A rich and experimental endeavor by creators and visual artists, inspired by Marcelle Cahn…

On the occasion of an “École Ouverte” (Open School) program ⁽¹⁾, students from diverse cultural backgrounds in introductory French classes for newly arrived immigrants ⁽²⁾ offered a highly personal interpretation of bags from the luxury French leather goods brand, Louis Vuitton.

They embraced the artistic approach of visual artist Marcelle Cahn; her work was only briefly introduced to the students so as not to influence them… allowing their imagination to move forward on its own, to find their own language, their own grammar… so that unconsciously, a bond was woven between the Strasbourg artist and the students.

At their disposal: salvaged materials collected from various and diverse sources (papers with different textures, old newspapers, exotic papers, sheet music, cardboard…) and templates allowing the duplication of bags inspired by different Vuitton collections.

For as long as they deemed necessary, the students carried out their artistic and pictorial experiments on the various pieces needed to create the bags they chose to re-interpret; each progressing according to their own inspiration, in a thoughtful or more subconscious way, utilizing their various discoveries, inventing their own textures… and step by step, their own signature. Bringing forth the beauty of everyday life.

Once the background was found… only the shaping remained… then, the different elements were delicately glued together so that three-dimensional volume emerged from the carefully crafted papers. Their objects became a medium for communication, a way to get to know one another, to connect; though they did not all speak the same language, they invented one.

With each student progressing at their own pace, they naturally helped one another, trying to re-appropriate another’s work in an increasingly personal way; they inspired each other, paying tribute to the work of Marcelle Cahn, creating a bridge between them all…

This is how the Lezay-Marnésia collection, freely inspired by the work of Marcelle Cahn and Louis Vuitton, came to life…

— Émilie Angebault, illustrator, workshop leader for École Ouverte