Solenne Jolivet: Thread becomes art

Drawing on a background in fashion and embroidery Solenne Jolivet’s supremely tactile, geometric and ordered pieces bring focus to the thread. She tries to make the supporting structure disappear and allow the thread to take centre stage, sometimes mixing in paint or dye bringing the interwoven threads even further into the foreground.

After her education in Fashion, Design and Embroidery the fashion industry called. For several years Solenne worked in Italy and France for the companies Taroni, Hermes and Carven. In 2017, she became fuelled by a desire to produce art showcasing the thread, rather than simply being satisfied with using embroidery as a decorative technique. She took the leap and became a freelance Textile Artist and Embroiderer, working on projects with haute couture clients including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Schiaparelli, while also developing her own body of work.

Her recent exhibitions in Paris include “Graphic design in Textile Art” at the Fibery Gallery in 2019, the ‘Falls’’ series exhibited at the Gentilly Biennale Festival (Contemporary Art Fair) in 2019 and ‘‘Between embroidery and lace’’ samples exhibited at Interfilière, International Fair of Lingerie in 2018. Solenne also exhibited during ‘‘FashionTech’’, City of Fashion and Design, Paris in 2017.

In this interview, find out how Solenne found that in the fashion industry drawing precedes embroidery and is fundamental in guiding decorative stitch work. Discover how, as a textile artist, she has been able to explore how drawing and embroidery can build on each other, and how to use light and colour as essential components of her work. Solenne also shares her love of research and sampling as a way to define her own style.