DESIGNER PAGE    

ABOUT MARINE HENRION

Based in Paris where she founded her eponymous brand in 2015, French designer Marine Henrion creates versatile and sophisticated pieces, inherited from the Space Age of the 60s and the minimalism of the 90s. Convinced that the fashion of tomorrow has to be made without any compromise, Marine Henrion offers avant-garde pieces, following an ethical and innovative approach. Her fashion is facing the future by highlighting the lines of the body, and it’s designed with an exemplary expertise and an eco-friendly production based entirely in two family workshops in Lyon and Paris. Each made-to-order collection is timeless yet ever evolving, featuring OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified neoprene and recyclable polyurethane. The styles are technical and highly aesthetic, and are intended to be worn tight and modular, for a powerful and feminine silhouette.

"My collections are not officially unisex, but I wish everybody could wear my designs! My clothes are made to feel confident and comfortable in, whatever your gender is."

Marine Henrion

Mini Interview with Marine Henrion

Tell us about your passion for fashion, how and when it started?  
I've always loved fashion and creating looks. When I was very young, I played with Barbies only to dress them up, my friends did not understand me totally because for me creating love stories with them bored me more than creating looks… Also, my mom went to Paris when she was young to study fashion, I guess she gave me her fashion sensibility and love for beautiful fabrics and cuts, even if it was totally unconscious! While my dad was an architect, so that’s where my sharp and minimalistic mind came from (I loved watching him create plans, it fascinated me to imagine that his sketches will become buildings in real life!). In my teenage years, I loved to read Vogue and Numero magazines, I would do it for hours. I even created a false fashion magazine, with beauty articles and fashion photoshoots! I think I learned a lot from it, trying and doing things on my own.

Your designs are versatile and sophisticated pieces, inherited from the Space Age of the 60s and the minimalism of the 90s. What are the other inspirations for your creations?
As I said before, I always loved architecture, in all of its forms: sketches, plans, but mostly its aesthetics. I got really inspired by futuristic architecture, like Zaha Hadid, Herzog & Demeuron or Niemeyer, but also by super minimalist architecture as Le Corbusier did. 

We see that many of your designs are unisex, what are the stories you would like to share behind this?
My collections are not officially unisex, but I wish everybody could wear my designs! My clothes are made to feel confident and comfortable in, whatever your gender is.

What cause is particularly important for you? 
Ecology and human’s rights. I think these are the main causes to be defined in the world of today, especially saving our planet before it’s too late. That’s why I follow commitments such as local production in France, in which I know the workers' rights are followed; the use of recycled materials (mostly from plastic waste), from our Marine Henrion label to our “air swim neoprene”, but also with our 100% recyclable packaging.

Describe yourself in a hashtag.
#perfectionist  

What is your favorite time of the day?
I am a night owl, so I guess my favorite time of the day is clearly the end of the day. It’s the time when I am the most productive, and it also means to me, when the day is over, it is time to see my friends and decompress after a long day. 

What is your dream country to visit?
I wish I could go to the USA one day! I planned to visit New York and the East Coast in 2020, but you know what happened that year… Maybe next year, who knows? It’ll be lovely to meet the Doors team and discover this wonderful city!

What is the biggest learning experience you have had? 
Create an enterprise and a brand out of nowhere, with almost no experience, just because I felt it this way. Sometimes I’m asking myself “Why did you do that, are you crazy?” but it helped me grow as the adult I am right now and I’ll never feel so proud. I learned so much during this journey, even with the high and lows.

When are you the most inspired?
When I feel good, inspiration comes super naturally, but if it doesn’t want to come and I have to make it happen, I read art books, walk in museums and exhibitions, listen to music I love and if I can, I travel. Sometimes, ideas come when I’m literally going to fall asleep: I have to ask my boyfriend to bring me a piece of paper and a pen asap to write it down! 

What is the best compliment you have ever received? 
“You can be proud of what you have done, you have the talent to do it big”