Maison Louve’s Dreamy, Artisanal Lingerie Looks

Model: Llt Red. Photographer: Maude Roodier.

It’s been over a year since I last spotlighted a new brand here on the blog, but as I soon as I saw Maison Louve, I just knew I had to share it with you all.

Based in France, it’s a handmade brand created by Lou-Salomé Carrillo. What really makes this brand special however are the pieces she’s created in collaboration with other designers, ones who are outside the lingerie sphere and work with different materials and techniques, which brings a completely new dimension to her work.

The most breathtaking of all of these, at least in my opinion, is the Ivy bustier which was created in conjunction with millinery artist Paulina Paez, owner of Atelier Mantille. A delicate, otherworldly piece that looks straight out of the faerie realm, it’s inspired by corsetry and made from carefully draped and layered tulle and scattered with the most beautiful fabric and beading flowers, which have been individually hand-crafted by Paez.

Some are sandwiched between the tulle layers in a way that reminds me very much of the Chotronette Ivy Garden Sorbet dress I came across in my early twenties and still think about to this day; others peek out in places, or wind their way around the pannier-style cage detailing at one hip. You can see the two designers working on the piece here on Instagram.

The Maison Louve creation I actually saw first though, and which drew me in to look at more, was the Lune set. It’s an asymmetric design that leaves one breast partially exposed, framing it with petals of lace and dripping beads. The bra and knicker were made by Carrillo and the matching bead-encrusted skullcap by Paez, both using the same Calais lace.

For the Aimée bodysuit and Zoé bralette set, Carrillo collaborated with a jewellery designer instead, Morgane Ribeyrolles of Zo&më, who hand-cut and hammered the gold-plated lotus jewellery details which adorn each look. (The jewellery is detachable for easier washing.)

These collaborative pieces, with all of their meticulously-detailed respective components, can take as much dozens of hours to craft and naturally that’s reflected in the pricing, which goes as high as 1,500€. They sit in a collection called the pièces d’exception, focused on particularly labour-intensive designed created more as boundary-pushing art pieces than as ‘wearable’ garments. The ‘maison’ is Maison Louve’s name was chosen specifically to bring to mind the traditional couture houses, where it’s all about showing what’s possible when highly-skilled artisans focus on creating their very best work.

But, there’s plenty more to discover on the brand’s website and the everyday options are worth a look too. The rest of the product range has a stylish but relaxed vibe that’s very ‘French chic’ – soft bralettes, high waisted briefs, drapey robes and the like, all made using high-end fabrics such as Italian silks and laces from Calais (a region known for producing some of the finest-quality lace in the world). Everything is handcrafted in Carrillo’s atelier in Toulouse, and is available in custom sizing on request.

Here are a few of my favourite picks:

If you’d like to see more, or learn more about the brand and in particular Carillo’s inspirations, I also spoke to her for my Lingerie Briefs column in an article that’s also just been published today.

What do you think of Maison Louve, both the more basic pieces and the ultra-luxe pièces d’exception?