Meet Agathe YOU

Warm and mysterious, Agathe Gizardin-Bertin, also known as Agathe YOU, designs and handcrafts textile sculptures, canvases, and embroidered jewelry. Alongside her work as a couture embroiderer, she has been a member of the prestigious Ateliers d’Art de France since 2017. Her creative world is characterized by its poetry and fascination with the strange. She is particularly drawn to figures that can sometimes seem off-putting, such as insects and organs, which she delights in transforming into precious objects.

Where does your love for embroidery come from?

I trained as a graphic designer, but I’ve always been interested in various forms of art. Since childhood, I’ve been drawing, sewing, and doing crafts, and I’ve always loved home décor. My first memory related to embroidery dates back to a collective mural project in kindergarten or elementary school—a tapestry made up of children’s drawings, including mine, which, quite incredibly, was a butterfly! Every time I think about it, I feel that same joy and pride from having made it. Much later, when I was working as a graphic designer, a friend who had just started his embroidery studio noticed that I was good at sewing and invited me to work with him. I began by doing textile printing and hand-painting on fabric. I learned embroidery bit by bit on the job and realized how much I loved it. It’s a bit like painting, but “clean” painting. With thread and beads, you can create not only color but also volume. The process itself is quite hypnotic, and I was immediately drawn to the meditative aspect of this technique! I continue to freelance regularly at the couture embroidery workshop Jean-Pierre Ollier, now renamed.

Can you tell us about your journey?

I couldn’t imagine doing anything other than a creative profession. I feel miserable if I’m not making something with my hands or leaving a visual trace of my day. I went through a period where I wasn’t working creatively, and it was terribly frustrating. After studying literature and spending a year in a drawing preparatory course, I was accepted into the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. I worked for a few years as a freelance graphic designer, collaborating with an industrial designer, and then I discovered embroidery...

What sparked your interest in art and craft?

My parents weren’t involved in this field. My mother was an English teacher, and my father was in the Air Force, but he was an excellent draftsman in his spare time. At my grandparents’ house, there were beautiful portraits he had drawn. When I was a child, drawing with him on Sundays was a special time. In the 1970s, he even had an enameling kiln and made jewelry. My grandmother, on the other hand, saved everything. She had this practical, thrifty, farmer’s mindset—never wasting anything, always reusing. My family always encouraged me in my creative endeavors.

What inspires you?

My main sources of inspiration are 19th-century curiosity cabinets, anatomical and naturalist illustrations, religious and esoteric imagery, and old engravings. There’s a similarity between the fine lines of engraving and the stitching in embroidery. I love star maps and black-and-white engravings; they move me deeply. In terms of color, I’m inspired by photochromes, those black-and-white photographs that were hand-colored, blending muted tones with shades of gray. I adore that color palette.

Your work often features insects. Why is that?

The cabinet of curiosities is truly my source of inspiration. I started my embroidery work with an anatomical heart. I found it fascinating, mysterious, and unusual. Insects are often displayed in these cabinets, and I wanted to work on subjects that aren’t typically seen as decorative. I thought it was interesting to represent insects that are usually considered off-putting, like those with lots of legs, and turn them into something glittering and poetic. I began with the scarab beetle, a symbol of life and the sun since ancient Egypt, which was perfect for embroidery. Then, I created a fly and a cicada, a nod to the ceramic cicadas found in Provençal homes, like the one my family has in Avignon.

How do you choose your beads, threads, and fabrics?

My creations are mostly one-of-a-kind pieces or made in very small series. I carefully select my materials locally and tailor them to each project. I try to be as eco-friendly as possible, sourcing fabrics from second-hand shops, including Japanese obi belts, and buying from Parisian stores on a case-by-case basis. My designs often incorporate golden materials. For me, gold is a classic color that adds a jewelry-like quality. It evokes the stars in churches, theater sets, and the imagery that inspires me. It’s a unifying "color-material."

Do you dream about your creations?

No, I don’t think so. But sometimes ideas come to me just before I fall asleep, in that space between wakefulness and sleep, when thoughts seem to flow more freely. To make sure I don’t forget, I’ll toss a book to the floor as a reminder for the next day.

How did you approach this collaboration?

I was very flattered to be asked to create this textile jewel. When I found out it was to be a butterfly, I realized it was a motif I’d never used before for my Agathe YOU brand. I had always thought butterflies were too obvious as a decorative element, and I’d never been inspired to embroider one. But knowing the butterfly is the emblem of Hanae Mori’s brand, the subject took on new meaning. I researched the butterfly motifs used by the designer and studied naturalist engravings to choose a species to represent graphically. I then experimented with colorizations in line with the Christmas theme of gold and red, as well as the Butterfly perfume, with its powdery pink and orange tones. I worked with shades of gold, pink, and red to create this Christmas butterfly. I wanted to design a chic, monumental yet light brooch, with a metal framework inside to allow the wings to detach. The idea was to offer an oversized brooch that could be worn as a statement piece or used as a decorative object.

The butterfly is the symbol of the Haute Couture brand and Hanae Mori perfumes. How did you feel creating this unique piece?

As someone who works in Haute Couture, it felt like a wonderful tribute. A thread connecting me to the designer, who is no longer with us, and to my own creative universe. It’s an honor to create this festive butterfly, this embroidered jewel by Agathe YOU in homage to Hanae Mori and her extraordinary career. Seeing my creation alongside her iconic Butterfly perfume brings me so much joy! It’s like a resurgence of my childhood happiness with my embroidered butterfly.

Agathe YOU