Aurélie Fontan

Aurélie Fontan is a French UK-based Womenswear biodesigner, currently exploring the Symbiotic Fashion Design territory. After completing both her BA in fashion and a residency at the public-access laboratory Ascus Art & Science in Edinburgh, Aurelie began working with microorganisms to explore sustainable textiles and systems. In 2018, she established her Couture Atelier focusing on circularity, new technologies and biodesign. 

Taking inspiration from her Fine Art background, Aurélie employs a multi-media approach to fashion, exploring synergies between sculpture, photography, art direction, material making and story-telling. Her avant-garde circular collections have been shown at LFW and in several publications. 

Her exploration of hybrid manufacturing processes has supported the notion of techno-craft, a biologically and digitally considered design process. Her dual residency at both Open Cell bio-tech hub and Makerversity in Somerset House in 2019 helped her become an active member of the UK biodesign community. The same year she co-founded the mycelium textile project Mykkö to develop bio-fabrication technology related to biomaterials to create plastic-free alternatives to plant-based leathers, building new localised manufacture processes. 

Aurelie believes that through the exploration of speculative and iterative bio-related systems we can progress towards ecological futures with innovative real life solutions for the present.

AWARDS

London Mayor Entrepreneur Award in the Creative Industries 2020 

Ones to Watch Award by Fashion Scout 2019

Dame Vivienne Westwood Ethical Award GFW 2018

Best Womenswear GFW 2018 

Catwalk Textiles GFW 2018

EXHIBITIONS

MODE UND NATUR I May-June 2021 - Handwerk Galerie, Munich

LFW2020 - FASHION FUTURE I September 2019 - The Works, London 

CUNARD LINES CRUISE FASHION WEEK I July 2019 Queen Mary II Ship – Transatlantic Cruise

​BELARUS FASHION WEEK - The British Embassy I June 2019 - Minsk, Belarus

​METAMORPHOSIS - Science Festival Exhibition I April-May 2019 - Edinburgh Summerhall

​LFW19 - Ones to Watch Award by Fashion Scout I February 2019 - London

This interdisciplinary project critiques the notion of ecological colonisation. Inspired in part by the designer’s creole ancestry and insular origins in Mauritius, the scars of ecosystem destruction are studied, noting the iconic extinct Dodo bird that disappeared centuries ago due to human activities.

Today the concept of biodiversity and its safeguarding is seen from an anthropocentric perspective of empathy and care for endangered species, when human activities are actually leading to become endangered ourselves. 

During the pandemic, Aurélie was led to self-isolate for an extensive period of time with limited social contacts and access to communities. She began reflecting on her own autarkic environment and how this changes modes of making and living. Studying the relationship between micro and macro autarkic environments, from islands to planets, and interconnected ecosystems, she experienced these strange times as similar to a space travel mission simulation and wanted to expand on circular systems and their necessary implementation for a better connection to what surrounds us.

Projecting into the 22rd century, a new kind of designer is born - the first Astrobioneer, Arduinna is sent to explore superhabitable exoplanets, to study new ecosystems that could be the key to a more harmonious relationship between humans and non humans. As a hybrid designer and engineer, Arduinna studies the links between several organisms - this new symbiosis she uncovers defines new biologically integrated design processes and aesthetics to reshape our notion of organic versus inorganic, macro versus micro and natural versus artificial. 

Navigating between speculated territories and real life bio-fabrication solutions, Autarky is an ode to interspecies collaboration and circular living for the future of our planet, as well as a philosophical challenge to existing space exploration paradigms.