THE DESIGNERS
Interview by Robert Leeds, Flying Solo, New York Fashion Week, February 2022
Can you please introduce yourself and your brand ?
LÂME CŒUR PARIS® is a French Algerian Brand of Ceremony Designs and Accessories created in 2020 by two sisters dreamers, designers: Anissa and Naïma.
Inspired by our European culture and North African roots, our creations are distinguished by a meticulous work of pearl embroidery, lace and handmade ornaments, ancestral heritage of the city of Tlemcen, Algeria.
Princesses or Witches, Peasant girls or Ogresses, Angels or Demons, our exclusive selection of designs features brave and proud heroines from both shores of the Mediterranean sea.
Handmade and Sustainable, LÂME CŒUR PARIS® is aimed at Contemporary Queens who want a mythical design to tell their own story.
Please tell us more about your brand: origin, when did you start, what inspired you to start ?
LÂME CŒUR PARIS® is the story of a friendship, a blend of culture and an ancestral savoir-faire.
Away from our family, we needed to come together with my sister and create a brand that could unite and pay homage to our roots.
In fact, more than a brand, LÂME CŒUR PARIS® is our canvas, an artistic medium that allows us to share, transmit messages and open debates.
We don't make clothes, we tell stories!
Independent designers, we learned the trade from the ladies in our family: grand-mothers and aunties, every year when we visited them in Algeria (North Africa).
They loved to tell us stories while we sewed, they were inspired by European and African legends, but with a final twist of their making, that was always humorous and witty…
…and most certainly feminist without them always being aware of it
It was therefore only natural that “Ever After”, our first collection, celebrates women forgotten, misrepresented or demonized in Fairy/Folk Tales.
Uniquely designed in shimering colours in the purest African tradition, where the symbolism of colours has all its importance, our dresses spark and shine!
The embroidery is done by hand by women in Algeria before the dress is finished in France and England, while the sustainable and high quality materials are carefully sourced from across Europe.
Were you always working in fashion? (if not what made you switch carriers)
No.
Naïma is graduated in Economics and sustainable development, and specialised later in Media and Dubbing projects.
Anissa is a lecturer in French and Social Sciences, and was a former Social Worker.
But we’ve always been passionate about art, cinema and literature, and we believe that clothes tell a story, a journey, an identity. After several years abroad, and a feeling of deep exile, we needed to find ourselves through creation and sharing. We wanted to communicate this idea of a garment that brings people together, of the transversality of cultures. A poetic journey that everyone can identify with.
Can you tell us more about an upcoming collection (materials used, inspiration)?
The new collection we are preparing will focus on the commercial, religious and philosophical exchanges of the Silk Road. This time we will explore the links between the great civilizations of the East and the Far East through materials such as silk, velvet, and warm colours. A fluidity of fabrics, a journey of the senses and a trance of the soul.
Was it your first time showing during Fashion Week?
Yes and we were very happy to carry the colours of our 2 countries, France and Algeria, to New York! The world of Fashion is a very difficult one, but we know it is the beginning of a beautiful adventure with extraordinary women at our side.
If you would describe your brand in one sentence, what would that be?
A poetic reverie at the crossroads of East and West...