Hi, my name is Maryame Loukili, and I am a freelance Haute Couture hand emroiderer settled in Paris with my husband and son.
I have being working in Haute Couture hand embroidery ateliers in Paris since 2015. Through this blog, I would love to share with you what I enjoy the most that is being creative simply using your arty fingers, thread, beeds, sequins…. and a lot more 🙂
Maryame sounds …?
My birth country is Morocco where I grew up, studied, had fun without never smoking a cigarette (yes, it’s possible), worked as an executive in a petrochemical company, got married and became a mom. Two sentences to summarise 30 years of my life !
How all this stitching stuff started?
In 2013, my husband had to go back to France for work (did I mention that my husband is french ? No ! Well… he is) and we’ve decided to settle in Paris. At that moment, it was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made so far. Certainly, a great opportunity for making the huge change that I was delaying for so long. That is, making a step ahead for a professional reorientation.
Althougt, I didn’t know much at that point what kind of job would better suit my needs. However, I was sure that what ever direction I choose, it has to be something related to art, creativity, crafting and design. Something unrelated to reporting, desks, meetings and boss approvals for vacations.
Almost 2 years of part time jobs and lot of research. I was visiting all exhibitions that I could afford, museums, galleries and art schools open house days.
In 2014, Eurekaaaa…
In 2014, I met a hand embroiderer lady at an exhibition and fell in love with her work. This is what triggered my decision to learn Haute Couture hand embroidery. So, I studied for one year in « Lycée Octave Feuillet » one of the best French National Education structures of Design and Crafts of Art in Paris. after that, I spent another year training with the lady I met in her own little cuty embroidery atelier.
Today, I feel so grateful because…?
To sum up, I work now as a freelancer with famous brands such as Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton during the fashion weeks and for small productions made in France for « ready to wear » and « Haute Couture » orders.
My experience in the ateliers enables me to learn a lot about making Haute Couture garments using embroideries, beadings, prints, laces, pleating, artificial flowers, and appliqué. Moreover, I do experiment other techniques hardly known such us burn out’s, foils and acid prints.
How do I define my work and where do I get my inspiration from?
It’s really hard for me to put a label on my work. By the time I am writing this post, I choose to use the word « eclectic ». Why ? Besause a lot of things in my ired from my surroundings. Whether from the world of nature, art, poetry, wallpapers, movies,… My work could be graphic or organic, comtemporary or classic. I like crossing different styles and embellishment techniques.
If you wanna get in touch, it’s right here.