My journey has been shaped, over the years, by a series of deeply felt experiences.
It began with my grandmother, who passed on to me her love of tiny stitches and hand embroidery. Through her, I developed a taste for beautiful things, for careful craftsmanship and for the perfection of a well-made finish.
Later, after studying textile design, I entered the world of fashion and worked at Joseph in London. There, I was deeply influenced by the ever-evolving way Joseph Ettedgui brought together, juxtaposed and displayed clothing and accessories in his boutiques.
He was constantly innovating. I learned to visualise unexpected combinations and to reveal the beauty of simplicity, guided by the idea of less is more.
Some years later, the Parisian hand-embroidery atelier Safrane introduced me to the world of luxury ready-to-wear and Haute Couture.
I was fortunate enough to experience every aspect of the work: from sampling to meetings with couturiers, from sourcing materials to overseeing production in India. It was a rich and endlessly stimulating experience.
Then came a journey through Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, which became the starting point for the work I create today.
It brought to the surface an inexplicable attraction I had felt since childhood towards the traditional arts and crafts of Native North America.
I still remember being fascinated, as a child, by a silver bracelet inlaid with turquoise. Its image would return to me from time to time, quietly accompanying me through the years.
That journey awakened something in me that is difficult to put into words: the uncanny feeling of discovering a place I had never known, and yet sensing a deep resonance with a part of myself—as though something I had carried within me since childhood had finally found an echo there.
I brought home a bracelet almost identical to the one I had seen as a child, the one that had, in some mysterious way, accompanied me for so many years.
My work therefore draws part of its inspiration from Native North American craft traditions. It is nourished by the vast landscapes of the American West and unfolds as a journey, where each gesture becomes a dance with the material, where strength and softness, wild breath and the whispering of hooves come together.
For me, my creations are vessels in an ancient sense of the word. They carry the memory of a territory that is at once intimate and universal. They are an invitation to connect with beauty, to listen to silence, and to move with the rhythm of an eternal song.
I choose to work primarily with wild deer hide, traditionally used in Native North American craft. Through my work, I seek to make tangible the living connection between the animal and the object that emerges from it.
Each piece is unique.
In this way, every gesture becomes a form of silent acknowledgement.
I receive this work as a grace.
Whispering Hooves
Caroline Labataille