Creating my own story within the numerous histories
carried by ancient textiles and traditional patterns.
For aesthetes who are looking for originality, Mei Line is an exclusive brand that dresses the home and its inhabitants.
The antique fabrics I use are part of the trousseaux that women used to embroider and finish before getting married. They have embedded stories: people made love in them, babies where born in them.
Those precious fabrics are still found forgotten in attics, particularly in Provence, where I live and work, and where all the transformations takes place.
The fabrics are patterned with ancestral techniques and dyed with plant based natural dyes. They are then produced into timeless, empowering and durable clothing and home wear.
FROM MEI LINE,
RETRACING MY STEPS TO 美琳
My lifeline runs from China to Provence and our garden in Vaison-la-Romaine.
I found a thread in antic fabrics to go back in time and imagine unique life stories.
From Orient to Occident, from North to South, the thread is a the very core of all cultures.
The thread used to create those fabrics, and now the thread I use to create the patterns and sew my creations is fusing people’s histories and individual stories TOGETHER.
CHINA – CHILE – ORIGINS
If I can’t roll back time, I can rewind the thread of my family tree, the lost history of my grandfather Eusebio Tay who emigrated from Guangzhou to Northern Chile, at the edge of the inhospitable Atacama desert, at the beginning of the 20th century. Part myth, part legend, his journey is veiled in mystery.
My grandfather had six sons, University educated,whereas he barely spoke a word of Spanish! All the numerous cousins from my generation bear Chinese names.
When my parents were forced to leave Chile in 1975, fleeing Pinochet’s dictatorship, and settled in France, more of the family history was lost.
PATTERNS – THREADS
A tenuous, delicate but powerful thread guides me through the maze of my lost childhood: ornamented silk bathrobes, Cheongsam dresses, Mao style collar, knotted buttons, the pre-eminence of the neckline. They all resonate in an emotional way, distant echoes from my ancestors.
Later, in my adult life, I have had the chance to travel the world over – and to live and work in Chile, the US, the UK and in the four corners of France. I trained in Provence (Couleur Garance)and Japan (Buaisou, Mrs Yoshimura, Kusakizome with Dr Yamasaki, Shibori with Kuno Studio).
This unique fusion of influences, past and present, close and distant inhabit my work – as they inhabit me.
PROVENCE – FABRIC – REGENERATE
Sure, some fabrics are more expensive than others; but few are more
alive than the Trousseau.
I have been collecting ancient fabrics for the longest time and today I continue to relentlessly hunt all corners of Provence to source them: more often than not they are linen or hemp. Many are personalised with rich, embroidered monograms, sometimes adorned with lace.
All pieces I discover are by essence unique, sometimes going back to the 19th century. They tell the muted stories of the fabric of women’s lives, the « gentle ghosts »: you may not be able to hear them, but you can touch them. Their individual texture show wrinkles just like elderly faces, hands and bodies: they evolve, wear off, are mended again and again, but never loose their cocoon-like sensibility.
It’s my responsibility now to further extend their lives, aiming to also provide them with a new symbolism: giving care by taking care, respecting the value placed in them by generations past.
LE TROUSSEAU
« As opposed to inheritance, the donation of old linen brings into play another system of family relations.
They are more personal because the object circulates between living people. On the occasion of her daughter’s wedding, the mother gives pieces from her trousseau and (or) family linen. This symbolic gift marks the change in status of the girl into a woman. It is equivalent to the gift of a piece of jewellery. Less solemn, donations of linen, made on the occasion of the daughter’s departure from home or little by little over time, take on another meaning. Through this linen that she has embroidered or had embroidered for her wedding, the mother gives something of herself to her daughter.
The linen incorporates a part of the being to whom it belonged. It represents the person. »
Source: Claudette Schwartz, L’amour du linge, « On est passés en 30 ans du mariage avec trousseau, au mariage sans trousseau et désormais au trousseau sans mariage »,
Libération, 25/09/1999I
THE GARDEN –
COLOURS, PATTERNS
I live and work in Vaison-la-Romaine, Provence, surrounded by vineyards. Starting early 2001 and over 18 months, we remodeled an 18th century wine farm from top to bottom, including what have become my atelier: labayedesanges.fr
Not only do I draw inspiration from our 3-acre garden (leave shapes, turning colours, changing seasonal light) but I also draw dye material: oak leaves, pomegranate, woad leaves.
My formal scientific training as a Veterinary Surgeon helps me formalise a never ending passion for research and exploration.
TECHNIQUE – SYMBOLISM
Technique is only a tool, a facilitator rather than a goal in itself. What makes it all come together is what we in Latin America call Magic Realism: exploring symbolism, across cultures, across time, across continents.
Symbolism in colours first: Colours have always been a luxury, difficult and costly to produce naturally.
Symbolism in patterns then: I continuously try and reinvent traditional patterns by changing scale and placement, synthesizing influences past and present.
THE ROBE
At the beginning was the traditional costume of the Middle Kingdom.
Over millenniums, wealth of patterns and diversity of textiles used have become endless, full of symbolism and significance, which are now often lost.
My aim is to recreate a contemporary version of this Robe.
Mei Line started off when a friend asked me to recreate another version of a robe I had just made for myself.
ESTHETIC
Find « the » right colour and pattern for a particular, unique creation.
Having no formal training in textile design, I teach myself by research. I also learn a lot by watching and discussing with my natural dye community, locally with the support of world recognised natural dye school Couleur Garance and in my advanced training courses (Japan) but also in my native country, Chile, particularly on the remote island of Chiloe.
Every item produced in my atelier is the fruit of often long, personal research: technical (I LOVE to experiment by trial and error qualities like resistance to light, durability, …) but also my very own, multi-cultural, personal aesthetics.
DISTRIBUTION AND AVAILABILITY
My creations are by essence unique: every piece is made entirely by hand. From the fabric, to the natural dye, from the pattern technique to the shape of the garment or home linen, everything can be individualised and tailored.
You will find on this website many examples of past creations. I also present my current stock,which is typically very small. Remember though that I mostly work to order, so please do get in touch to discuss your needs!
If you are in Vaison-la-Romaine, the showroom is opened by appointment.
You can contact me at: contact@meiline.fr
