Between The Sheets with Olivia Cognet

Olivia Cognet is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Nice, south of France. 

 

An accomplished accessory designer for luxury fashion brands such as Lanvin, Sonia Rykiel, Carven, Isabel Marant... Olivia expanded her creative world to the wonders of clay.

It is with the same passion and taste for beautiful design that she applies her technical mastery to couture and ceramic art.

In both, her artistic vision remains one and the same: creating art incorporating a sensual mix of modern brutalism and absolute femininity.​

 

EXPLAIN YOUR FLANEUR BEDDING COLOR SELECTIONS... 

I chose a terracotta palette that matches back to the clay I use on some of my sculptures. I like the very deep and vibrant colors of this bedding arrangement.

They help me escape my everyday routine and take me to another realm.

 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER IN DESIGN AND YOUR MOVE INTO CERAMICS.

I worked all my life in fashion, designing shoes and bags for big luxury brands. I love to design, create,  and model stuff. I love to work with my hands. 

I am the kind of creative person who prefers an actual physical medium to execute what is going on in my head, otherwise I feel too bottled up. Fashion is amazing but it is very business-oriented. With ceramics I have 100% freedom, tying back to the Art world. I create all pieces from scratch, with the only constraints being the chemistry and technicalities of ceramics.

 

HOW DOES YOUR FRENCH UPBRINGING INFLUENCE YOUR APPROACH TO STYLE?

I grew up in the south of France - Nice. I've been influenced all my life by the French Riviera culture and Provençal still-life.

Vallauris is the mecca of ceramics in France and is very close to Nice - it has always been a big inspiration for me. 

Picasso and so many different artists have lived there and created a large amount of amazing ceramics - their work continues to inspire me everyday.

Today I fuse my roots from Southern France with the mid-century Californian style that I have embraced since we moved to the US three years ago.   

 

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR DESIGN AESTHETICS?Here are some major artists inspiring me: