I recently bought myself a star-spangled jacket that was made by a woman younger than me. Her name is Anne-Élisabeth, she is 32 years old, and she will soon be celebrating her birthday, because she was born in May.
I won’t forget her — neither her name nor her face — because I met her when I made my purchase. Besides, on one of the pockets of my new jacket, there is a small label with the letters ANÉLI on it. It was sewn on a quilt diamond, sky blue color, like Anne-Élisabeth’s eyes.
— What connection do you have with spring? that I wanted to ask him.
— It’s funny that you ask me that, because my parents kept all my childhood drawings, and I noticed that they are all filled with flowers, without exception. But yeah, really a lot of flowers there. Everywhere and in all colors!
The pockets of my new jacket pref’ are wide. I’m going to say like Anne-Élisabeth: but yeah, really wide there… When I slip my hands in, I feel like I’m entering a dream. (Those who love pockets will understand.)
And since its interior – invisible to others – has been delicately made with a different fabric than that used for the exterior, the latter teeming with tiny flowers, I also like to imagine that I am inserting my hands and spreading my fingers in the cold earth of large flower beds from which lots of colors will burst forth this summer. How lucky I am!
***
Anne-Élisabeth makes clothes from quilts that have served as bedspreads for years in Quebec homes. When she finds an abandoned fabric that inspires her to create, she recognizes the work that has been done before her.
“There is so much memory in the covers I choose.
And unfortunately, not enough information.
Where do they come from, who were they made by?
It makes me experience a real ethical conflict when I get the scissors in there. »
This is why on the rare occasions when she knows where the piece comes from, for example if she buys it from the designer herself, she feels the need to mention to her predecessor what she plans to do with it.
Like a need to have his agreement. Because, when she makes the first cuts, she knows that she is combining their work.
— But hey, Anne-Éli. There are so many different patterns: fruits, flowers, carts, wrenches… In all shades and colors. How do you know what will be final, how, and with what?
— It’s true that, technically, all combinations are possible. But my way of deciding is simple: I know that I did the right thing match when I feel a surge of joy.
Without knowing it, I think she was telling me straight up, what is the biggest difference between local fashion and fast fashion. In any case, I have never before had the impression of wearing such a lively garment. I now have my coat of many colors”, like Dolly Parton as a child, and it gives me the same drive.