With the “Bleu à tisser” exhibition, the Comtesse de Lille hospice highlights the work of designer Clivia Nobili, who, through her clothing brand, has chosen to reintroduce “blue” weaving in the north from France
When you push open the doors of the Chapelle de l’hospice Comtesse de Lille, you will discover a strange tent, all in roundness, in royal blue. Inside, hung on textile walls, on hangers, work clothes: jackets, blouses, overalls, all in a particular blue, welcome to the world of Clivia Nobili.
Whether it’s the worker’s jacket, the painter’s jacket, the carpenter’s jacket, the sculptor’s blouse, or even the overalls, these work clothes evoke for me, functionality, attention to detail, well-being, good tailoring
Clivia Nobili, designer
A blue that the designer masters perfectly. And for good reason since the launch of her brand, first in Marseille, her hometown, she has made work clothes her trademark.
And since her arrival in Lille in 2009, she has never ceased, through her collections, to explore this world of work.. “Whether it’s the jacket of the worker, that of the painter, the carpenter, the sculptor’s blouse, or even the overalls, these work clothes evoke for me, functionality, attention to detail, well-being, good tailoring “
Clothes, like witnesses to the human adventure, she likes to say, embodied in a particular blue, her own blue.
A blue, which this clothing artist wants to ennoble by making it locally. “When I left confinement, I realized that this thread was no longer woven in Europe. It was essential for me to reintroduce the weaving of this particular blue, in the north of France, to have total control over production”.
During an artist residency at the ecomuseum of Fourmies, she submitted her idea to a weaver, at the very moment when, in the aftermath of the health crisis, the state released a budget as part of the recovery plan for creation*. “I was lucky to see my project selected, among the 430 designers and 264 projects from all over France”
Then began the production of this 100% northern yarn, with which she fashioned a capsule collection, called “Authentic Collector».
When you buy a garment, you can’t imagine all the stages of patronage, shaping, to end up with the manufacturing
Clivia Nobili, designer
In total, ten iconic pieces of workwear, 100% made in the North.
A production that the creator has also chosen to tell through a film work. “It was important for me to show how we first deconstructed this fabric, then reconstructed it, its warping, its weaving, to give birth to this Woven Blue, for the production of this “Authentic Collector” collection.
A totally justified visual work, for Florence Raymond, collection manager at the Hospice Comtesse de Lille “When you buy a garment, you can’t imagine all the stages of patronage, shaping, to end up with manufacturing. Clivia Nobili’s proposal to explain this, in a didactic, pedagogical way, makes it possible to become aware of the time required to produce this type of piece”
A scenography like a nod to the “hungry room”, where miners hung their overalls on hooks to dry.
A visual work that takes us back to the mining past of the North.
An exhibition as a link between the history of the city and contemporary creation, which could not find a more beautiful setting than the museum of the Hospice Comtesse de Lille
Weaving Blue by Clivia Nobili. Until February 6 at the chapel of the Comtesse hospice. 40b, rue Saint-André – Lille
Free admission.
* In order to support creation after the health crisis, the France Relance plan, devotes 30 million euros to Mondes nouvelles, an innovative support program for the design and production of artistic projects.
