Catherine Painvin

Plaids au Bristol

In 2007, as Catherine sets about exploring her attic for no apparent reason, she comes upon discarded items which she had forgotten all about for at least four years: hundreds of rolls of taffeta fabric, faux fur, wool, tweed, hemp, and linen; thousands of buttons in various shades of bronze, silver, and gold; stacks of antelope, reindeer, and crocodile skins.

A mere five minutes later, she decides to bring this treasure out into the world with the assistance of her friends from Mongolia, a group of seamstresses who had already lent helping hands throughout the conversion of Comptoir d’Aubrac over the previous seven years.

She creates 110 unique woollen throws and has them on display at a benefit exhibition sale held for the people of Nepal and Mongolia at the Bristol Hotel, Paris, in December 2007.