Your work plays a lot with contrast: soft vs. structured, fragile vs. solid. Do you think that balance also shows up in who you are?
I love that you notice that!
Doing a collection is very just an excuse to try as many things as possible and study the thing that tickles me at that moment. I love free draping as much as I like tailoring. I love balloon art as much as I like patterning. Those contrasts are simply the summary of those experimentations, and the different outcomes just happen to live simultaneously in the same body of work.

You often turn everyday things into something magical. Are you someone who’s always observing?
Definitely, it’s amazing how complex and inventive all of the stuff surrounding is. Even the most overlooked tiny cheap object is the result of centuries of fails and attempts. We live among the work of unknown geniuses and it’s beautiful to think how much we’ve perfected the early tools like baskets and shaped stones.
There’s something quite overwhelming at times, a similar feeling to when you don’t know what to pick at the buffet, but at the same time everything feels like a playground if you are a curious soul.

When you start a new piece, do you follow an idea in your head or just let your hands and materials lead the way?
It always start with a strong and challenging idea. It usually takes a bit of time to get THE idea that would lead the whole research. The rest of the collection is usually a play around the same motive. I start with a rough idea of what I want to achieve, and the rest of the process is solution finding and execution. That obviously comes with a big amount of free draping and accidents, but they happen within limits that are already established

How was your experience at the Hyères festival? Can you tell us a bit about the atmosphere, the other artists, and what made this moment special for you?
It’s a crazy adventure, really fun and intense. You spent 10 days with fellow fashion designers and you have all those different appointments and crazy schedule in this idyllic South of France town. I don’t think there is a single similar experience anywhere in the world, like a lighthearted fashion bootcamp.

What does it mean to you to have won the Hyères festival, and how do you see this victory influencing your future plans or career?
It’s definitely the biggest step in my career as well as the highest compliment one can receive as a young fashion designer freshly graduated. I’m not a brand, all I do is tiny scale and still the collection convinced this impressive jury, only Hyères can offer such a platform. I see this prize as a push, a validation to be more ambitious. I also gives me the opportunity to present another collection, which is the best in terms of learning experience.

The pieces we made together (he buttons, buckles, labels) they’re small but full of character. What do details like that mean to you in your process?
Details are everything ! They are what grounds an idea into the reality of clothes. Great ideas are just theoretical, what makes good design is when that idea is thoughtfully and creatively executed.
I wanted to bring the balloon concept into the smallest objects you can find in clothing (Buttons, belt buckles etc). Sometimes an idea can start with a small detail. The way the balloon holder buttons worked lead me to a certain typology of garments and finally lead to an entire piece in the collection.

When you think back to our collaboration, what’s the first image or feeling that comes to mind?
The back and forth with the team. Getting new ideas is a one thing but then being able to share it and explain how you want the pieces to be is very different. I had an amazing time working on these projects together and learned a lot about team work. The moment I got the pieces in my hands, I was beyond excited, and amazed on how all took form.

What makes a collaboration exciting for you? Is it the exchange of ideas, the shared obsession over details, or something else entirely?
I think collaborations are successful when we both have the opportunity to learn from each other. It’s amazing when both parts have respect for the other’s craft and by joining forces we push a common project way further. The collaboration we did together really added a layer of desirability to the collection, that I would have not being able to do by myself.

If you had to describe our collab as a texture or materials, what would it be?
Ready-mades and Facsimiles! From very early on I was amazed by the variety of techniques that Labels and Things can propose. I thought it would be funny to translate all those balloons into metal or felt, trying to create a visual pun by « simply » changing the weight of these objects.

Your work feels joyful and a bit mischievous at times. How do you keep that sense of fun alive when creating?
Humour is a tricky discipline. There’s an edge that one has to find, it’s like putting something where it should not belong, and the imbalance creates something that is either grotesque or beautiful, like a tangent surprise that feels good. That’s definitely what I try to reach. I don’t feel shame in doing frivolous things. There’s times in the process of a collection that lead to hysterical laughter and that’s usually a very good sign.

You’ve got roots in both Switzerland and Chile. Do you feel those two worlds mixing in your ways of seeing or designing?
Of course ! A lot of my references naturally come from those two different landscapes. Switzerland has a long tradition of functionality in design, think of the Helvetica font type. It’s been used everywhere in the world, almost being the default font for branding, but the actual design of the letters is very intricate and creative. This is something I respect deeply in Swiss culture, the humility to let your work speak more than yourself. Chilean culture comes from a blend of European and Indigenous influences. It has been deeply impacted by series of political shake-ups, while always remaining respectful to its traditions. That lead artists to create deeply grounded work with a whimsy and magical tones, reminiscent of mythological stories.

If one of your garments could talk to the person wearing it, what do you think it would say?
A private joke, for the sake of privacy, I can’t share it with you unfortunately :/

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A magician !!