Collection Survey: Lou de Bètoly Makes Surrealist Rave-Related Crochet

Coming from France and now finding a home in Berlin, Lou de Bètoly challenges the sensibilities of classical craftsmanship and brings it into a whole new dreamy, surrealist, actually rave-related world. It’s a eccentric, but it works.

Having worked a few seasons and Jean Paul Gaultier after graduating, it’s no surprise that she has honed an elusive eye for making far-out ideas rather palatable, if not highly necessary.

Above, Iga Drobisz shoots new pieces from Lou de Bètoly on Berlin cool girl Rafalea Kaćunić. And Below, Lou de Bètoly answers our hard-hitting Collection Survey.

Name: Lou de Bètoly

Starsign: Aries

Where are you from and where do you live now?
I’m french, living in Berlin now.

Any personal beliefs or values that are meaningful to your work?
I’m at the moment thinking a lot about value of time, as we’re going so fast. Craftsmanship is something that really interests me. I’m passionated about all kinds of technics that you can find in the world. There are a lot of details in my work, and always a lot of handwork, it’s something that is somehow part of my creative process. Some items of the collection are part of what I call ‘housewife project’. I’m working with cross stitch techniques, crochet, canvas, placemat shapes… All these are meant to question the value of handcraft in general, which is reduced when in the context of a “housewife hobby”, but gets a new life and value in the context of fashion. It somehow reveals how time consuming these techniques are.

And what were you doing, learning or practicing before you started working on your line?
to sum up quickly: I’ve been studying fashion in Paris, then worked a few seasons for Jean Paul Gaultier. I had another brand a few years, and after the departure of my business partner I started working on my own brand Lou de Bètoly!

Can you tell me a little bit of background on the collection and label — any inspirations, references, important collaborations?
Here some things that inspire my work in general: chaos, surrealism, nostalgia, decadence, extravagance and oneirism. I’m always working around paradox, I like playing around luxury and its contradictions. I like contrasts like plastic and cashmere, for example. It’s like a metaphor of the world we are living in now; a reflection about values of things in general. A few themes I like to work around at the moment are Ethno-dada, 20s rave, l’amour et la violence, beads and cars, noise and flowers, curry drops on concrete, Connan Mockasin and birds…

If you could describe the collection in five words?
Bam! Oh lala, oui, chabadabada… encore!

If the collection was a colour: Fushia

If it was a mood: Hysteria

If it was an animal: Angora white cat

If it was a language: French

If it was a place: Artificial island

If it was a time: 8PM

If it was a song: ‘l’amour et la violence’, Sebastien Tellier

If it was a season: Spring

If it was a food: Salty-sweet crunchy Canapés

If it was a famous person: Characters of Cindy Sherman

If it was a YouTube video:

If it was a smell: Burnt sugar at the sea shore

If it was a texture: Tickling

If it was a quote: “le désordre est simplement l’ordre que nous ne cherchons pas.” — Bergson (The disorder/mess is simply the order that we are not looking for)

If it was a film: The Holy Mountain, Jodorowski