EnsAD: A classical approach to fashion education

Luisa Olivera on working and studying as an expat in Paris

What has been your journey until now?

From 2018 spring to 2020 spring, I attended l’École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne which was known to cultivate the best craftsmanship in France. IFM at the time was only for Masters degrees. I was in a bachelor modélisme –pattern making programme and also learned draping and CAO [computer aided optimization]. But then the school closed so I joined IFM. I was in this apprenticeship program, we call it ‘alternance’, because you go to work 3 days and school 2 days a week. It’s basically a scholarship program for private schools where you earn a minimum wage salary and the company pays your school for doing work that’s related to what you’re learning.

Which company did you work at?

I worked at 3 companies in total. At the 1st company, I was a slave. [laughs] I have no idea how I found it, probably online. It was a startup in fashion and they never did the paperwork correctly; my school messed up my paperwork too. I didn’t have the right to work for three days a week, but as long as the company asked me to come to work, I did. They wouldn’t pay me for my first month but I kept going. At some point, I thought “are they ever gonna pay me?” I had no idea. I was there for two months and eventually never got paid, which implied I couldn’t go to school anymore. I think they just decided to hire me as an illegal worker because they didn’t give a shit. So for that semester, I paid the school out of my pocket.

The 2nd company I worked for was a secret job the school didn’t want to tell me about. My school knew that I was desperate but they were so reluctant to recommend me. Not because of any other reason, simply because it was the worst job ever.

Worse than the first company?

The first company was horrible because they tricked me. My second boss bullied me severely. People before me had quit after two months but quitting for me was not an option. He threw a plate of food at another employee; he tried to punch one of my coworkers as well… I was even a bit afraid of being alone with him.

I was an ‘assistant pattern maker’ on paper, but in real life, I would be a ‘pattern maker.’ I would do 2-3 times more work than my boss.

How much is the minimum wage in France?

The minimum wage for an internship is 500 euros per month but I would cost them 3 times more than that. When my school got integrated into IFM, they raised the tuition fee by 800 euros but my second company didn’t want to pay the difference. I had to renew my contract for another 6 months at this point and the company didn’t want to. I asked both the company and the school if I could pay the difference out of my pocket, but nobody would accept this. I got kicked out again and had to pay for the last semester.

After, I spent 1 month at Paco Rabanne as an intern, which is what I liked the most. They know how to remain creative and happy. I would do manual work like doing the metal mesh by hand for their iconic metal dresses or their plastic paillettes. When I stopped working for them, I started to prepare for EnsAD.

“I felt less confident in Paris. It was harder because I didn’t know anyone. I was really on my own, with nobody to go to if I had a problem. I felt like I was a student again. I cried almost every night.”

 

I feel like immigrant students’ work doesn’t get acknowledged as much.

Immigrants progress much more in life than people born in that country. People usually don’t have any idea who they were back in their country. Maybe in China, this student was the best in the country and you just have no idea. Especially in France, I feel like they don’t understand there’s a learning curve, a period needed to adapt. On paper, immigrants don’t perform as well, but after just a couple of months to adapt, once you get that, you can easily perform as much or even better. Immigrants take risks; they have experience in adapting to a difficult environment.

“I don’t expect to be recognized more because I am an immigrant, but I felt like people didn’t expect me to be professional on a high level because I was an immigrant.”

Do you personally feel like you don’t get as much recognition at EnsAD?

No, I don’t, though other people from other countries don’t get recognition as much because they’re not as social. People don’t realize how hard they worked to get to France, to EnsAD. I’ve spent for 4 years already in France, but for 1-2 years, I didn’t get enough recognition. I don’t expect to be recognized more because I am an immigrant, but I felt like people didn’t expect me to be professional on a high level because I was an immigrant.

“EnsAD has a very classic approach to clothing and fashion unlike Duperré or Central Saint Martins. At Duperré, extravagance is applauded; at EnsAD, not really. I got into EnsAD because they cared more about my story.”

Tell us about EnsAD. How is it different from other schools in Paris (IFM, Duperré, etc.) or other parts of the world?

IFM, as my understanding goes, it’s less hard to get in but much harder to graduate. Their teachers are not easy and it’s technically very strict. EnsAD is very independent and you can pretty much work as you want. It’s extremely likely that you will graduate, once you get in. For me, this works great: give me a topic and I’ll just do what I want. As long as the teachers like it, it’s ok. EnsAD has a very classic approach to clothing and fashion unlike Duperré or Central Saint Martins. At Duperré, extravagance is applauded; at EnsAD, not really. I was surer that I’d get into EnsAD than Duperré, only because Duperre doesn’t really consider your parcours –your life, resumé. I got into EnsAD because they cared more about my story.

How would you describe your style in fashion? Does it match with EnsAD’s? 

I recently started to focus on research and innovation in techniques. Something clicked in my mind and I changed the way I do clothes. I kind of put aside what I learned in school and decided to make my construction. For example, there are a lot of things to study in 3D printing alone. 3D printing is a more viable way to upcycle clothes than, say, patchwork.

I made a 3D-printed top this semester. I made a structure and stretched a fabric over to pin it down. I brushed over 3D print paint until it dried; I had to practice quite a bit. Everything was handmade.

This semester I worked on two looks for an imaginary collection called “Mythic Flying Athlete”. It’s a fantasy about a character who lives in a world where flying is a sport. I intended to bring a certain “video game” aesthetic into this project, which is something the nerd inside me likes. I didn’t want to do something too serious or wearable, I wanted to do something fun and light for myself.

Yuma Cefelman Okazaki on body, femininity, and ethnicity

You’ve previously worked a lot with synthetic fabric to recreate sportswear. For a recent project, you moved onto ultra-delicate wool to create knitwear while retaining the body-clinging shape. How did you decide on this change of direction?

“Dans ma bulle… [In my bubble…]” is a project that focuses on the comfort of an active body. I wanted to think of ethnic sportswear, so I developed a mini collection of comfortable garments. These garments are aimed to reduce size issues. For me, clothes have to fit every type of body at any age; including babies that grow so fast and pregnant women.

Contrary to other projects, I took the time to ask myself questions about the material. Which material to use to allow comfort, breathability, lightness, quick-drying, etc., all this while respecting the environment and ethics. I asked myself which would be the material I’d like to wear if I had the luxury to offer it to myself. Then I thought of cashmere. I informed myself on types of wool that were used for sportswear and I came across merino wool. The softness and breathability of merino wool are incredible. It’s one of the most ultra-delicate materials.

Tell us about your work process. 

I research textiles, I play with the material and then I imagine it on a body. I don’t take the time to draw my ideas; I just do what I think can work and most of the time, it works.

“Women, especially Asian women are expected to be weak and cute … but for me my heroin when I was younger and even now is not that cute girl, it is a strong woman who can fight.”

Your work seems to centre around femininity and the female body, which is most literally portrayed in your fanzine Aubade.

Aubade is a fanzine that I decided to do on female bodies, particularly on bodybuilding bodies. This idea came because I was often receiving messages on my sports Instagram account like, “you scare me”, “you look too strong”, “stop sports, you are going to be too masculine.” I was shocked that people in the 21st century can think that way. Then I read an interview with a female bodybuilder, and I was affected by the comments people told them. It was the harshest words like the ones I wrote in my fanzine. Insults such as “disgusting”, “too masculine”, “tacky and vulgar.”

I personally feel that as an Asian woman, there is this expectation to the point of fetishism to be small, weak and cute. Do you also have this impression as well in France?

I completely agree with you, women, especially Asian women are expected to be weak and cute … but for me my heroin when I was younger and even now is not that cute girl, it is a strong woman who can fight, like Princess Mononoke or other characters by Hayao Miyazaki.

Tell us a bit about your experience of living in Europe, or Paris as an ‘interracial’ person. Do you feel different when you go to Japan to visit family? Or do you not identify as an interracial person at all?

For me living in Montreuil [a region next to Paris], is great. In my city, you can find people from everywhere. So I didn’t feel like a foreigner when I was growing up. But when I go visit my grandparents living in the countryside, in France and in Japan, people make me feel like a foreigner. Considering us as the “French cousin” or the “Japanese cousin.”

“The partnership with Hermès was very interesting since it allowed me to have a very professional experience, with precise feedback and demands.”

You also had several other collaborations with other designer houses based in Paris, such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Hermès. 

The partnership with Hermès was very interesting since it allowed me to have a very professional experience, with precise feedback and demands. I was constrained to make a real effort to understand what the “Hermès man” was, which seemed very far from my world. Nonetheless, I played the game to respond to the expectations as best as possible.

Tell us about your latest work.

My collection is titled “Jellyfish.” In an era where jellyfish are a problem every year on the beach at the beginning of summer, as well as in fishnets due to global warming and intensive fishing of species predatory to jellyfish, their numbers grow at an uncontrollable speed! In this collection, I wanted to put image and form in the proliferation of jellyfish on earth, to a point where they come and invade our bodies and our private spaces, such as indoor pools.

Marine Ponzo on modularity, sustainability and her utopic vision

What have you been up to the most recently?

I’ve been working on my thesis on Modularity. Originally, it was a methodology used in factories to produce less energy, but I’m adopting this concept to explore more possibilities. In my work, Modularity is essential: I intend to develop ‘modular’ systems and garments to find solutions for sizes, materials, upcycling… My last project was about the over-consumerism of garments. I created a garment with multiple functionalities. So I found used tents on the website Le Bon Coin (a French version of Craigslist) and created a pair of pants. I made belts out of the fabric and added snaps and zippers so that you can fold the pants into a bag. I’ve also made a cape, a top and a skirt using the same method. The skirt is in a fabric that’s usually used to make carpets, so it’s sturdy enough to be a bag as well. There’s also a knitted top with snaps so you can transform it into a tote bag as well. But this is only a single part of modularity; it’s one of the ways to join sustainability in fashion.

“What interests me the most about fashion is the technical aspect. “

Your work is very structural and industrial. I also remember the pattern with multiple holes that is common in your other work.  

Yes, what interests me the most about fashion is the technical aspect. And the pattern with holes is meant to hang pockets, bags, etc. The person wearing the garment can customize it easily and create modularity by themselves. The user can modify the garment, and reappropriate it easily on their own.

I want to create a big, universal system –though it’s very vague in my head so far. That can be used by anyone who wants to make garments. They’ll be able to access all kinds of sizes and have many adaptable options. I should create a grid, a didactic system for people to easily understand.

“I believe garments need to have functions.”

You won the Hermès competition in your class last year. What happened after?

I did an internship at Hermès for 1 month. I was proposed by the Art Director to spend 2 weeks in the leather goods department and another 2 weeks in the ready-to-wear menswear department. For the leather goods department, I proposed a lot of original designs as well as variations on the existing bags. It was only two of us in the leather department, so I enjoyed the work. And the ready-to-wear, I worked on designs too but ended up doing more administration stuff. I didn’t like it as much but turns out I’m good at it. [laughs]

Where do you think Paris stands in the world of fashion now, post-Covid when location seems to matter less?

I do enjoy the work by London-based designers like Craig Green. But I’m not so interested in virtual fashion. I just don’t think the garments are so useful in real life and I think utility matters a lot in fashion. I believe garments need to have functions.

Damien Marion on “pros being fashion, cons being the industry” 

Have you ever thought of going to London for your studies? 

I don’t think London is where I have to be now to learn things, even though there are amazing schools, honestly, I don’t have the budget, and I wouldn’t have the energy; the schools are way too much there, compared to EnsAD, which is a pretty chill school.

What made you decide to go to EnsAD?

Well, the other schools are not free. It always comes down to budget issues. So in France, you have to do 1-year foundational course in arts if you don’t have a high school diploma in applied arts; mine was in economics, for a reason I still don’t know.  I did my foundation year in my hometown, Besançon, close to Switzerland. Then I wanted to continue my BA studies in École Duperré Paris which I didn’t get at the time, so I went to La Martinière Diderot in Lyon for a 2-year technical degree. I heard about EnsAD during my foundation year because all the teachers were like, “Don’t even apply, you’ll never get in. No one has the level.” I applied for a master’s degree at Duperré which is free as well, but they don’t teach you the technical skills as much as they do at EnsAD.

How is the school different to Duperré?

They are not necessarily about technique or garments; they are more about creating concepts. Some friends of mine were kind of at loss after their masters because they didn’t learn anything technical, or practical. They were just learning how to develop identity and creativity. The thing is when you get out of school, you’re not a creative director right away; you need to have skills to have work. Since I developed my creativity in Lyon, I thought I needed something more serious to develop my skills.

“It’s important to take a step back and think about what we’re doing.”

Speaking of cities, your most recent work, the 4th year dissertation, titled The Falling Man, seems to refer a lot to working men in cities.    

I wanted to talk about 3 piece suits, and not about masculinity; it was more about etiquette, the standards. Then I got really into it because I had to. It was linked to masculinity, men’s fashion, consumer society; everything. The first 4 chapters are about the construction of the ideal 3 piece suit; where it started, and what is the most contemporary point of these idealized garments. And the 5th chapter is about how and why it was constructed. And there’s an epilogue about my design practice and how I’m going to do it next year, for the diploma.

The falling man is a figure I proposed as an interpretation of masculinity, as in the 80s, the second wave of feminism reformed masculinity. With the falling men, I’m trying to introduce the new “new men.”

What is your favourite process in making fashion?

Taking pictures. Because that means that I’m done.

What do you like most about fashion? And is there anything you want to change about the fashion industry?

The pros would be fashion, and the cons would be the industry. I think people are not thinking as they did before; they’re just making, making, making. It’s the reason I don’t feel like I can follow, and I don’t feel like the planet can follow either. It’s important to take a step back and think about what we’re doing. But fashion design is really interesting because it’s how you can shape the world visually and how you can shape minds. The commercial part of it, I need to be into it because I want to eat, but… there are so many people, so many schools popping up. If it’s not you, it’s gonna be someone else in the end. It doesn’t feel good, you don’t feel appreciated. You’re just one part of a bigger thing.

“I’ll never learn how to make everything but I want to progress creatively and technically. “

Through all these doubts, what do you see yourself doing with your education?

I’m going to go the classic way and start an internship. I don’t want to start my brand right after school, I want to work somewhere before. I want to apply for Y/Project to understand garment construction. I would also like to make things on my own. I always want to learn more, I want to learn how to make every garment ever. I feel like I cannot allow myself to stop, I’ll never learn how to make everything but I want to progress creatively and technically.

Paris has always been a really important city in fashion; what do you think Paris stands for now?

I feel like we just didn’t learn much from Covid; we could’ve been a bit more slow after, but it started rushing right after. Ok, we can make fashion shows again, let’s do it. Honestly, I’m not interested in the fashion scene in Paris in general. I feel like it’s getting very ready to wear. I am getting bored with it. I feel like it’s a nice thing where things need to be shaken a bit like how the Belgian and the Japanese designers did in the 80s.

Jérémy Huchet on creativity as a voice

Tell us about your latest project Blurred Memories. 

It was supposed to be a very Dior jacket; with the technician, we saw different options to shape the fabric because I didn’t want to put a basque, which is what they use under the Dior Bell jacket to give it a shape. So I used some interfacing instead to make the fabric stiffer, but it didn’t work on the wool and silk fabric with a layer of polyester filling underneath. I wanted it to have a shape of a party jacket but also a feeling of a blanket, squishy and soft. I tried to give it the bell shape with boning but it wasn’t working, so in the end, I put a plastic bag under the model to make the shape in the photos.

Your philosophy on doing fashion often comes out so effortlessly and it’s sometimes surprising. 

This year, the lead professor told me that he didn’t know who I was creatively. I took it bad the first time, back in January. I already knew that I wasn’t proud of what I did. But I made a coat for the first time in my life, a shirt in draping for the first time in my life, I made leather gloves for the first time. I explored new horizons for the first time. I was proud to have tried lots of things. It just got me depressed. “Did I really screw everything up?”

“The teachers we have, they’re 50, 60; they had big careers and they’re impressive people. But at the same time, what was true in the 80s is not necessarily true now. It’s true that their experience matters, but they can’t make our experience; we have to make it for ourselves. “

Was this for the Cinémathèque française and Jean Paul Gaultier project last semester? 

Yes, but I also heard it at the end of this semester as well. In those moments, I’m kind of astonished by what’s coming at me and I’m just sitting silent. All this got me thinking about what I wanted to do, what I was doing, and where I was headed to. It just spiralled a huge amount of reflection. “Am I in the right path, am I doing the right thing here? Do I belong here?”

How do you find the space of mind or the time to not rush? Especially right now where you feel this pressure to define yourself, to present yourself so that people buy it.

I think it’s really easy to do it at EnsAD because we have so many different subjects that we already have to not choose and not rush. But at the same time, they want to know and to see where you’re headed. I think it’s just a part of owning it. As my friend said to me, it’s ok. What makes their opinion matter more than anyone else’s opinion? The teachers we have, they’re 50, 60; they had big careers and they’re impressive people. But at the same time, what was true in the 80s is not necessarily true now. It’s true that their experience matters, but they can’t make our experience; we have to make it for ourselves. I don’t see the point in rushing things.

“And each year, you have more than 1000 students coming into the job market to find some work. And those students are also taught you can accept whatever the company you want to work for is offering you just because if you don’t accept it, someone else will. “

But can you do that in the current industry?  

It’s hard in some private schools; you have to choose the department like womenswear, menswear… and that’s what makes the industry. This industry is very segmented. I spoke to someone who worked at LOEWE who told me: “Every experience you have will define what your career will be. For instance, if your first internship is at a menswear brand, you’re always going to be considered as a menswear designer.” I think it’s sad because you can do several internships and choose after your studies.

And each year, you have more than 1000 students coming into the job market to find some work. And those students are also taught you can accept whatever the company you want to work for is offering you just because if you don’t accept it, someone else will. And I think it’s a huge issue for not just big companies, of any fashion brand. Because the industry is the way it is. To be able to make what you want to become is just hard, so if you start stressing while you’re still in your studies, you won’t see the end of it. You just have to take your time, breath, figure yourself out and then go out there.

What kind of craft do you like practising the most? 

I am interested in dying fabrics with vegetables this year. Vegetable dying looks handmade because the colour is not even everywhere. When you come back to what we used to do in the past where what you cook, you eat and what’s left, you use it to dye your fabrics, it’s a circular thing. It’s interesting to think about waste as something that can be used for creation, rather than inventing plastic to dye plastic with. That doesn’t make sense.

Some crafts are forgotten, and some crafts are dead. There’s a pride in perpetrating something that’s been going on for years and that’s what makes luxury; something that’s not common. Take society in the Middle Ages; there were families with different craft skills each in the same city. And they all worked together; it was a system of exchanges, trust they had at heart, to always do better, always implement that logic of being… and it worked like that. Now, we lost the feeling of who makes things and this idea of luxury, craft is not perpetrated anymore. So knowing that some people are still fighting to preserve those traditions is luxury. If you’re interested in crafts, textiles and history when you see a beautiful tapestry, it’ll move you the same way as any other art; it’s a precious experience because it’s rare, even secret nowadays. It’s a luxury to know it, it’s a luxury to be able to practice it.