Amandine Bouet is a textiles designer from from Nîmes in the South of France. She’s currently living and working in Barcelona.

How did you get into textiles?

I was a bit lost when I finished high school and without really knowing why, I decided to start a bachelors in Applied Art. I didn’t like it and thought about studying in a fashion school so I found a school in Belgium and started a bachelors in Fashion and Textile Design. There I learned how to sew, make clothes, create collections and display them through fashion shows. We also had some classes to discover different techniques like knitting and beading and we had to make a project using the various techniques. This is how I started my first beading project and fell in love.  As part of my degree I did an internship with Malhia Kent in Paris; a big company that makes fabrics for designers like Chanel, Walter Van Beirendonck and Isabel Marant. There I learned weaving, it was the second time I fell in love. I’m specialised in beading and weaving but I love to experiment. 

What other textiles would you like to explore and why?

My next step is to learn how to embroider,  I would also like to explore more weaving. I learned a lot during my internship but there are a lot of others techniques to experiment in that I don’t know. 

Where do you buy your materials and embellishments from?

I buy my beads on eBay where you can find a lot from all over the world, but they’re mostly from China. I also buy big pockets of beads from My Mineral Style in Barcelona. For the rest I go to DIY stores. I accumulated a lot of fabrics and yarns when I was a student.

What do you apply your textiles on? 

For now, only interiors. I could work on clothes, but the fact is that we’re in an era where clothes are not appreciated at fair value. People buy and throw away without thinking. It bothers me a lot because things are not appreciated. I would love to work with fashion, but it depends on who with and how.

Do you have any favourite textiles or art books that inspire you?

I love to read about and understand the universe of Francis Bacon. I also love books on Picasso, Dali, Matisse, Jean Cocteau and Frida Kahlo.   

What do you love about textiles?

What I love about textiles is that it’s alive, it moves, it has relief and there is still so much to explore within it. We’re lucky because now we have access to an infinite amount of materials and inspiration.

Follow Amandine’s work on Instagram here.