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Paris, December 2022
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A Big AZ Welcome to our Amigo Lutz Huelle who is stepping into the Factory to design the next collaborative product story!
Named “F is for Friendship”, the collection is a riff on AZ Factory’s alphabet and an ode to the brand’s values and protagonists, our Amigos.
Though he had met our founder Alber Elbaz only once and wishes he’d gotten to know him better, Lutz recognizes in their shared DNA a common wish to make people feel comfortable, at ease.
What’s next? Wait and see…
More surprises to come.
]]>We are thrilled to invite AZ Factory Amigas to the Pop-up store, to introduce their work to our fashion family.
Join us throughout the pop-up period to discover more!
AZ Factory with...
Maripol - Maripol is a French-American photographer, filmmaker and stylist.
A longtime collaborator of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Downtown 81), Grace Jones and Madonna (Like a virgin) among many others, she is known for her iconic Polaroid shots, which she started taking in the late 1970s and which hold significant cultural relevance today.
Marion Vidal – Interested in drawing, dancing and music from a young age, Marion Vidal initially chose to pursue architecture, before shifting to fashion.
She launched her eponymous ready-to-wear and accessories label in 2005, then dedicated her full attention to jewelry.
Her avant-garde collections are made by hand with French and Italian artisans, and assembled in her Parisian atelier-boutique.
Emilie Lisi – The founder of Atelier Brume is a multi-faceted ceramics, art, design and embroidery creative, who seeks to explore relational value beyond form.
Her ceramic compositions are produced in an atmosphere of continuous experimentation, with the fragility of the material suggesting direction, shape and color.
Sous le Manteau – Olivia Bransbourg, the French New York-based founder of multi-disciplinary creative space Iconofly, has been creating singular artistic and olfactory projects since 2006.
After being appointed Creative Director at the Takasago laboratory in New York, Olivia developed unique projects for perfume brands until 2015, before conceiving Sous le Manteau in 2016. The label is now present in 17 countries, and was nominated as a finalist for this year’s Indie Fragrance of the Year Award.
]]>As the Love Brings Love exhibition comes to a close, we want to thank all our Amigos for joining us throughout its run at Palais Galliera over the last few months.
As a way of marking the end of this emotional experience, we were thrilled to invite our Amigos from Sohrab Chitan’s dance company to perform in the museum’s courtyard and give the tribute show a special send-off. If you missed it, enjoy snapshots of the event below!
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JOIN US DURING PARIS MEN’S & COUTURE'S FASHION WEEK
AT AZ FACTORY’S FIRST POP-UP STORE!
We are thrilled to invite you into our very first experiential space, a place that feels and looks like our own Factory, the space where we design, develop and market all our product stories – we even brought in our own furniture and design objects from the HQ at Fondation Cartier!
As a digital native project focused on community and collaboration, we are excited to welcome you to an IRL (“in real life”), tactile experience designed with all our Amigos in mind, from customers to industry partners.
This first physical retail space will be a channel between all of you and our online platform, and serve as a multi-functional venue – showroom, musical lounge, bookstore and shop – showcasing all our current exciting projects.
Our first three Amigos – Thebe Magugu, Ester Manas as well as Cyril Bourez – will be joining us at the pop-up store throughout its first week, and for the first time, we also look forward to hosting additional talented creatives from the worlds of homeware, fragrance, music and beyond to introduce to our community in this special space.
The pop-up store will be a joyful mix & match of fun, fashion and friends, and we are excited to welcome you through our doors, between June 21st and July 8th. We can’t wait to see you!
HIGHLIGHTS
AZ Factory with Club Domani
Club Domani started off as a party: born at Milan’s legendary Plastic club, it introduced a new genre of clubbing to the city, built around futurism and androgyny, disco and house music. Resident DJs and art directors Sergio Tavelli and Andrea Ratti have also worked as sound designers for fashion shows, and produced musical events in Milan, London, New York, Paris and beyond.
Join us on June 21st to celebrate La Fête de la Musique with Club Domani, between 5 and 12pm.
AZ Factory with Thebe Magugu
Based in Johannesburg, Thebe Magugu launched his namesake womenswear label in 2016.
In 2019, he was the first designer from the African continent to win the LVMH Prize for emerging talent, before being selected as a finalist for the International Woolmark Prize, a historic competition that has previously honored designers including Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld.
Thebe Magugu was also one of the 45 designers to pay tribute to Alber Elbaz in AZ Factory’s unprecedented “Love Brings Love” runway show in October 2021
Join us on June 22nd to view a special Q&A with Thebe Magugu and fashion students from Stadio, Polimoda, and Head.
Note: the Q&A will also be livestreamed on Instagram (@azfactory)
AZ Factory with Ester Manas
Launched in 2019 by former La Cambre students Ester Manas and Balthazar Delepierre, Ester Manas is a sustainable and inclusive fashion label, celebrating women of all shapes and sizes.
After professional experiences at Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne and Acne Studios, and empowered by the female empowerment movement, the creative duo started the brand with fierce & joyful women in mind.
Having gained recognition from the prestigious H&M Design Award, Hyères Festival, LVMH Prize and ANDAM Prize, Ester Manas is deemed a size inclusivity pioneer in the fashion industry today.
Get ready for June 23rd and discover our new AZ Factory with Ester Manas collaborative product story !
AZ Factory with Cyril Bourez
Brussels-based Cyril Bourez is a former La Cambre student, with experience at Christian Wijnants, Jacquemus, Paco Rabanne, Y/Project and Acne Studios. Specializing in menswear, his work re-interprets and explores themes of masculinity and traditional gender codes.
In 2017, Cyril’s graduate project won the Best Overall Collection Award at Moda Portugal Fashion Design Competition.
He describes the collection as a tribute to the iconic pieces that made him dream of making fashion, meeting the garments he used to wear as a teenager.
Join us on June 23rd to meet the newest Amigo to step into the Factory: our newest product story will be available to shop immediately.
AZ Factory with Maripol
Maripol is a French-American photographer, filmmaker and stylist.
A longtime collaborator of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Downtown 81), Grace Jones and Madonna (Like a virgin) among many others, she is known for her iconic Polaroid shots, which she started taking in the late 1970s and which hold significant cultural relevance today.
Her Polaroïd prints will also be available for purchase at the Pop-up as well as reinvention of her iconic jewelry.
AZ Factory with Benoît Béthume
Art director, photographer, consultant and stylist Benoît Béthume has collaborated with fashion houses including Prada, Lemaire, Marine Serre, Patou and Ester Manas and over the decades, has been adamant about upholding his personal beliefs without being swayed by trends in the fashion industry.
Beginning his career as an intern at Citizen K, he later became the magazine’s fashion director, before collaborating with many key fashion titles worldwide.
In 2012, he launched his own bi-annual bookazine “Mémoire Universelle”, then erotic fanzine “The Shy Guy” in 2020, in collaboration with illustrator Claire Detallante.
Join us on June 25th for the launch of the 4th edition of The Shy Guy between 5 and 8pm to celebrate Pride Walk, discover Claire Detallante’s serigraphs and support the It Gets Better Project.
The It Gets Better Project is a global non-profit that reaches millions of LGBTQ+ youth each year through inspiring media programming, educational resources, international affiliates in 19 countries, and access to an arsenal of community-based service providers.
With a premier youth ambassador program and a growing library of free educational resources, tens of thousands of high school students are engaged through It Gets Better EDU programming every year.
AZ Factory with Amigas
We are thrilled to invite AZ Factory Amigas to the Amigostore, to introduce their work to our fashion family. Join us throughout the pop-up period to discover more!
Marion Vidal – Interested in drawing, dancing and music from a young age, Marion initially chose to pursue architecture, before shifting to fashion.
She launched her eponymous ready-to-wear and accessories label in 2005, then dedicated her full attention to jewelry.
Her avant-garde collections are made by hand with French and Italian artisans, and assembled in her Parisian atelier-boutique.
Emilie Lisi – The founder of Atelier Brume is a multi-faceted ceramics, art, design and embroidery creative, who seeks to explore relational value beyond form.
Her ceramic compositions are produced in an atmosphere of continuous experimentation, with the fragility of the material suggesting direction, shape and color.
Olivia Bransbourg – The French New York-based founder of multi-disciplinary creative space Iconofly has been creating singular artistic and olfactory projects since 2006.
After being appointed Creative Director at the Takasago laboratory in New York, Olivia developed unique projects for perfume brands until 2015, before conceiving Sous le Manteau in 2016.
The label is now present in 17 countries, and was nominated as a finalist for this year’s Indie Fragrance of the Year Award.
What if Africa was the birthplace of couture? This was the initial question asked for our collaborative product story with Thebe Magugu, INTERSECTION. As the birthplace of both Alber and Thebe, Africa is a foundational starting point for both designers and seemingly holds key aspects of haute couture such as generational craft and storytelling as part of its culture.
STORY 1 – AZ 2.0: Welcoming our Amigos into the Factory
AZ Factory welcomes Amigos, guest creatives, to co-create stories and products. With this new approach, we offer a new perspective on today’s fashion, driven by the vision of uniquely positioned individuals, rather than heritage houses exclusively.
Partnering with our Amigo Thebe Magugu for this first collaborative product story was a conscious desire to bridge common values and shared passion. The collaboration provided Thebe with a platform to develop and share his vision of what fashion means today and to him. The product story is the fruit of this immersion into AZ Factory’s aesthetics and value system set by founder Alber Elbaz – a desire to do things differently, whilst always keeping it fun – layered with own personal experiences.
STORY 2 – The genesis of a new product story
Craftsmanship and storytelling are key pillars of both Thebe and AZ Factory’s work. These themes are central to Thebe’s process, because both are also deeply rooted in his own heritage. Every aspect of his clothes links back to his upbringing, and the handiwork inherent to making beautiful pieces is also a reference to his native DIY culture, an imperfect, emotional take on creativity, which encourages error and spontaneity as channels for discovery.
And thus, from this dual attachment to his home of South Africa and to the world of fashion emerged a recurring reflection worthy of exploration.
The design phase was a collaborative learning process with AZ Factory’s studio team – Thebe admits to having quite a systematic way of doing things, which includes sketching out his ideas before he tackles composition. In the AZ Factory studio, simple, precise pieces were draped and tweaked on mannequins, in an organic and free-flowing manner. Deconstruction, then, became a form of education.
STORY 3 – What if Africa were the birthplace of couture?
Titled Intersection, Thebe’s product story with AZ Factory initiates a new fashion conversation around Africa and couture. For Thebe, their shared commonality of these 2 pillars of craftsmanship and storytelling provided a symbolic starting point, and felt like an important and deeply personal foundation for this project.
Despite being historically excluded from the conversation surrounding couture and luxury, here Africa is placed at the center of the product story, with the juxtaposition of nu-Africa aesthetics and the notable principles of couture, as well as AZ Factory’s own creative language: classic garments are reinvented in smart fabrics, bold prints and modern, versatile silhouettes to create new hybrid shapes, intended for all women.
This is a new form of fashion, reimagined with joy, celebration and inclusivity at its core, and aligned with a shared vision for beautiful, practical and solutions-driven fashion that works for everyone.
“I think right now the conversation should be that couture can be for more than one type of person and I’d like to think we’ve achieved that with this collection. Bringing other people on board.”
STORY 4 – AZ Factory with Thebe Magugu, the creative process
Like AZ Factory, Thebe believes in the “Intersection of aesthetics and functionality”: beautiful should not be uncomfortable, and comfort should not be an aesthetic compromise. The pieces are visibly recognizable as Thebe Magugu: pleated midi skirts, bold colors, elongating lines and a kind of laidback sophistication that’s very uniquely his.
Take a closer look however, and you’ll also notice the fundamentals of AZ Factory dressing as athletic couture: a Makoti bridal-inspired look made from figure-skimming AnatoKnit technology fabric introduced in the MyBody story, a MyBody tank top Reworked with an exaggerated ruffle hem in recycled polyester, the balloon shape of a performance nylon bomber jacket, a swing coat in wool, a water-repellent cotton trench, and our signature silk scarves…
While the silhouettes are sleek and sophisticated, exuding precise work and thoughtful composition, the pieces also feature a playful spirit: removable bows, oversized proportions and cheerful prints are all reminders that this may be fashion that is serious, but that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The bold, primary hues – bright red, banana yellow, cobalt blue – are reminiscent of AZ Factory’s first product stories, as well. They’re also Thebe’s thoughtful nod to the palette of his home country, pigments found in nature, among fruits and animals, a connection to his upbringing. As for the customers themselves, this is a practical, functional, versatile and fun collection of pieces to feel good and look good in.
STORY 5 – Bringing Amigos together
Some of the collection’s key pieces feature cheeky illustrations by the Paris-based Franco Algerian artist Chafik Cheriet, who painted in the AZ Factory studio. At the time, Chafik was given full creative freedom to develop animal kingdom-inspired prints for Alber’s then-upcoming product story, which was never released.
Having gone unused, the prints were re-discovered by Thebe during his exploration of the AZ Factory archive, and he connected with the joyfully nostalgic reminders they provided: a cheetah print reminded him of his mother and grandmother, whilst the meerkat symbolized elegance, intelligence and gregariousness, qualities he recognizes in the women he designs for. In a full circle expression of the teamwork Thebe values, like Alber before him, Chafik also contributed to the set design for the product story’s lookbook shoot.
The result is a product story that feels deeply and authentically collaborative, a creative storyline told by Thebe in AZ Factory’s language, a beautifully hybrid formulation. Whether they are perceived as collector’s items to cherish or everyday staples intended to be worn for years to come, this product story is designed with all the Amigos and Amigas of AZ Factory in mind.
We hope you will love it as much as we do.
Special thanks to our Amigos and Amigas who took part in the creation of this campaign.
Photography by Nadine Ijewere
Videography by Anne Gryzcka
Styling by Chloe Andrea Welgemoed
Set Design by Ibby Njoya
Hair by Yumiko Hikage
Makeup by Louisa Trapier
Casting by Jordan Mergirie
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The original concept involved collecting variations on the archetypal “boyfriend t-shirt”, and elevating them into couture pieces (traditionally made for women), transforming a stereotypically masculine and slightly cliché garment into avant-garde and playful silhouettes. The collaboration also drew from AZ Factory’s own vision of athletic-couture, a term Cyril played with by selecting sporty, varsity themed garments that he reworked with AZ Factory’s existing couture elements, including opulent fabrics and exaggerated details like oversized ruffles.
Every piece is unique, and spontaneously made – there were no patterns, and the construction feels more organic as a result. Here, Cyril knew that plans wouldn’t necessarily translate into reality, and so the design process was more natural and free flowing. He describes this project as having allowed him to extract only “the fun part” of creating, without the frustrating, industrial constraints. “It’s still technical”, he says, “but not industrial. It’s just craft.
It felt important, given the wider industry and environmental context, to make a statement by producing the full collection with existing garments, without bringing anything new into the project. In order for this to work, Cyril zeroed in on fashion archetypes, as a way to strengthen and clarify the message. The final pieces feel to him like what a girl might steal from her older brother’s wardrobe, pieces that feel cool, cheeky and comforting. He views the pieces like a sort of fashion equivalent of a collage, something a little silly and handmade, but compelling and interesting.
]]>INTRODUCING AZ FACTORY WITH CYRIL BOUREZ PRODUCT STORY:
“READY-MADE-COUTURE”
CHAPTER 1 – AZ 2.0: WELCOMING OUR AMIGOS INTO THE FACTORY
Launched in 2021 by the late Alber Elbaz, AZ Factory believes in smart fashion that cares. Today, the label has evolved this belief into a collaborative ecosystem, a laboratory where people meet to try new things, where creativity is nurtured, and emotion and experimentation are encouraged. Earlier this year, we opened a new chapter, a natural evolution holding Alber’s values at its core. Now, we invite our Amigos – talents, partners, collaborators – to join us in advancing his original vision and spirit, to design beautiful, fun and solutions-driven fashion alongside our design studio and in-house teams.
Now, AZ Factory welcomes Amigos, guest creatives, to co-create stories and products. We provide them with a platform to develop and share their visions of what fashion means today and to them, by appropriating and reinterpreting the codes that have made AZ Factory unique from day one. With this new approach, AZ Factory offers a new perspective on today’s fashion, driven by the perspectives of uniquely positioned individuals, rather than heritage houses exclusively.
Following the announcement of our inaugural collaboration with Thebe Magugu in April, we are thrilled to share that Cyril Bourez is the next Amigo to step into the Factory for our upcoming product story.
CHAPTER 2 – MEET CYRIL BOUREZ
Born in northern France, close to Belgium where he is from – and where he subsequently studied and then taught at La Cambre – Cyril identified an early attraction to the reality of creating, the practical “doing” over the theory. As a student, he interned at some of the labels he’d long looked up to, initially gaining experience at Jacquemus, Paco Rabanne, Acne Studios and Y/Project, then specializing in menswear, first at Lanvin, then with Raf Simons in Antwerp.
Though formally trained in menswear, Cyril’s perception of what garments are intended for is free-flowing and malleable, with a sensibility to masculinity which he self-describes as more of a mood than a category, with a focus within his own eponymous label on re-interpretation and exploration of masculine codes. He describes his award-winning 2017 graduate collection as a tribute to the iconic pieces that originally made him dream of making fashion, which he reinterpreted by using the garments he used to wear as a teenager. As with all his work today, he describes his creative process as anchored in “auto-fictional research”, starting with a personal feeling or relationship to a situation, person or garment, which he then translates into something shareable.
In a similar way, with this project Cyril was interested in leveraging his menswear training to offer a new vision of what women’s clothing could mean, by applying this “auto-fiction” approach to Alber’s creative legacy, paying tribute to his work in a playful and irreverent way.
CHAPTER 3 – THE PRODUCT STORY
The original concept involved collecting variations on the archetypal “boyfriend t-shirt”, and elevating them into couture pieces (traditionally made for women), transforming a stereotypically masculine and slightly cliché garment into avant-garde and playful silhouettes. The project began to take shape around a rework of iconic silhouettes blended with Alber’s irreverent approach to fashion, the juxtaposition of basic, boyish garments and high fashion. The collaboration also drew from AZ Factory’s own vision of athletic couture, a term Cyril played with by selecting sporty, varsity-themed garments that he reworked with AZ Factory’s existing couture elements, including opulent fabrics and exaggerated details like oversized ruffles. As a result, the strong sense of versatility and duality in the collection is reminiscent of both brands’ design aesthetics and value systems.
Cyril’s signature is functional and pragmatic in nature, and he typically shies away from embellishments or “function-less” decorative detailing. As such, this product story and the resulting pieces are quite a departure from his usual work. Every piece is unique, and spontaneously made – there were no patterns, and the construction feels more organic as a result. Here, Cyril knew that plans wouldn’t necessarily translate into reality, and so the design process was more natural and free-flowing. He describes this project as having allowed him to extract only “the fun part” of creating, without the frustrating, industrial constraints. “It’s still technical”, he says, “but not industrial. It’s just craft.”
It felt important, given the wider industry and environmental context, to make a statement by producing the full collection with existing garments, without bringing anything new into the project. In order for this to work, Cyril zeroed in on fashion archetypes, as a way to strengthen and clarify the message. The final pieces feel to him like what a girl might steal from her older brother’s wardrobe, pieces that feel cool, cheeky and comforting. He views the pieces like a sort of fashion equivalent of a collage, something a little silly and handmade, but compelling and interesting.
The product story comprises 33 unique garments, featuring vintage and thrifted t-shirts and Hawaiian shirts, and will be available from June 7th 2022, online exclusively at azfactory.com and then at the AZ Factory Pop-up Store, 16 rue des Minimes - 75003 Paris, from June 21st to July 8th, 2022.
These pieces were reinvented using leftover AZ Factory fabrics and deadstock, as part of our wider Reworked project, an initiative which aims to give a second life to garments no longer in use.
Shop the Collection now
Join us in celebrating love this month with our special edition Love Brings Love Pride T-Shirt made in collaboration with the It Gets Better Project! Featuring Alber's iconic mantra filled with a rainbow of colors to represent the different pride flags, we hope to bring lots of love to all of our LGBTQ+ Amigos! To help show our love, we are also making a special donation to the It Gets Better Project, a global organization working to uplift, empower, and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. Visit https://itgetsbetter.org/ to learn more about what they do and how to donate.
Shop the Pride collection now!
]]>As the temperatures begin to rise, we’re looking to lightweight staples, color and joyful statements to fully embrace the new season. Today, we share a few of our current favorites.
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Enter MyBody! The early AZ Factory product story remains central to our design ethos, and is a favorite of our customers all over the world today. The Anatoknit technology used in the pieces smoothes and supports without feeling restrictive, with the technique adapting to the body’s curves and thoughtfully designed for all body types, to make women look and feel their best by highlighting their figures instead of concealing them.
So, no dieting needed here… MyBody is intended for everybody and every body!
(Re)discover the product story below.
The Shoulder Wrap Dress is the quintessential LBD – sleek, simple and a little sexy, you’ll wear it for years to come.
The Puff Sleeve Dress is a modern take on the classic: the exaggerated silhouette is a couture-worthy statement in itself, intended to do all the talking and attract all the attention.
The Reworked Multicolor Gown gives chic and sporty, for your most fun occasions.
]]>Sustainability has been a core AZ Factory value from day one, and we believe in continuously trying to be better. We’re aware perfection doesn’t exist, but we will always strive to do the best we can, by experimenting, and utilizing the resources at our disposal.
We love nothing more than to see the many ways you wear your AZ Factory pieces. Today, we’re spotlighting the new vegan leather Hugging Bag With Love, in classic black and bold fuschia.
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