Aurélia Leblanc

Textile creator

©Anne Sophie_Guillet

Weaving unexpected treasures

Aurélia weaves unexpected materials together
She finds great creative freedom in working on handmade pieces
Her approach is based on solid ethical values

By initiating surprising encounters between rare yarns and marrying different skills, Aurélia Leblanc creates hand-woven textiles of unique character. To her, “weaving is all about storytelling, it is the poetry of materials coming together.” This approach has led her to focus on collaborations with major haute couture houses, including Christian Dior and Schiaparelli, as well as to interior decoration projects. Aurélia relies on her artistic training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels to reinvent weaving and its interaction with other craft techniques, like embroidery or printing. However, it was her first job as an orthotist, specialised in the making of tailor-made corsetry, that first awakened her desire to follow a creative path.

Interview

©Stephanie Fuessenich

©AnneSophie_Guillet

Do you remember the moment when you decided to work with textiles?: It was when I was working as an orthotist, making custom-made corsets for patients with scoliosis. One day, a patient broke down in tears when she saw this faded pink corset she had to wear for the rest of her life. I decided to customise it by working on the fabric panels with colour, and so on. I took great pleasure in making it a “couture” corset for her.
Do you master any specific techniques?: In my workshop I specialise in the broché technique, where embroidery and weaving come together to create more pictorial motifs and curves in the weft and warp structure. I also do a lot of sculpture on the loom, working the curved motif with the threads while weaving.
How is innovation expressed in your work?: The innovation lies in my way of combining materials, and the unique character this generates. This is how I created a unique textile with Lucile Viaud, a glass artist and researcher: glass weaving. We innovated by bringing together our two skills: glass thread and weaving.
Is your craft linked in any way to territory?: Through the choice of raw materials I use, it is. Linen from Nord-Pas-de-Calais, French hemp from Tissages d'Autan in the Pyrenees, wool from Filatures du Parc in Occitanie. I work mainly with partner suppliers in France and combine these local fibres with others such as raffia from Italy, banana thread from India, and such like.

Aurélia Leblanc is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2016 and she started teaching in 2016