shopping for lingerie is a daunting experience for most people. this has dictated the architecture of our lingerie boutiques for years, reflecting our fears whilst trying to avoid more disenchanting situations. the dim lights. the tiny fitting rooms with harsh confronting mirrors. the uncomfortable encounters with staff. when running a lingerie business, it seems only fair to not only upgrade how we wear that lingerie, but also how we acquire all these gems.
i wanted to become an architect. to be a lingerie designer is in many ways the next best thing: i do create the home you live in every day. as flexible and invisible as that home may be. to work with Jo Taillieu to design the stores of my dreams is a goal in and of itself. it feels much like being able to time travel to work with my architectural muses. Jo Taillieu is the Corbusier ànd Gordon Matta-Clark of our times combined and i feel honored to spend time with him and his ideas.
in my dreams i want my stores to be touching you in places you long to be touched. to invite you in so you feel welcomed and seen. a place that is subject to the elements, where daylight can pour into the fitting rooms, however bright or cool it may be given the season. a place where you get to experience the lingerie first, not as shown on an aloof set of mannequins but on engaging pictures of people in all size and colour. a place without hangers, producing screeching sounds when you browse through them, but with the actual lingerie displayed for you in all their crafty detail. a museum if you like, but one where you get to try on the works of art. a place free from judgment or challenging looks, where you can find my team eager to help you find the support you need, whatever your story is. we have seen bodies in all shapes and size so we are unafraid of however you present yourself to us.
i chose to have open fitting rooms. i know this might be different and even a no-go for some people. to be able to see other people in their true beauty and vulnerability offers a rare moment of connection as humans. to see a body that is not your own sans filter. to receive an unexpected compliment from a stranger while you try on something new. so you can see your self with their kind eyes, as you probably look at them too.
in this moment we can grow and heal. our fitting rooms are so big my team can freely move around you, as to assist you better finding the right support.
should this experience be undesired for you and you wish to book a private fitting session, please get in touch info@lafilledo.com.
a store in our hometown can have a little extra something something. you, our loyal fellow gamechanger have been with us since the start, so you know what we are going for: a radiant shift! a shift in gear, in mindset, in frequency.
for our ghent shop i wanted to return to the basics: you come to us, because you are looking for support and we are ready to give that to you. built like a malleable warehouse, our shop can transform according to our every need. whether we need the privacy of a small room or the breather of open space, the interior moves with us, around us and for us. freed from the usual lingerie boutique clutter, our shop does not have hangers or mannequins. it has lingerie and pictures of people in lingerie and shelves and shelves of the lingerie you see in pictures. lingerie you want to get your hands on and experience its touch on your skin. independent browsing through hangers is simply impossible in our shop. i like to think of our shop as an encounter between what you want and what we have to offer and the dialogue that grows in the intersection.
ah to find a fully equipped bakery from the thirties, complete with belgian marble clad walls and messing bread racks, in the city of antwerp and to find this place available to rent. one can get lucky at times! to be able to create a la fille d’O boutique in this place of marvel and belgian craftsmanship together with Jo Taillieu and his gamechanging and poetic view on things! this place was just waiting to be cultivated by us like fertile grounds in spring.
we were so in awe of the place original elements we wanted to create an interior that could vanish like a ghost if need be. since lingerie has a colourful seasonal aspect we wanted to work with the absence of colour in the interior itself. a shop that was able to change with the lingerie presented in it. the big surface of the store offered many small rooms one could discover like a maze. in his signature style JT has transformed the challenges into perks, creating a mirror palace that is poured out over the entire floor plan, creating a mathematical grid the tactile features of the lingerie can bounce of off. a place for visitors to wander through and see so many mirrors one can get accustomed to them and at last revel in their presence. no mannequins are to be found in the store, as i find them a insult to the magic of the human body and i want my shop to feature only the very best specimens of the Human Body and that is you, and only you, my dear.
