Zaz writes on Twitter

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“After several months of introspection, of reflection on myself, on the world around me and the unprecedented situation we are all living in, I am slowly getting back on the path to creation.
Sweetness and kindness to all of you”

Après plusieurs mois d’introspection, de réflexion sur moi, sur le monde qui m’entoure et la situation inédite que nous vivons tous, je me remets doucement sur le chemin de la création.
Douceur et bienveillance à nous tous


			


	



			
				


			
				


			
				


	

		
At a workshop near Paris, migrants train to upcycle used designer clothes

			


	

		


In the Parisian suburb of Villejuif, a workshop run by the French NGO Renaissance trains unemployed people – including migrants – to create luxury fashion pieces from castoff clothes and linen. It’s a transformative experience as participants embark on a journey of acquiring professional integration skills in a sustainable, eco-friendly manner.


“My dream is to sew a dress for Zinedine Zidane’s wife,” reveals Ibrahima, a 32-year-old football fan and Guinean refugee who arrived in France just two years ago. Ibrahima may be new to France, but he already has a very precise goal: to make sewing his profession


It’s an objective shared by participants at a workshop run by Renaissance, a French NGO that promotes sustainable and eco-friendly recreations of luxury clothing.


The workshop is held in Villejuif, a southern suburb of Paris. Here, Ibrahima and his colleagues are in the process of reintegrating into the workforce. Some are long-term unemployed, others are young people without degrees and still others are asylum seekers or refugees.


Trained by Philippe Guilet – the founder and head of Renaissance who worked for leading fashion designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld – the team of around 10 women and men have been learning haute couture techniques since September. Continue reading “At a workshop near Paris, migrants train to upcycle used designer clothes” →

			


	



			
				


	

		
Jane Birkin: ‘Serge Gainsbourg was never a boring genius’ 

			


	

		
























Jane Birkin.
 




Jane Birkin began keeping a diary aged 11, with the entries addressed to her beloved stuffed toy Munkey. She was born in London; her mother was an actor and her father a spy during the second world war. Birkin’s concerns, initially, were typically teenage – boarding school, boys – but quickly become more juicy: aged 18, she married the James Bond composer John Barry; a year later, she appeared in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup. In her 20s, she became involved (creatively and romantically) with the French musician Serge Gainsbourg and set out on a lifelong path of singing, acting, writing and being one of the most renowned muses of the 20th century and beyond. Now 73, she lives in Paris with her bulldog – regularly seeing her daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, who are both actors and musicians; her oldest daughter Kate Barry, a photographer, died in 2013. Munkey Diaries: 1957-1982 is published this month.


 Continue reading “Jane Birkin: ‘Serge Gainsbourg was never a boring genius’ “ →