WHO IS AUDREY, OUR CREATIVE DIRECTOR
A five-year veteran at Metiseko, textile designer Audrey Charles has since evolved with the brand, metamorphosing from an entry Creative Manager position to becoming the creative genius behind our TWINKLING NIGHT collection and having a say in all things design. Keep reading for more on Audrey: her background, her work with Metiseko, and her sense of fashion.
- Can you introduce yourself?
Audrey: I am Audrey Charles, Creative Director for Metiseko for almost 4 years now. I come from a textile design background. After studying in France, I moved to Berlin to complete my education and graduated in 2009. From there, I joined an exchange program between the cities of Paris and Hanoi and came to Vietnam for 6 months, which turned into 12 years. During this time, I discovered the diversity and infinite potential of Vietnamese crafts. I learned and experienced a variety of techniques and traditional skills applied to different design fields, such as fashion, home textiles, interior design and jewelry.
- How would you define Metiseko? What does the brand represent for you?
Audrey: I joined the Metiseko team in 2017 as a creative manager. I was in charge of collection design and development, along with the previous creative director. The brand was in full growth mode, and 6 months after I started, we opened Metiseko's first flagship store in Saigon. Soon after, in 2018 we dedicated ourselves to the brand’s expansion and opened a second store in Saigon, 2 pop-up stores - in the Tan My concept store in Hanoi and Victoria Resort in Hoi An - as well as a few corners in Vietnamese duty-free airport shops. Later, in 2019, I took over the creative direction of the brand and launched our last two silk collections, SONG and TWINKLING NIGHT. The past 2 years have been challenging and marked by changes. In response to the pandemic, we have had to digitize the brand and introduced our new E-commerce website in April 2020. We are currently preparing a new silk collection to be revealed in summer 2022.
- How important is sustainability to you in the world of fashion?
Audrey: I would say that the most important thing is to be conscious of what we wear and what we buy. The most significant, by far, is the recent rising awareness on sustainability in the textile and garment production processes. Emerging topics like green fashion, slow fashion, sustainable and fair-trade production are good signs of mind and habit evolution. Metiseko and myself are supporting those changes as we believe in ethical and slow fashion to be the future. This global awareness is a big step forward, and we aim to be part of it!
- What inspires your creations?
Audrey: My creative process comes from imagination, surrounding elements, traditions and culture. It has a strong impact on Metiseko’s collection thematics, prints and colors.
- Can you describe a typical day doing your job?
Audrey : There is no day like another. Each day is very different. Metiseko is a small structure, I jump from design to production, retail, communication and digital marketing. I’m a part of every aspect of the brand's daily routine that is relative to my expertise or needs creative inputs.
- What do you like best about your job?
Audrey: I like all aspects related to the collection design process. Starting from finding inspiration to sketching, along with working closely with skillful and creative people surrounding me. It's a way of paying tribute to Vietnam and a key point of cross skill design.
- What's your vision of fashion in the future?
Audrey: Slow and ethical fashion as a normality.
- What's is your personal style in fashion?
Audrey: Minimalistic, chic with a twist in detail.
- What is your favorite style in the new collection?
The Sapphire crop jacket. For the simplicity of the cut, the sophisticated look, and the Asian touch.
- What's your (fashion) mantra?
The essence of elegance is refinement through simplicity.