FISH LEATHER BAG WINS THE CHALLENGE
It's been nine years since the Compagnons du devoir organized the Défi Innover Ensemble (Innovate Together Challenge). This year, the event, supported by the J.M. Weston foundation in partnership with the École nationale supérieure de création industrielle (ENSCI) and the Institut français de la mode (IFM), had "Alternative leathers and alternatives to leathers" as its theme.
Three teams, mixing Compagnons du devoir and ENSCI and IFM students, presented their ideas on July 11 to a jury of thirteen professionals, headed by Olivier Saillard, artistic, image and culture director of shoe brand J.M. Weston. After four months of work, one of the teams designed a pair of linen fiber sneakers and their derivatives, another an eco-designed range of bags from the less noble pieces of vegetable-tanned leather, and the last a backpack made from fish leather sourced from the agri-food industry.
It was this third project, the "Scalia" bag, that caught the jury's attention. The team, composed of Kévin Damour, Claire Durand, Baptiste Cotten, Mathilde Lopez, Camille Coulon, and Vincent Sénéchal, sourced their leather from the Cuir Marin de France tannery and developed an assembly technique that limits material waste. As a reward, they received a collective grant of 10,000 euros, a donation provided by the J.M. Weston corporate foundation.
Created in 2011 under the impetus of Christopher Descours, owner of the shoe brand via the EPI group, the J.M. Weston foundation has been chaired by Christian Blanckaert for three years. It organizes an exhibition with the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, a Franco-Japanese exchange called "J.M. Weston Foundation Awards", and is a partner of the Compagnons du devoir et du Tour de France association. "Craftsmanship is an exceptional skill that allows us to offer unique products of unparalleled quality. I am very happy that the J.M. Weston foundation helps to promote this know-how and ensure training and transmission to new generations," explains Christopher Descours on the matter.
By Tanissia Issad
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