After years of suffering linked to domestic violence, Carole Swartvagher transformed her personal fight into an initiative of hope for other women through the creation of the Resist T-shirt. On November 15, 2024, she will participate in the charity gala of the Elles imagine association, ten days before the International Day Against Violence Against Women on November 25, 2024.
Carole Swartvagher explains to us the path taken towards its reconstruction via the development of this garment which symbolizes resilience, but also support for women who are suffering and who seek to rebuild themselves.
Franceinfo culture: Why are you participating in the association’s gala on November 15 at Paris City Hall?
Carole Swartvagher: I was a victim of domestic violence for over thirty years. At the end of 2020, the association They imagine helped me get out of this hell, to put into words what I had experienced, to understand the mechanism… She supported me and continues to do so. She is one of those who allowed me to consider life afterward, to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It was important to stand alongside them, to bear witness and to remind them that we must not give up.
The gala is titled The Fighterswhich defines me: I fight for my freedom and for that of all the women who live this nightmare. Acquiring your freedom is a real obstacle course. This gala will allow us to discover the support work carried out by the association, the journey taken by victims of domestic violence, and to raise awareness among more people. It will bring together people from various backgrounds, showing that domestic violence affects all social backgrounds, without distinction.
What is the role of the association?
The association supports women victims of domestic violence and their children by offering them support. It breaks the isolation of these people by welcoming them, listening to them and supporting them psychologically, by accompanying them in their legal, administrative and social procedures, by helping them and their children to rebuild themselves, by informing the public and fighting against preconceived ideas about domestic violence, by giving professionals the tools to act better, and by organizing prevention actions in schools and businesses.
What is the objective of this gala?
It’s an anniversary gala, the association is celebrating its thirty years of existence. This event will celebrate its years of commitment and remind people of the importance of continuing to mobilize. This charity gala will allow greater financial resources to be put into helping victims of violence. Donations will contribute in particular to increasing the reception capacity of the association, to strengthening support for female victims, their psychological and legal support and to continuing to develop support for child co-victims, even when they become adults.
Why are Maïva Hamadouche, Bénédicte Haubold, Christelle Taraud, Axel Lattuada and Alissa Wenz participating in the event?
They are all involved in this fight: the boxer and police officer Maïva Hamadouche is committed to helping women victims of domestic violence by giving them boxing lessons, because the sport has helped her in her life to keep her head high, to not never give up. The author and performer Bénédicte Haubold, herself a victim of domestic violence, recounts in My lost illusions the story of a reconstruction.
The historian Christelle Taraud, through her work Femicides – A global storytraces the supremacy of the masculine over the feminine through the centuries. She says: “To name things is to make their history. It is also to give them an existence.” Author Alissa Wenz wrote in her novel “To love too much” on the influence of love.
The actor, author, editor and director Axel Lattuada, behind the YouTube channel And no one caresaddresses current issues that are debated. He talks about feminism, emphasizing the importance of coming together around this cause: “So of course it’s up to women first to advance feminism, but if you’re a guy, that doesn’t stop you from being an ally.”
Under what circumstances did you meet this association?
In 2020, my ex-husband was anonymously reported to social services for verbal, psychological and physical abuse of his children. We were heard and I was told that what we were experiencing (trivialized by my ex-husband) was unacceptable, even if I had only dared to express a tiny part of what was happening for fear of reprisals. . Social services strongly advised me to contact an association. I chose it because it was close to where I live and I liked its name for the hope it evokes.
What message allows you to face everyday life today?
“Resist” is the word I repeat to myself every day to survive with this mantra: “Overcome your fear, believe in yourself, move forward despite everything, resist.”
You bounced back via fashion which has always been present in your professional career…
After studying at the Chambre syndicale de la couture Parisienne, in the 1990s, I worked in the haute couture design studios at Olivier Lapidus and Christian Lacroix, then in ready-to-wear at Lolita Lempicka and Elisabeth de Senneville, but also in a style office for the Sentier and also on stage costumes. Then I had to stop due to illness.
You were an author, illustrator and president of Minimonde, a children’s book publishing house.
Minimonde is part of my years of total control, since my ex-husband managed the administrative part of my publishing house and controlled my life since I was 17. This publishing house was born from my young desire to own a book on the history of costume which I had not found. I created Minimonde in 2009 to publish my books on the evolution of costume throughout history, and I am still at its head. My works continue to sell, notably at the Yves Saint Laurent museum.
How do we go from publishing to creating Habits à la française, your slow fashion brand?
I have always been passionate about fashion, and what it says about us men. I have been designing clothes since childhood. I felt the need to realize a “forbidden” dream when my children and I said stop the violence. The courts have put in place measures to protect us from my ex-husband. After having deconstructed everything, I had to rebuild myself… Half, these are the initials of Habits à la française, a tribute to the history of French fashion.
To achieve this model, you launched an Ulule crowdfunding campaign.
Financially, it’s very complicated. My ex-husband had made me totally dependent. The cost of legal procedures is exorbitant. I discovered this financing opportunity thanks to my children. It was a success, we exceeded our objective in March/April 2024 with 82 participations.
100% certified cotton, this T-shirt is designed in Paris and manufactured in a Marseille workshop promoting a solidarity and social economy.
Yes, it is very important for me to promote a solidarity and social economy, because I do not envisage a fashion that does not respect the environment and the rights of workers. Fashion must be rethought as well as our way of consuming.
This T-shirt, for which you designed the slogan, what does it represent?
A first committed model, carrying a message. It symbolizes a fight for the freedom and defense of women, solidarity, mutual aid, generosity… Believing in yourself, in the future, not being ashamed, stepping back to move forward better, hanging on, resisting. .. To transform a negative situation into something positive and see a light in hell.
Is it more than a piece of clothing, is it a symbol of solidarity?
Yes, it all started from the Twitch event: “We are Furax”, in February 2023, organized to raise funds for Elles imagine. I didn’t have the means to contribute financially so the idea came to me to create a T-shirt. A portion of sales is donated to the association. My fight turns into a bigger struggle, to carry a message of freedom and courage.
