for well-known global brands, primarily Hermès in Japan and France, brought her wide fame. In her lecture on the art of window dressing, she, for example, talked about her latest project — more than a hundred (!) window displays for this brand in the last hour.
"Working on a project for everyone. Your | Home and Decor, says Isabelle, assumed three conditions: to use French Argile paints, to work in co-authorship with the artist, master of Ukrainian carvings Daria Aleshkina, and to use the store's products in the concept. To begin with, I got a little acquainted with the technique that Daria uses, as well as with the landscapes of Ukraine, local nature, the themes of natural pigments, "dyes" that are found here. Each time we chose a living element associated with a natural pigment that can be represented here in Ukraine, for example, beetroot, heather, rocks, bark. The idea is to show that behind them is the environment, the natural landscape. In addition, the store's products had to be placed in the decor we invented, used in window dressing to show Ukrainian products, culture, tradition, emphasize them and bring them to the fore."
The search and research of the material to be worked with, then the design concept, development of the project and, finally, final adjustments — the whole process took Isabelle two or three weeks, although she admits that it usually takes more time. Some stages are carried out remotely, and the practical implementation itself was carried out during the workshop workshop in Kyiv. When asked how this experience differs from the previous one, with the largest retailers in the world, Izabel answered the following: "I have to say that the budget is different (laughs). Plus, here there is already a team that is engaged in the implementation of some stages, for example, the production of vytinanak, whereas in France or Japan sometimes you had to do everything yourself. But despite the small budget, there was a very interesting idea, a great desire on the part of all participants and organizers to unite and present the Ukrainian producer, part of Ukrainian culture, traditions as I saw and felt it.
"I have been working with vytinanka for 10 years," says the artist Daria Aleshkina, whose works became a source of inspiration for the Ukrainian project Isabel Daeron. I am a sculptor by profession, and I became interested in this ancient Ukrainian craft when I was on maternity leave. Besides, I was born and grew up in Podolia, the cradle of our vytynans. I presented my first project in Germany, and everyone was amazed how quickly and beautifully I could decorate a house. Even 10 years ago, this art was considered dying, but now it is being revived. I work in the traditional technique, where the cutting paper is folded in half and not unfolded until the work is finished. Our grandmothers in the villages considered it a kind of magic. I wanted to bring a part of her into this project."
The organizers of the atelier-workshop were the French Institute in Ukraine, a chain of stores of Ukrainian brands Vsy. Svoi, the MAÍNO company, the Fund for the Development of Arts, the European School of Design in Ukraine.