Louis Barthelemy
Louis Barthelemy
While a fashion design student at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins, the young designer landed a job at Dior under British visionary John Galliano. The experience kick-started a keen affinity for surface pattern, and collaborations with prestigious brands followed, namely Gucci, Dior and, more recently, Sandro for their SS24 collection.
‘I am attracted to regions of the world where people know that their lives hang by a very slender thread,’ said Barthelemy. ‘Everything worthwhile follows from this: trust in fate, belief in friendship, an instinct for kindness, and the appreciation of beauty. I try to embed this lesson in Egypt in everything I make.’
Love first brought Louis Barthelemy to Cairo in 2017. Now it’s a love for the country that keeps the French illustrator, textile designer, and artist returning to the Egyptian capital.
Yet it was an affair that started long before as a child growing up in London. Barthelemy would walk the halls of both the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum captivated by the Egyptian collection, and the wonder of its most prized possession: the Rosetta Stone.
His large-format, highly embroidered designs are a celebration of pleasure and craft; reinventing the ancestral codes of artisanal craft techniques in North Africa and the Middle East. The dying art of Khayamiya—a decorative Egyptian art appliqué textile involving patterns sewn onto plain cotton canvas used to adorn tent interiors—is revived here.
Barthelemy weaves personal stories and whimsical illustrations of native birds, Senegalese wrestlers, and ancient Egyptians in contemporary settings like gyms and Parisian cabarets.
‘I am attracted to regions of the world where people know that their lives hang by a very slender thread,’ said Barthelemy. ‘Everything worthwhile follows from this: trust in fate, belief in friendship, an instinct for kindness, and the appreciation of beauty. I try to embed this lesson in Egypt in everything I make.’
Love first brought Louis Barthelemy to Cairo in 2017. Now it’s a love for the country that keeps the French illustrator, textile designer, and artist returning to the Egyptian capital.
Yet it was an affair that started long before as a child growing up in London. Barthelemy would walk the halls of both the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum captivated by the Egyptian collection, and the wonder of its most prized possession: the Rosetta Stone.
His large-format, highly embroidered designs are a celebration of pleasure and craft; reinventing the ancestral codes of artisanal craft techniques in North Africa and the Middle East. The dying art of Khayamiya—a decorative Egyptian art appliqué textile involving patterns sewn onto plain cotton canvas used to adorn tent interiors—is revived here.
Barthelemy weaves personal stories and whimsical illustrations of native birds, Senegalese wrestlers, and ancient Egyptians in contemporary settings like gyms and Parisian cabarets.
Featured Work
Fishermen
2022
Fishermen
Louis Barthelemy
2022
130 x 103cm
Hand appliquéd and embroidered Khayamiya on cotton canvas
