In Stitches

It is afternoon in Paris and morning in New Jersey, and between the thousands of miles, two in-demand artists are finding some fashionable common ground. The conceptual Nicole McLaughlin—she of the Instagram croissant-bra, a viral prank cosigned by designer Simon Porte Jacquemus—is trying to explain her creative process while sprawled on the floor of her childhood bedroom in the leafy suburb of Verona, New Jersey. She’s talking to fabric master Aska Yamashita, the artistic director of the embroidery house Atelier Montex, whose exquisite work is a constant highlight of Chanel’s couture collections. Says McLaughlin with a laugh, “Do you want to hear about this volleyball I took apart in my dorm room?”

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The link between McLaughlin’s like-and-follow digital supremacy and Yamashita’s sew-and-tell analog sorcery might at first feel as tenuous as a thread. McLaughlin, 30, is an East Coast athleticwear junkie of the Zillennial micro-generation. She began her career building designer sneakers at Reebok, and in her spare time, she dismantled sporting goods—tennis rackets, basketballs, climbing gear—and turned them into puffy shoes and bags. Eventually, Gucci and Puma took notice. So did Pharrell Williams. Yamashita, meanwhile, has been the head of Atelier Montex since 2017—right around when McLaughlin was graduating from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. A proud Paris resident, Yamashita spends her days overseeing the imperceptible stitching that attaches countless tiny beads to some of Chanel’s most coveted gowns, seen on everyone from Margot Robbie and Michelle Williams to Penélope Cruz and Nicole Kidman. She has also pioneered new fabric treatment techniques like 3-D printing and laser cutting, all while ensuring her 60-plus employees adhere to the ultra-strict standards and traditions of a 75-year-old heritage luxury house.

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An odd pairing? Sure. But a quick pop under the hood of their artistry reveals some major links: Both wonder how technology can be silently harnessed to create things we can touch, see, and love. Both understand how the principles of slower, deeper beauty can help course-correct the dumpster fire (and actual overflowing dumpsters) of fast fashion. And both believe, fervently and with absolute conviction, in the creative transcendence of snacks.

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Nicole McLaughlin: So what are you up to?

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Aska Yamashita: I’m on my second cup of coffee. I don’t do embroidery directly, so I can drink a lot to keep me awake.

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NM: I feel the same way. Sometimes if I drink too strong of a coffee, like a cold brew, then I go crazy. But to start the day, I’m like, Yes, please, as much coffee as possible.

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AY: Even when you’re working with your hands?

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NM: Yeah! I spend most of my days at the sewing machine. But I feel like, because my style of work is upcycling, it’s not so precise. So I can be a little jagged.

AY: Is sewing like meditation for you?

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NM: Definitely. I learned how to sew out of necessity because I had these ideas, and I just wanted to see them come to life. I don’t think I ever realized how much I would fall in love with just sitting there and thinking and working. I listen to books on audio tape all day ... I just listened to the Twilight series for the first time. I liked it, even though it’s obviously a young adult book.

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AY: My mother was an illustrator of children’s books. I also had aunts who were doing a lot of knitting and sewing. In a way, I was in the background of physical objects being created all the time.

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NM: My mom was an interior designer. I always grew up around swatches and floor samples. I was always tinkering, but I don’t think I ever fully realized I was going to be a designer. I just liked art.

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AY: My first steps in the Montex were to do painting, like hand-painting on dresses for a special collection. I started in the drawing department.

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NM: What did you make?

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AY: A huge skirt for Chanel in 1993 or 1994. It had large black-and-white stripes made with microbeads. It was meant to be perfect once it was on the body. You really needed to adjust it to be sure that all the lines of beads were well connected and that you wouldn’t see any imperfections once it was on. This was a very difficult, very tricky experience for me! I did not manage it easily, but in the end, I was so proud.

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NM: I once made a shoe out of a volleyball! It was such a transformative thing, because I was so scared for so long to show my work. But I decided to put that shoe on the Internet, and once I did, it got such a positive response. I didn’t know if it was going to happen for me—being an artist. It made me very grateful, because I didn’t go to a traditional fashion school or art school. I was worried people were going to look at my work and say it wasn’t good enough. So I kept challenging myself to get better technically.

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AY: But you were brave, because it’s always complicated when you are working alone.

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NM: It is!

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AY: It’s different here because we are a huge team, so everybody can help you build something. When you are alone, I think it’s very hard because you show what you are doing and then, suddenly, you have the opinions of everybody.

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NM: Having people around you is important, and I had to figure that out as an independent designer. I still don’t have a really big team. But I do love to bounce ideas off people, and I’m less scared to show something still in progress. I had a real perfectionist streak before, but other people can make your work better.

“I learned how to sew out of necessity because I had these ideas, and I just wanted to see them come to life.”
— Nicole McLaughlin

AY: And if there are people in your studio, you all have the same language and, at the end, a common expression, a common style. It’s very fluid. It’s like a huge family, and sometimes, you know, we have to manage the technical part but also the human part. It can be very positive, but it takes work to build the story we are telling, manage it, and meet with the clients, who will also give some direction. But we try, every time, to do something beyond: We want to challenge ourselves to do new things as we work together.

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NM: The challenge for me—and for the [fashion] industry—is to think about waste differently. I challenge myself every day by reusing materials.

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AY: Where do you get your materials?

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NM: A lot of the companies I work with give me their samples, like leftover half-pairs of shoes or damaged jackets that they can’t release. But I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t possibly use everything that’s sent to me, so now I pass it along to other artists who need materials. I’ve become a connector for things to get reused, although I do love having a lot of stuff. I like a lot of materials around.

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AY: In a different way, I think I need to have a lot of things around me to feel comfortable. Under my table, there are like 10 pairs of shoes. I have some Japanese roots, and I appreciate them when I go to visit people and their spaces are all clean, without anything—but me? I’m more into accumulations.

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NM: I’m always in a little bit of chaos in my life. I think that’s where I work best. My sister just had a baby, so I came back to my parents’ house. The projects here have been some of my best; things like memory and smell help the creative process sometimes.

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AY: Sometimes my studio smells like a leather kit. We’re very careful with all our chemicals...

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NM: Oh my god, I love chemical smells, like glue. I do! But don’t worry. My studio now is in Colorado: I love to open up all the doors in there, and I get the fresh air and the fresh grass smell, which I love. And I hear the wind and the grass.

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AY: I really love to listen to the radio. In France, we have a station that’s a huge mix of everything. But I also listen to specific music for inspiration. For example, when we started Chanel’s 2023/24 Métiers d’Art collection [that showed in] Manchester, I listened to all these British groups. And my husband is a musician, so I also listen to him sometimes.

NM: What kind of musician?

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AY: He was in a hip-hop band, and his name was Lady Boy. Now he’s making more French music in a more classical way. So we’ll listen to that in the studio—and then I have a big pot of Brazilian nuts, or if I’m staying late to finish work, I can easily go to the “bad” things.

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NM: The bad things?!

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AY: Chocolate, candy, more chocolate. But when I am really stressed and need to get away, I go to the countryside for fresh air and to be with my family. I have a scooter, so sometimes I also just go to a movie or exhibition, or even share a good lunch with my friends.

NM: What about Paris inspires you the most? And where should I go when I visit?

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YA: Paris is quite a nice place to be, and I think there are so many things to see. Too much, maybe! I think the underground music and art is really amazing, and you can always find it, even after midnight. For museums, which are wonderful, I would say, know the hours before you go. Yesterday, I went to the Pompidou in the morning, but it was closed until 11 a.m. So don’t do that.

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NM: I love that you go to museums when you need a break. For me, I’ll go paint, or I’ll do photography so I can stay in a creative headspace but not be stuck on the same thing. Also, I climb rocks.

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AY: Rocks?

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NM: I know it seems crazy, but rock climbing—how I problem-solve on the wall, where I grab something, how I go up—gives me clarity on the rest of my life ... I can focus on the small things to solve bigger things.

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AY: Sometimes when I look at the girls working on embroidery in my studio, I think, Oh, how lucky they are. Even if they are doing work for a look that can be very repetitive, they can use that time to think about something else in their lives: the big things, or the small things. Unfortunately, I can’t do that anymore because I am organizing all the work and being with everybody, doing a lot of appointments, and it’s never very quiet for me. Sometimes I’m a little bit envious. Because that moment when you look at something small is so lovely and can lead to so much. You can step back and say, Oh, we have a lot to be proud of. These little things, these small works, become so important when they are all together at the end.