Behind the scenes at Majuno
Stéphanie Wesles is as funny bird. Trained as a milliner, she has designed an incredible table for us. Stéphanie knows how to work with a wide range of materials, from felt to wool and straw but feathers are her favourite. So it is with this material, as fragile as it is elegant, that she has created a table of exceptional beauty and delicacy.
Ten years after the creation of her milliner's atelier, her remarkable work has been recognised by her peers : her workshop has been distinguished as an "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant", a French certification honoring the excellence in artisanal savoir-faire. A source of great pride for this feather worker.
Why did the young German girl you were come to live in France ?
I'm originally from Frankfurt and I've always dreamt of France. So I left my native country at the age of 25 to learn the millinery trade in Paris. Diploma in hand, I criss-crossed the country and fell in love with the Ardèche. In the beginning of the year 2000, I settled in Aubenas, a small town of 12,000 inhabitants that I adore. I opened my atelier-boutique there, the aptly named Atelier Autruche.
How does one go from milliner to feather worker ?
Ultimately, it's much the same thing. In any case, the evolution of my profession follows a real logic, even if it doesn't seem obvious at first. To create hats, I've learned to work with a wide variety of materials. Feathers have always been one of the tricks of the hatmaker's trade. The feather is a fragile creature and doesn't give in easily, but over the years I've managed to coax it.
Little by little, I began to make ornaments, feather compositions that look like paintings. I love the way they catch the light, a single feather can show so many nuances. In fact, it was thanks to these ornaments that I came up with the table designed for Majuno, which was a first for me. I met Julie, the person behind the project, at the Maison&Objet salon. She saw my feather paintings and so the story began.
Where do you find such a vibrant material ?
My contacts are breeders or suppliers to feather manufacturers, the same ones who meet the sometimes crazy demands of haute couture houses, for example.
What are the different types of feathers used for this table ?
Let's start from the outside and work our way in, if you don't mind. The outline of the circle is formed by ostrich feathers that I have dyed, and then we have peacock feathers with the intense and luminous blues that we recognize so well. There are also feathers reminiscent of scales, which are also peacock feathers. Then I applied beige and rosy partridge feathers. And finally, the heart is made from the feathers of the red pheasant, also known as the horned pheasant or tragopan.
After thinking long and hard about the design, I glue them together, using marquetry techniques. The final step is to install a glass cover to protect the whole, for let me remind you that feathers are a material that is both durable and fragile. But what makes them so magical is that they're always majestic.