Interesting People of Paris #5
Interview w/ Rebecca Devaney, a textile artist and researcher 🪡
I stood right in the middle of the street. On my left was a loud sound emanating from the hole in the ground. Inside of it were two men in neon vests and a cable. They had jolted me awake earlier that morning. On the right, a bus spoke loudly, almost yelling at me, from the other side of the street. It said: 'Next stop, Pantheon.' I saw Pantheon in the distance. This was all before my first coffee. I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but it seemed that everything was going on.
Suddenly, a guy with giant rubber gloves passed next to me, looking like a clown, running; he was heading in the direction of the manhole and neon men. Minutes later, a woman with dark glasses askew on her nose crossed the street. The sun bathed everything in brilliant light, a welcome change from yesterday's spectacularly torrential weather. An elderly couple passed next to me, carrying a longboard. It seemed like everyone was ready for the weekend to start.
There is a little vase of lily of the valley flowers that sits on the table in my studio. Every day, I trim the bottoms a bit to prolong their vase life. After each of these violent but necessary sessions, when I return them to the studio table, they fill the air with their sweet scent. Muguet, or lily of the valley, is traditionally gifted on May 1st here in France. In Serbia, it's called djurdjevak—go ahead, try pronouncing it out loud. The name is connected to Saint George, where George is Djordje in Serbian and Saint George is celebrated on May 6th in the Julian calendar. Just when lily of the valley is in its peak of flowering.
Now, for a complicated reason, I also know the name of this flower in Hungarian: gyöngyvirág which means pearl (gyöngy) flower (virág) and I just love this name.
As serendipity is omnipresent if you pay attention to it, the favourite flower that I drew on my map of the flowers is, of course, lily of the valley or Convallaria majalis in Latin. Convallis means 'valley' and majalis means 'of the month of May.
And now, let me introduce you to Rebecca, a textile artist, researcher and the owner of the Textile Tours of Paris. She worked as a professional haute couture embroiderer for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dior, Valentino, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton! Recently I lost a button on my leather coat and I realized how it would be great to interview her for my Interesting People of Paris Substack column!
Rebecca agreed to the interview and I also got the information from her about where I can obtain the missing button.
Hi Rebecca, bonjour, and merci!
When I open your instagram and your website there are just so many shiny objects, skillfully produced textile items from the previous eras that I have to ask you this question: if you were an object what would you be?
What a lovely question! If I was an object I would be thread, beginning life as a plant in the sunshine, rain and earth, harvested by working hands and skillfully twisted around a spinning wheel. Wrapped around a bobbin or spool, kept safely in a sewing box, woven into beautiful patterns with shuttles and looms or stitched with care into hems, collars and cuffs to bring warmth, protection and comfort through textiles. Closest to my wearer’s skin, my life as a thread would share their happiness, sadness, joy and disappointment. Moments that are treasured, the excited thrills of spring as the scent of blossoms fills the air, the sleepy hibernation of winter as the aroma of a wood fire calls us home, moments of my wearer’s life that linger as perfumed memories in my thread.
Ahhhh this is so beautiful Rebecca. And how do you present yourself today? Is that different from how you presented yourself when you arrived in Paris from Ireland?
After almost seven years in Paris I have managed to find a way to be my authentic self. I have learned to navigate the challenges of language barriers and cultural differences with grace rather than frustration or despair. I’ve created a career that allows me to share my passion for textiles, and most importantly, share that with people from all over the world. Connecting them with a common thread.
What do you miss the most from home? What is much better in Paris?
I miss chatting! At home in Ireland you can chat with anyone, have a friendly moment where you smile, laugh and acknowledge each other. It feels like you are connected.
My favourite part of Paris is the beauty, art, architecture, culture and heritage. There is plenty of that in Ireland though! The pain au chocolat is much better in Paris!
You have been working on many incredible projects over the years - from embroidering dresses for YSL and Dior in Paris to researching Indian embroidery craftsmanship in Pondicherry. What is your favourite project up to date? What is the most important one?
My favourite project was researching hand-embroidery traditions in Mexico. I spent the summer of 2015 researching the cultural significance, craft techniques and aesthetic styles of embroidered textiles across the vast and beautiful country. I met with indigenous craftspeople, artists, anthropologists, and museum curators. They described how the traditions and techniques of embroidery are passed down through generations of women to daughters as young as 5 or 6 and how the income it generates often affords them financial independence and autonomy.
It was during this project that I fully understood that any craft that takes time, is much more than an object of adornment or embellishment, rather it is imbued with the memories, experiences and emotions of the artisan who created it.
Women around the globe have been empowering themselves, supporting their families and finding their peace through thread and needle for centuries. Is Paris special in some way when it comes to embroidery?
Paris, or France is a special place in regards to Haute Couture fashion. Kings, Queens, Emperors and Empresses worked throughout the centuries to make sure that Paris was celebrated as the capital of Fashion because textiles brought vast amounts of money into the French economy. Silk, Lace, Wool and many other merchants became lavishly rich by selling the exquisite textiles crafted in France. The artisans who crafted them did not become rich and it was almost impossible for them to move out of their socio-economic situations.
The structure has changed today, giant corporations own the Haute Couture fashion houses and they are focused on short-term profits. They employ contract embroiderers who cannot train as apprentices under this structure and so the savoir-faire of experienced embroiderers is being lost. When the 2 - 6 week contracts finish, with shockingly low wages considering the cost of the garments they are embellishing, embroiderers receive unemployment benefits from the government. It’s almost impossible to live in Paris in this economic structure and there is less and less work for embroiderers in France as the embroidery is outsourced to India.
Capitalism at its finest. Since we talk about this, we have heard so much about French fashion. What is your perspective on it - from the angle of someone who teaches embroidery and history of textile workshops and who has a lot of insider information?
Initially when I studied Dress History, I was attracted to the beauty and extravagance of French fashion in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. After all this time in France, and all the research and experience I’ve enjoyed, what I find most fascinating and important about fashion, are the hidden stories of craftspeople woven into the beautiful gowns. Most of the time these craftspeople are women who have been written out of history and in my Textile Tours, online lectures and writing, I do my best to weave their stories back into the glamour of Haute Couture Fashion, so that they may sparkle and glisten as they deserve to.
Sometimes I feel that the things sparkle more in Paris than elsewhere. It’s maybe about the light. Why have you chosen Paris? How does your everyday life in Paris look like today?
I was a very romantic teenager and always wanted to live in Paris, I imagined a huge apartment in an attic, with candles, bohemian furniture, poetry, artists and lots of handsome men. My everyday life in Paris looks nothing like that - except for the attic apartment with a six-floor walk-up!
I want to ask you about your creativity but before that, somebody once told me that french embroidery is not about creativity but about craftsmanship. Or craft-woman-ship. Is this true? What do you do to keep yourself creative?
It depends on your role in the embroidery studio - an Échantillioneuse will be a more creative embroiderer, perhaps with some artistic training and they will work with the Artistic director to imagine and design ‘samples’ of embroidery for the client. The other embroiderers in the studio will have  the most incredible levels of craft and savoir-faire, working at the speed of light, in the most meticulous way, with absolutely no errors allowed. France retains an old system of Craft, rather than the Bauhaus and other movements to change the education of a craftsperson. A different person does the designs, a dessinateur, until recently these were almost exclusively men because drawing was considered academic in France and so beyond the capacities of a woman.
As to my creativity, I find myself an unintentional business woman and learning as I go takes most of my energy at the moment, leaving little time for creativity. Once a month I send a newsletter to my readers and it is filled with beauty, inspiration and sometimes even poetry! That is my creative outlet at the moment.
What is your favourite information to share on your Textile Tours?
The story of the Midinettes.
What are Rebeccas’s five must-see spots for visitors? Something magical and hidden that I might map! :)
Place Dauphine
Ultramod
Galerie Vivienne
Petit Palais
Marché Vernaison
How do you celebrate yourself in Paris? What are your favorite treats?
Pain au Chocolat.
What feels challenging at the moment? What are you excited about?
Challenging: French administration, I’ve been trying to change my address with a government organisation for a month now
Excited: I have new online embroidery and history courses, a new embroidery box and a tv series coming in the autumn. Lots of excitement!
Quick Questions:
👗 Who is the best dressed person in French history?
Marie Antoinette
💗 The favourite piece of embroidery that you’ve created?
A sample for Valentino bridal and a Dior archive piece at Atelier Vermont.
🧵 Parisian notion shop (haberdashery) that nobody knows about but that is worth seeing?
Ultramod
Thanks so much, Rebecca! I loved talking to you!
I hope you enjoyed this conversation and that your May started well! I'm heading out to print a custom-made map and my old Carrousel print. This last order has inspired me to draw more carousels. Stay tuned.
Thank you for being here!
*all the photos in the interview part are taken from Rebecca’s instagram and website if not stated differently.
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