Guigou: 200 Years of Craftsmanship Reimagined as a Living Installation

To bridge this heritage with contemporary challenges, textile artist Olivia Philibert leads the artistic direction of the installation. A graduate of the Institut Français de la Mode, she develops works that are at the intersection of art and clothing. Her work unfolds across two main areas: contemporary dance — through collaborations with dancers in original creations — and fashion, with her brand ESSARTER, set to launch in September 2026. Since 2023, she has been exploring the processes of human body mutation within hybrid, natural, and urban environments. By reinterpreting Guigou’s textiles, Olivia Philibert envisions “organ-garments”: poetic and sensory extensions of the body that treat materials as integral parts of it. Rooted in a reflection on “what defines nature,” her approach draws on biomimicry, creating an aesthetic fusion between humans and their environment, whether wild or urban. The installation invites us to reconsider the deep connection between textiles and human evolution.