It is my pleasure to introduce you to the French fashion brand esther bancel. A creative label dedicated to elegance and with underground cultures. After months of preparation, the 2 partners, Esther and Morgan, together in life and at work, are launching their high-end creative label. So, it´s time to have a closer look at unisex brand esther bancel.  All photos by Mickael Gomes.

throw away the norms…

elegance is the new

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“With the brand, we question ourselves, we move forward, we act, we demonstrate that codes do not exist and we take power over a style that we do not want to categorize or fit into a standard. If we had to explain it, we could say that it is at the crossroads of multiple universes. First of all, elegance, to which I am personally attached. When I wear elegant clothes I feel more confident, I feel invincible. Then, it crosses all the underground cultures in which we spent a lot of time: punk, gothic, urban, geek too… it marked me and it inspires me a lot up until today.” *esther bancel

esther bancel obsession is not to create yet another brand and instead, offer an experience that makes sense. Twice a year, the brand offers an incredible collection of unisex pieces, in small quantities. Each piece is meticulously researched, studied and created in order to disrupt the codes of elegance. esther bancel is hand-made in France.

throw away the norms…

elegance is the new

underground_

KALTBLUT: Tell me a little bit about how the brand esther bancel came to be and how it all started?

I lived and grew up in the countryside, in a family where religion was important and with the prohibitions that it entails. My family has always made sure that I become a kind girl.

But this little girl that I was, very often imagined, deep in her head, what could all these prohibitions and forbidden things look like. I drew them, painted also…

But that was not enough, so at 24-year-old, living intensely my own duality between my traditional values and a world I had imagined, I felt the need to make this world real and spread it. A world made of people free to be who they really are, free to express their dualities in them and free to do not respect the norms. This world is gigantic and I model it every day thanks to my creations, my staging, the characters that I create, it comes alive all always as I imagined before and as I feel it today.

KALTBLUT: What would you say this is the biggest influence on your design process?

Underground cultures have a strong impact on my creations. esther bancel is dedicated to people who feel free enough to become what they should be. It’s a tribute to the underground cultures in which we’ve flourished. It is with them that we have found freedom and tolerance, the 2 values that we want to defend and of which each of our pieces is full of symbols …

With the brand, we question ourselves, we move forward, we act, we demonstrate that codes do not exist, and we take power over a style that we do not want to categorize or fit into a standard.

KALTBLUT: What’s your inspection behind your current collection?

Before the slightest stroke of a pencil to draw the collection, we do 2 things: first, we meet our materials by visiting our suppliers. Then we do a quasi-scientific research work on underground cultures. We try to understand them and decipher their codes. It is a way for us to value people who are fighting to be who they are.

KALTBLUT: How would you describe the esther bancel customer?

Our customer is like us. He lives a deep duality. He is a trader in the market hall during the day and punk at night. He is an entrepreneur in communication during the day and goes to rap concerts in the evening. Our client is free enough to make his own choices and to be whoever he wants when he wants without compromise.

He is free to live his different personalities as he wishes.

throw away the norms…

elegance is the new

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Brand: esther bancel / estherbancel.com / Instagram: @esther_bancel

Photography by Mickael Gomes / www.mickaelgomes.com / Instagram: @mickaelgomesfr

Model is Evan Théophile / Instagram: @bouhyachaka

Model is Cyrine Dufaux / Instagram: @cyrine_dfx

Model is François Xavier / Instagram: @leoninecrucifer

Model is Flore / Instagram: @florechr