Alice Vaillant

I feel the need to do it, yes. Since our first show, last September, I received a lot more press attention than I was used to -Loïc Prigent and Vogue- and it raised the question of whether or not I should use my personal image as a communication tool. In the end, I do think that wearing my designs is a good way of embodying the brand and therefore of allowing people to better identify with it.  It definitely makes it more human. 

I started dancing at the age of seven at a specialized school somewhere in the 18th arrondissement. At the time, I took part in competitions all over France, a bit like Little Miss Sunshine. Very quickly, I was pushed to join the Paris Opera. I took intensive dance classes every afternoon from 1 pm to 6.30 pm. I think this experience still inspires the way I design clothes today: building them to allow movement. I always wore my dance outfit and tracksuit, at the crossroads of transparency and layering. My inspirations come directly from this hybrid mix of technical clothing, tutus and corsets. With dancewear, I like the contrast between versatility and support. The materials are another source of inspiration: nets, lace… The Adidas tracksuits are opposites that go well together. 

When you are a dancer, you’re constantly walking around in bodysuits and light trousers. You’re always sitting down on the floor waiting for your turn to perform or stretching. When I stopped dancing, I found it difficult to get dressed with “normal clothes” because comfort came first. I quit dancing a few months after moving to Montréal, and going back to wearing stiff jeans did not feel so comfortable. 

I didn’t have the same motivation as before. Dancing for a living can be very hard work and when the passion fades, it’s hard to keep going. I thought that moving to another country would make things better, but it didn’t. The Paris Opera is still the best place to dance and I had to face the fact that I just didn’t want to dance at a professional level anymore. This was almost 10 years ago. I stayed in Montreal and started training to become a fashion designer. I met so many different people and often took the bus to New York on weekends. These life experiences really influenced my approach to designing clothes. When I returned to Paris, I started my master’s degree at Chardon Savard and started an internship at Jean Paul Gaultier. I worked with him on the Fashion Freak Show and it was there that I was introduced to the techniques of Haute Couture. I then joined Nina Ricci at the time of Botter. 

I wanted to design a new collection to add to my portfolio. But once I started working on it, it became clear that what I was constructing was actually the beginning of a real brand. I’ve always struggled to find appropriate pieces for myself, and I thought I could come up with something that would be interesting for women. I hired a patternmaker, Renata, someone I could rely on for the technical part of the work so I could focus more on the creative side as well as on developing the brand. 

I quickly realized that I had to create strong links with my suppliers and to develop real production processes. I negotiated, at first, because we didn’t meet minimum orders in terms of quantities, so we had to work hand in hand with our partners to overcome these difficulties. Today, I work with 50 loyal suppliers, and we regularly increase quantities for the collections, the last one having almost 1400 references. 

Yes, and I actually don’t really have a choice if I want to keep my team. There are several aspects that still need to be strengthened. When you have your own company many things come into play from communication to production. Behind the technical processes there is a real relationship with the suppliers, and when the quantities increase, they are glad to have trusted me. 

It is of course a dream come true. Money-wise, it would have been difficult to do it earlier so the timing, last September, was perfect. It is an amazing feeling to finally be able to get a global view of the brand, and watching the models walk in the clothes was really moving. Producing a show is labour intensive and on the last visit to the Heidelbach Hotel -where the show took place- there were over fifteen of us, including the press and music teams. I was looking at these people and thinking how amazing it was that they all trusted me. 

There are many stages in the production of a garment and there are as many creative processes as there are designers. I start with the colours almost obsessively. I change them from season to season, although some tend to come back. I then move on to the fabrics and I try to understand what will work and what won’t. I start with sensations, emotions and memories, which mixed together, after several trials and manipulations, result on the stockman in the creation of a garment. I also like the idea of improving the pieces with each collection. At Vaillant, we listen carefully to our customers’ wishes, which is how we adapt to all shapes and sizes. 

It is very important to be able to try on the clothes. I often invite people who are interested in the brand to visit the atelier and nothing makes me happier than to see a woman feel beautiful. That’s why we rely so much on customer feedback to improve the designs. The creative part, the colours, the shapes, the symmetry and the construction of the garments is undeniably important, yet without technique, a garment will not be fitting and pleasing to its customer. Women must feel beautiful, good, and comfortable.

In 2019 I started working on batches of 50 or 100 lace nightgowns. At the time, nobody wanted lace, it wasn’t really fashionable yet I felt there was something special about it. I contacted warehouses to try and buy it wholesale which eventually brought me closer to Calais. The lace factories in the north of France are historic and still work with ancient and unique weaving techniques, therefore we developed a circuit with these northern suppliers. Each top is made from a different type of lace, which meant we had to develop a process that could adapt to all laces.

Each lace is laced differently and it is therefore complex to create a pattern that fits a different shape every time. This new process allows us to work with all kinds of lace without having to change the pattern. However, the ultimate goal is not for the brand to be defined entirely by its use of lace, but rather to create a Vaillant silhouette. We will therefore explore new directions in our next collection, such as knitwear or certified French denim.

The price of raw materials has skyrocketed, and as a brand, we have no alternative but to deal with it. I am grateful for the contacts and strong bonds that I have developed with suppliers over the past years, as this has made it easier for me to find solutions. We managed to move forward by working together so we could bounce back or find alternative ways to overcome the obstacles and keep on enjoying our work. All while always maintaining the imperative to provide luxury clothing, of course.

For the adventure to continue… With each collection, we have doubled our revenues. I do work a lot though, so it is not just a matter of being lucky. But in any case, all one can wish for as a designer is for their pieces to keep on pleasing and for people to enjoy wearing them.