From the magazine: ISSUE 91, April/May 2014
A generation raised on multiple browser tabs and mile-long Tumblr feeds is bound to have a roving eye. Études, though, a clothing company, book publisher and creative agency run by Brooklyn-based Aurélien Arbet and Paris-based Jérémie Egrys, has turned its restless attention span into its entire raison d’être, with a slew of cross-disciplinary projects each as full and fabulous as the next. The fashion portion of their brand is famous for its one-of-a-kind shirts, with prints commissioned from artist darlings like Travess Smalley, Manuel Fernandez and Pia Howell. Arbet and Egry also art-direct their lookbooks themselves, transforming them into gallery-ready printed photo projects that have included parrots sitting on models’ shoulders and a spring collection shown on Segways. “Fashion allows you to do all the things you want to do at the same time—a collection, a web store, a lookbook, a catalogue,” Arbet says.
As diverse as the company’s offerings can be, the results all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. A series of photo books that Études produces, including titles by Nicolai Howalt and Colin Snapp, evokes the clothes in color and aesthetic, like tomes tailor-made to be stacked in the same bedroom that houses all your Études clothing. “It’s not about one medium—more a lifestyle,” says Arbet. “Look at a book, listen to music, eat something. It all has to make sense.”
Impressed with their limitless energy, we asked Arbet and Egry to bring all their talents together and guest art-direct a mini-project showing off their latest collection. As you can see, even with all the multitasking, Études has one singularly eye-popping vision.