Céleste Mogador

Céleste Mogador

I describe myself as a tinkerer, between plastic artist and craftswoman. I learned to embroider alone, empirically, on the job. I like the play of the needle that goes into the fabric. I do, I undo, I start again and I improve. All I do is make mistakes. As much as I can be fast and impatient in everyday life, I am also persevering in my relationship to materials and technical know-how. Embroidery is my manual anxiolytic: I embroider until I forget myself. This activity of filling stitch by stitch, like a form of pointillism, prevents me from thinking. My mind calms down and I become serene again. Some people play sudoku, others go jogging or do yoga, I embroider. My practice is far from cold and minimalist design.

I demand a return to beautiful things, noble materials, beautiful pieces that last and are passed on.

Less is more. We must buy less, more expensive but better. Born in the heart of Brittany, nourished by the richness of the Breton culture, and living in Brittany for as long as I can remember, I have been immersed in the old tradition of embroidered costumes, such as Glazig embroidery and bigoudène embroidery. I would have dreamed to follow the courses of the Quimper School of Art Embroidery animated by Pascal Jaouen. From the age of 18, I started to embroider fishbone designs. Then I learned specific embroidery stitches from the Breton heritage such as the Dren-Pesk, a decorative fishbone pattern that adorns the costumes of the Bigoudènes. But I want to get out of Epinal images from Brittany. I want to show that there's something else. Brittany is a dynamic region with a lot of creativity and initiative. My embroideries are a return to the roots of tradition but in a rock version. So I created a kabig revisited with embroidered patterns of female divers.

The theme of the eye as well as that of playing cards are the fruit of a chance that did things well. I work on feeling, always looking for themes. These are very graphic, almost like signposts. These jewels are good luck charms to fight evil spirits; they are bearers of hope and future. But I don't want to be just "Breton". Embroidery exists everywhere and in all cultures. Our new brands Céleste Mogador and Eté 36 are positioned in a lifestyle and high-end niche. It includes luxury ready-to-wear, jewelry in unique pieces, accessories, stationery, and also cement tiles. I want to bring my designs on different supports within the framework of small collections. I will also work with a community of women embroiderers in Rwanda to develop an approach that combines the ethical dimension and chic. There's a nice story to tell.

Pascale Nivet-Bernetière, born in Carhaix in the heart of Brittany, lives and works in Rennes. With her husband Fabrice Bernetière, this self-taught designer and illustrator under the name Melle Héloïse is the co-founder in 2004 of the stationery and decorative accessories brand La Marelle. In 2014, she launches the lifestyle brand Eté 36 and in 2016, Céleste Mogador, for which she is in charge of the creative direction and creates embroideries freely inspired by the Breton tradition.