Who are the artisans in 2024? Of the 234,000 active companies in France, 129,000 are run by… women. And the proportion rises to 66% among independents. Handmade virtuosos who have decided to enhance a heritage, to make a childhood dream come true, to bring a gesture back to life, to pass on know-how. These magicians are also business leaders who have an eco-responsible vision of the world.
The magazines ELLE, ELLE Decoration and ELLE à Table have decided to highlight them by creating, in 2021, the Prix des Artisanes, with the support of the LVMH group. A true ode to excellence and passion, aiming to reward the professions of design and tableware, wine, the preservation of French heritage, fashion, jewelry and watchmaking. Meeting with two of the 2024 winners.
The chiseled surrealism of Chloé Valorso, Jewelry and watchmaking professions category
Chloé Valorso in her workshop. © Mélanie Issaka
Her office, located within the Ateliers de Paris, where she has taken up residence for a year, Chloé Valorso envisioned it as a cabinet of curiosities. An eclectic jumble, where crab sculptures, lynx heads reimagined in metal, stone debris exhumed from a river in Germany, works on mystical alchemy… “I am an only child who a world populated by bizarre animals is invented. Some are tattooed on my skin, others I transform into jewelry. What they all have in common is that they tell a story. Like this lynx, which reminds me of my first shamanic breathing session in Bali, a practice that transcended my way of being and working,” she explains to us.
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Since then, inspired by witch crafts, Chloé continues to build a surreal and offbeat universe, with, as a common thread, jewelry objects that she first models in wax to explore all their contours , before sculpting them herself by hand from natural or recycled materials, bronze, metal or stone, to name but a few.
Chloé Valorso’s jewelry objects are sculpted by hand. © Mélanie Issaka
Trained at the Duperré school in Paris, then at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College of London, Chloé completed internships, first with the Englishwoman Solange Azagury-Partridge, then with the Italian Delfina Delettrez, and quickly understood that, between craftsmanship, fine jewelry and spirituality, there is a whole world to be invented. She then created her label in 2021, developing her own stylistic vocabulary and a singular approach through sensitive and offbeat jewelry, which goes well beyond the simple accessory. Her crab claw rings that wrap around the finger and her signature lynx head necklaces have allowed her to exhibit at the Salone del Mobile in Milan, at the Mineralogy Museum in Paris, and are sold online. But his imagination does not stop there. The jeweler is also considering developing her activity as a visual artist, in order to create Technicolor marble sculptures. “I am a surrealist artist among artisans! » she laughs. So, anything goes.
The magical realism of Diana Martinez, Fashion professions category
Diana Martinez. © Press
Diana, 39, knew she wanted to work in fashion. Because, as a teenager, she devoured Mexican women’s magazines. Her seamstress grandmother then pushed her to enroll in a fashion design class after school. This is how, after high school, she opened a tailor-made evening dress workshop, with the dream of settling in Paris, the capital of couture. “Everyone told me to give up, that no one would want a Mexican without a network or a recognized diploma. » Everyone, except his parents who believe in his lucky star.
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At 27, the young woman arrived in Paris. Enrolls at the AICP, a school specializing in pattern making, meets Alice Gras, the founder of Hall Couture, and settles into this coworking space dedicated to fashion professions, then begins to work for young designers. “My goal,” she explains, “has never been to create my own brand, I like to bring creators’ ideas to life. » Because Diana is a pattern maker: an architect of clothing, who translates the desires of designers into three dimensions. To do this, she uses her instinct and sensitivity. The designers for whom she worked entrusted her with the most creative silhouettes, praising both the finesse of her draping and her unique way of treating organza, chiffon and satin. Like this hyperconstructed and fluid ball dress made for Loewe.
Dress designed by Diana Martinez. © Press
“Diana is one of those who still works in the old-fashioned way, from molding a cotton canvas onto a mannequin bust. It drapes the fabric, fixes it, creates balance,” adds Benjamin Benmoyal, a resident like Diana at La Caserne, an incubator that brings together young designers around eco-responsibility in fashion. Diana, whose talent is now recognized by Courrèges, Acne Studios, Mugler, Celine, Nina Ricci and Germanier, never loses sight of those without whom she would never have gotten there. “I owe everything to my parents, they were the first to believe in me. »
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