Atelier Martine

I have been interested in design and 'social change' for a long time, and have worked on projects teaching people new craft skills such as screen printing and trying to engage local communities in the creative process. But I recently came across an example from the beginnings of the twentieth century which could be an interesting model for the future of local fashion and textile production.

Paul Poiret, the French designer who had revolutionised fashion with his loose tunic dresses and eclectic influences in the 1910's, also turned his hand to designing interior fabrics. But rather than hiring designers or painters to develop the prints, he set up the Atelier Martine, a 'decorating workshop' which was a group of untrained, teenage girls who produced fresh, spontaneous, 'primitive' drawings which were turned into fabrics and wallpaper. His aim was to nurture their creativity and offer them an opportunity to develop their skills, and it was a successful business until the outbreak of the Second World War. 

His ambition wasn't purely charitable though. He also wanted the designs to have an authentic 'folk art' feel, and the best way to achieve this naive style was to use untrained people, as seen in the designs of the above fabric. In this sense Poiret was a bit of a revolutionary. To imagine that young untrained girls could produce designs that were as desirable and valid as a trained artist was quite radical.