They met in front of a loom during their apprenticeship at the Gobelins factory and the Savonnerie du Mobilier national. Charlotte Font had previously studied Russian and, captivated by the textile productions (carpets, embroidery) of Central Asia, had chosen to train in carpet restoration. As for Charlotte Romani, a graduate of a BTS in fashion and clothing professions, she had completed an internship with a fabric editor.
Formation d’excellence
While they did not yet know each other, during open days at the Mobilier national, they both experienced an aesthetic shock in front of the depth of the blue of the carpet of the July 14 stand renewed by the designer Christophe Pillet. Within the Gobelins and Savonnerie factory, they completed a professional aptitude certificate (CAP) then a craftsmanship certificate (BMA) Carpet and heddle tapestry arts. In addition to the practice of drawing and courses in art history, they have acquired technical mastery of the weaving trades (haute-lisse tapestry, low-lisse tapestry or soap factory carpets), as well as restoration trades (carpets and tapestry).
Charlotte Romani and Charlotte Font @Julien Weber
“We learned to work color in the material, to create diagonals, circles, gradients”says Charlotte Romani. During the BMA, they carried out a creative project in collaboration with artists: the illustrator Pierre Mornet for Charlotte Font and the street artist Bebar for Charlotte Romani. After four years of study, they created their workshop in September 2022, in the 18th and then the 11th arrondissement of Paris.
Scissors and pins are some of the essential weaving tools. @Julien Weber
Ancient technique and contemporary creation
The soapmaking technique, imported from Turkey to France at the beginning of the 17th century, owes its name to an old soap factory where, under Louis XIII, the Royal Savonnerie Manufacture, specializing in the weaving of velvet carpets, was established. . Since 1826, it has been located on the Gobelins site, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Attached to this ancestral know-how, Charlotte Font and Charlotte Romani have chosen it to create contemporary textile pieces (rugs, wall panels or sculptures).
The Savonnerie technique is practiced on a high-smooth loom @Julien Weber
In their workshop, they create a succession of symmetrical knots on a vertical loom. Between each row, they pass linen threads to block the stitches and make the carpet even more solid. The knots are then packed using a comb then blocked to proceed with shearing, an operation revealing the velvet of the wool. “With a pair of curved scissors, we cut the loops obtained between each knot, guiding our action using a wooden template whose thickness determines the mowing height,” they specify. A work of patience: it takes around 500 hours of weaving for one square meter.
The heddles are grabbed with the left hand, allowing the rear warp threads to pass over the front of the loom, while the right hand passes the weft spindle @Julien Weber.
They then sculpt the velvet like a bas-relief. For their first collection Metamorphosisin reference to the myth of Arachnea recounted in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, they imagined a composition combining classicism and modernity: large acanthus leaves, a decorative motif characteristic of the Savonnerie factory, meet a bouquet of hands weaving the Arachnea web. They offer work on monochrome: an intense blue dialogues with an ecru, the natural color of wool.
Support from a sector
“It’s a whole sector that allows us to take on both technical and aesthetic challenges. The Terrade spinning mill, located in the Creuse, listened to our project. She offered us a Merino wool from Arles which allows us to shear in relief while having good hold of the pile. specify the two creators. As for Nadia Petkovic, also based in Creuse, she carried out several dyeing tests to obtain the intense and deep blue of the collection Metamorphosis.
Charlotte Font and Charlotte Romani bringing the final finishing touches to Metamorphosis IV et Metamorphosis V. @Julien Weber
This color has the particularity of being perceived differently depending on whether the light is natural or artificial. For the next collection in preparation, the designers have selected a dandelion heart saffron or an orange-yellow in Bizet wool, from the Massif Central. Among the other relationships of trust forged in the region, we can cite the Landes spinning mill, located in Aveyron, one of the last companies to manufacture large looms in France, and Lainamac, a sector association promoting creation in French wool, thanks to to whom the duo was able to weave local wool to test its resistance and twisting in particular.
Font&Romani, Metamorphosis IV indoors @Julien Weber.In less than two years, Charlotte Font and Charlotte Romani have won three prizes including that of the Young Creation Métiers d’art from Ateliers d’art de France, which earned them the opportunity to exhibit at the International Cultural Heritage Fair. Their approach based on a technique, traditionally used to make monumental floor mats and revisited in a contemporary way, will not fail to appeal to many architects, decorators and gallery owners.
FONT&ROMANI – Winner of the 2024 Savoir-Faire Trophies Epéda x Ulule
