Julie Menuge by Lili Forestier

There are encounters that take you on vacation, childhood, travel, laughter, dreams and colors.
Julie Menuge's collections are one of these.

Born on the Belgian-French border, Julie, a graduate of La Cambre Mode, class of 2007 in Textile Design, cultivates a rebellious spirit.

Its border identity is expressed in the hollow of a fashion that it wants to be resolutely mixed, in colorful creations that invite you to daydream, but also, in a much more concrete way, to real reflection.

Because what Julie does is part of an authentic transmission enterprise.

In permanent study, as she likes to recall, she has a remarkable knowledge of the history of fabrics originating from all over the world, of precise and founding techniques of certain African, European or Asian cultures. Also a skilled embroiderer, having studied with Jean-Paul Gaultier, she became a textile designer for Jean-Paul Lespagnard.

Julie integrates this know-how acquired over the years into her work, to mix it in all originality with vintage pieces from pop culture. Thus, a Yakari tipi or a pair of Saylor Moon sheets become a futuristic, nostalgic, iconic skirt or Kimono.

Singularity of a batik pattern, ancestral gesture of a cross stitch, magic of a tie and dye, his meticulous and precise work tells us about our origins and our raison d'être.

At a time when the world of fashion is finally asking itself the questions necessary for its evolution, both from an ecological and a feminist point of view, the unique pieces offered by Julie Menuge are essential.

It is with a benevolent eye that she works to ensure that her collections are accessible to all body types. And it is also in this spirit that she designs clothes from different cultures.

Because what is crossbreeding, if not weaving a link, tenuous, precious, rare and singular, so that from all these beautiful mixtures are born united pieces?

The story that Julie tells us through her collections is ours. It is a story of transmission, juxtaposition, detours and reunions that outline a common past and future.

Batik, Bazin, Boubou, English embroidery, Point-and-shoot embroidery, Couchure, Faso dan Fani, Ikat, Khataquilt, Kimono, Ligature, Madras, Cross stitch, Provençale, Sahrouel, Sari, Sashiko, Shibori, Tartan, Tie and dye, Toile de Jouy, Wax, so many fabrics, patterns and techniques that sow their traveling mood on Julie Menuge's journey and wander to the rhythms of her enchanting collections.

Lili Forestier