Inès Bressand, designer, and Rémi Marilleau, textile artisan, combined their respective expertise during a residency at the Fondation Martell with a research project focused on quilting techniques. These skills are traditionally used for the production of wool bedding items.

Their project aims to consider this technique beyond the strict domain of mattresses in order to expand its applications and experiment with other uses (developing other objects).

The formal exploration of this artisanal practice was the focus of their research. They outlined its contours by inventorying the gestures, tools, and materials that constitute its identity. They sampled its characteristics, from the most shapeless version to the most rigid and structured. Several constraint techniques were implemented, including tufting, a way of constraining the material to shape volumes and forms.

In her practice as a designer (objects, furniture, accessories), Inès Bressand is interested in humble and ordinary materials, which she transforms through manual processes requiring few tools (her Master’s thesis in Eindhoven, NL, was thus focused on straw). Through research and prototyping, she anchors these skills in a contemporary context, engaging in a fruitful dialogue with the artisan.

Rémi Marilleau, on the other hand, has a more artisanal and traditional approach to upholstery. He collaborates with architects on the textile aspects of projects. Additionally, his involvement in the Laboratoire d’Arts Textiles association, based in Creuse, allows him to maintain a research space in his practice. This is evidenced by the Laine Voisines project, supported in 2024 by the DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which focuses on the revalorization of wool from the Lachaux farm (Creuse) through the lens of felt.