Lebanese Designer Brings Hand Embroidery to French House "Cartier"

- "The beauty lies in taking techniques that have existed for generations and giving them the ability to tell new stories," with this vision, Lebanese designer Selim Azar summarizes the essence of his collaboration with the French house "Cartier" in a project that transforms a centuries-old tradition of hand embroidery into a contemporary format, through an embroidery collection created exclusively for the "Cartier" store in Bodrum, Turkey. Embroidery is a central focus in Azar's practice, specifically the long and short stitch and the satin stitch, which are among the most traditional techniques he employs in his work.

Azar says in an interview with the Arabic news site Afaq News that what attracts him to them is the level of detail and expression they allow, emphasizing that preserving the roots of the technique does not mean freezing it, as images and the way they are employed can change and evolve without losing their connection to the craft. In his collaboration with "Cartier," maintaining the patience and skill required for traditional hand embroidery was essential for Azar, as these techniques carry knowledge passed down through generations, and thus he wanted the concept of taking one's time to remain at the core of the experience.

At the same time, the collection aimed to make embroidery more accessible to people as a craft, encouraging them to interact with it, learn it, and experience the beauty of creating something by hand slowly and with care. To reach the most suitable techniques for the project, Azar and the artisans conducted a series of experiments, testing various techniques and combinations of stitches in search of the method that accurately captures the details and character of the images.

The choice settled on some of the most traditional embroidery techniques, including the satin stitch and the long and short stitch, particularly to capture the details of the leopard design specific to the French house. The criteria were not only aesthetic; these techniques were also chosen for their ability to maintain the sense of patience, precision, and handwork that forms the foundation of the craft.

From Bodrum, the drawings drew their essential elements. Azar wanted to capture the spirit of the city while keeping this vision consistent with the visual language of "Cartier."

The special relationship that connects Bodrum with nature, light, the landscape, and the sea served as a starting point for translating the feeling of the place into elements that can be experienced through embroidery. Instead of directly reproducing the destination, the work focused on interpreting its character through images and the color palette of the collection.

As for the identity of "Cartier," it had a direct impact on the artistic direction of the project, especially through the images and the color palette. Translating the depth of the "Cartier" panther into embroidery was one of the main challenges faced by the team, which required a collaborative process with artisans to achieve the desired result and maintain the details and personality of the panther within a technique that relies entirely on handwork.

Azzam emphasizes that handwork imposes a different way of thinking and execution on the designer, as when a piece is made entirely by hand, the time and attention required to complete it cannot be underestimated. Working with embroidery makes the designer more aware of patience, details, and the limits of the person executing the piece.

Therefore, Azzam is keen to keep women's preferences and comfort at the forefront of his creative process. This slow rhythm also changes the nature of the relationship with the work itself, as the time required for embroidery pushes the designer to think about every small detail, so decisions are not made randomly or superficially, but every element is subjected to thought, in a direct relationship between the design and the hand that executes it.

At the production level, the scope of the project for the global house posed an additional challenge, as his team knows their craft and has the ability to produce in larger quantities, but the real challenge lies in maintaining an exceptional level of quality, detail, and care while expanding the project's scope, especially since the requirement is to increase production volume without losing what fundamentally makes the work special: the hand, patience, and the integrity of the craft. The importance of the collection does not end with the final piece for Azzam, as it is also linked to a desire to bring people back to the craft of embroidery itself, at a time when handicrafts seem less accessible due to the speed of contemporary life.