MODERN GLOVES. INTERVIEW WITH ARISTIDE'S FOUNDER BERTRAND MAHÉ

Remain fascinating to hands working an accessory, glove, and make your own creative story. This is Aristide‘s zeitgeist, a brand founded in 2010 by Bertrand Mahé. But beware, his creations are not a dusting of typical gloves of the past. There is no nostalgia and no desire to follow the current fashion trend, but a great sense of what is “street-style”, modern and, above all, important to creatively: the artistic inspiration to achieve ironic and unique pieces their kind.

Interview with Bertrand Mahé:

Bertrand, Aristide was born in 2010, what brought you to create it?

In 2009, I met again an old friend who was the owner of a leather gloves factory, based in center of France. He invited me to visit the factory and exchange with artisans. It was incredible. I was completely subjugated by the process of the leather gloves making. It is such a balance between rough and delicate gestures, I felt in love with this paradox.

What do gloves mean for you and what in general?

As I said, I was more interesting by a process, than the product itself. But together, I really love the idea to combine ancestral knowledge, with a modern vision. That is an other paradox. Personally, I think gloves are like a mask or a second skin, it means, you could affirm, or hide who you are with. I like this idea. I create them thinking in that way.

For the next fall winter you took inspiration from big art name such as Buren, Sottsass, Dalì, De Chico and Magritte. Where do their art, and their world is identifiable in your gloves?

Since the beginning, my gloves are inspired by art, architecture, and other creative fields. This season, I gave a big part to playful stuff. It is not only about an artistic way, but also the idea behind it. For example, works by Daniel Buren or Ettore Sottsass, are very playful, even if it is not the only way to read them. Buren, on its way, criticized a system and translate it by use stripes as a visual tools to illuminate something. From that I wanted to use stripes on gloves, to show, illuminate the accessory, and at the end, the body. On his part Ettore Sottsass, did a large scale of totem, that is the part of his work that I wanted to reproduce with specific shapes, color matching. Sottsass idea was to give back to the object itself its utility, but in a spiritual way, in order to be part of the ritual of day-life. That is what I expect when I do gloves, give them back there nobility, and replace them in a daily ritual, like in the past. About Surrealist, such as Dali or Magritte, it is also playful approach, like nails and lips style, but also surprising and fun like the zipped side that you could open and find a colored fur inside. It is always a game of hidden things, fun and playful.

Which is your gloves value-added?

Creativity, but also, the material used in order to create them. Of course we used the finest leather, but we also use technical material, such as a touchscreen leather, that allowed you to use your smartphone while keeping gloves on. Last season we used colored PVC and reflective fabric, to give gloves a particular design and touching. Always in the idea to push it further.

Your future project?

We are working on a spring summer collection, and also we are working around leather goods such as pouch, backpack and clutch.

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