Beautiful, useful, ecological and “become essential”… Against the heat, these hand-made fans in Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Once an aid to cooling in hot weather, the fan has survived the centuries. This fascinating object regains its place in hands and bags during periods of heatwaves.

A trend that the creators of L’atelier de Saint-Paul do not deny. “The fan has become essential“, assure Marlène and Patricia who opened their boutique on rue Grande eight years ago.

At a time when we are advocating common sense practices and actions to combat global warming, the fan is establishing itself as one of the key accessories of the summer season.

All tastes, all uses

Which certainly explains why the Saint-Pauloises have seen their production increase particularly over the past three seasons.

Beautiful and useful but also ecological, Marlène and Patricia’s fans are handmade in their boutique-workshop in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.

At L’atelier de Saint-Paul, visitors are amazed. More than 400 different models are presented and just as many are waiting in reserve.

“In winter we manufacture, in summer we sellsummarizes Patricia. But in fact, we manufacture all year round, to restock or on demand.”

The two women also offer tailor-made products: “The customer can choose their fabric, wood, details, borders.”

“For special orders there is a choice of natural wood from fruit trees, or black wood, the fabrics are cotton or lace. We only use noble materials”insists Marlene.

Haute couture collection, evening fans – “very popular” – in lace or rhinestones… The fan makers have also created two standard sizes to fit perfectly into handbags. And to disprove the tradition which mainly reserved the accessory for women, Marlène assures that “with the heatwave, more and more men [les] use”.

The Saint-Paul workshop (100, rue Grande). Contacts: 06.24.22.12.60 [email protected]. Price: between 20 and 130 euros.