MaïMoon, In Quest of the Pattern of the World

Culture and Fashion

This young, 36-year-old woman moved to Marseille two years ago. From the south, she pursues her career as a jet-setter of material and color.

By Sarah Carrière-Chardon - Photos MaïMoon - December 5, 2011

Born in Guinea, MaïMoon lived in Paris for 20 years, traveled around the world, settled down in New York, and then in Brazil, before moving to Marseille, attracted to its openness on to the world. "Here, I find a New York style melting-pot where you meet 150 different nationalities at the first red light, but with Latin warmth as well." From Marseille, she creates garments, unique pieces that are ordered by internet, or even better, directly from her atelier, since she likes to reestablish that "spirit, a tad old-fashioned, of the dressmaker receiving her ladies." At this very moment,

MaïMoon is in Sub-Saharan Africa, then on to Asia, to look for precious fabrics, fine materials, silk, linen, cotton, woven, worked by hand into colored motifs, as her motto is "the world isn't made of navy blue, one must wear the garden of Eden." She remembers her wonder as a child seeing her aunt dye white textiles, her mother's hands embroidering fabric, and her pilot father's travels. All this shaped her; the former English teacher swapped her translations for sewing classes. A lover of life, curious about the world, MaïMoon nourishes her art with people.

When she's not traveling, the globe on her desk reminds her of the way, and she imagines life on the Pacific Islands. The planet's diversity seems unreal to her, so much that she needs to feel the tangible through the material. "If clothes speak in silence for people," MaïMoon speaks an Esperanto of sensual lines, then she helps as many as she can tell their stories through her minimal cuts and colored transparencies.

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Atelier MaiMoon
3 rue Vacon
13001 Marseille
www.mai-moon.com

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