Charlotte Daudré-Vignier (Charlie) is the founder and designer of the young upcycling brand Carbone 14 (carbon 14 is present in all living organisms including linen, wool and silk. It allows the dating of clothing). Having passed through the IFM, the young woman defends a vision of fashion that she cannot separate from its sustainable aspect. Vintage pieces reworked in the manner of recycling (using old materials to create new ones), recovery and repair of damaged pieces, for Charlie, quality clothing must and deserves to last.
In collaboration with Hast, Charlie presents us, through several video tutorials , his tips for maintaining clothes as best as possible. A collaboration whose goal is to signify our common motivations: that of bringing the world of fashion towards better days, more respectful of the planet and workers but also, the desire to revalue old know-how sometimes too quickly forgotten! Meeting.
When did you become interested in textiles?
I started to be interested in textiles very early because my mother sewed a lot. At the age of 6, I made my first creation: a doll's dress. That's when a great love story between fabric and me was born. In fact, it was more the fabric that caught my eye than the garment itself.
Tell us a little about your background and how working with Hast makes sense with your understanding of fashion?
At first, I was hesitant to get into the fashion industry, which scared me a little. So I started working in a very distant sector: cybersecurity, in Spain where I grew up. I gave all my colleagues a makeover! I told myself that maybe there was something, and I quickly joined the Institut Français de la Mode. That's where I really discovered the sustainable development and ethics aspect. I had already worked on these themes but I didn't realize the extent of the problem in fashion and all the excesses in terms of pollution and social abuses.
Shortly after, I created a first brand, a bit messy. Through meetings and learning, the adventure really started with Carbone 14, a more mature project in my opinion. I was keen to mix design and eco-responsibility, with the idea of returning to old values, recycling, custom modeling, small businesses, etc. I have a taste for the unique piece, strong pieces produced with beautiful materials.
Developing a project related to clothing repair had been catching my eye for a while, so it was a perfect fit when we discussed it with Hast. I like the brand because it makes simple but high-quality clothes, with beautiful materials and beautiful drapes. I think we share the same values regarding the lifespan and appreciation of beautiful clothing.
What is your vision of the fashion world and its current evolution?
The departments dedicated to sustainability are not really integrated into the houses, and it's a shame because the measures taken often lack coherence. It's easy to communicate, but production has to follow behind.
If there is a real will to move in the right direction, it is achievable in 2021. It is more expensive, of course, but there really are solutions. In my opinion, not trying to be eco-responsible today is a sign of bad will. I am rather optimistic when I see that the battles we are currently waging are coming together: feminism, social rights, sustainable development. There is real energy, a positive anger that allows us to question our ways of operating.
As for my vision of fashion in the broad sense: I have the impression that we are increasingly letting the product speak for itself. I like the idea of showing images without resorting to excessive storytelling. There is always a story behind a garment, and even more so with upcycling. We transform an object that has already been worn, we tell the story of the textile craftsman who created it, of the person who kept it. I like the idea of showing raw images, of not telling things too much, but rather of suggesting.
How did you come up with the idea of talking about garment care? It’s quite different from what traditional “designers” offer.
It's something I've been doing since I was little. My family always asked me for tips on how to remove stains and I wrote everything down in a notebook. Recently, by talking about it around me, I realized that there was a real need.
In fact, I thought about doing it for a long time. Why? Because there are already tons and tons of pages about it on the internet. It's a bit has-been, and most of the time, they explain how to do it but they don't show. For someone who is not very handy, it's not always easy to follow. With a three-minute video "tutorial" format, it's very easy to explain how to get rid of a stain or sew on a button. Repairing then seems less inaccessible and we can prioritize this work rather than buying yet another item of clothing that may be less dear to our hearts!
Can we be sustainable and profitable?
It's an interesting question but also taboo. I think so, but it all depends on what you call profitable. If you want to make a 100% margin, you're not going to do it at Carbone 14. That's what I explain to my customers. When I sell a pure new wool coat for 250 euros, it's because I have to do a lot of work upstream: find the wool and the right supplier, travel, inspect the fabric, check the material, make the pattern.
I also do the fashion, the pattern, the fittings etc. all this in Paris. So everything has a scale. When a dress from a fast fashion brand is made in 10,000 copies, the pattern does not actually cost very much…
In my opinion, if you want to make quality, like the milliners of the time, you can be profitable, but you have to know what profitability you want. Quality cannot be neglected and must return to the center of creation. And it is when you take the time that it is done well!