For Frieze London, luxury accessories brand Métier commissioned paper artist Nathan Ward to reimagine two of its classic bag silhouettes as life-size sculptures for its Mayfair flagship windows. The installation, created entirely from James Cropper Creates paper, explores the unseen stages of the design process: from initial idea to finished object.
Every Métier bag begins with a paper model. Before leather is cut, a miniature maquette is made: a stage of the design process that rarely leaves the studio. For Frieze London, that hidden process became the centrepiece of the brand’s Mayfair flagship windows, with London-based paper artist Nathan Ward tasked with translating two of Métier’s classic silhouettes into life-size paper sculptures.
The result is a monochromatic installation that evokes the atmosphere of an artist’s studio mid-work. The sculptures sit on white paper plinths, stripped of colour and material so that form and construction read clearly. Woven into the installation are six handwritten travel letters by Yolanda Edwards, founder of YOLO Journal, recounting journeys from Patmos to Nice, Oaxaca and beyond. Her words are patchworked across the paper forms, connecting the making process with the places the bags eventually travel to and the stories they accumulate along the way.
Ward brought the full range of his papercrafting techniques to the project, replicating the precision geometry of the bags in a material that shares nothing of leather’s qualities. “Replicating their bags in paper was quite a challenge,” he says. “This is my second time working with the Métier team, and each time has been such an enjoyable experience.” His previous Métier installation, based on a summer theme, was shortlisted in two categories at the Creative Retail Awards.
The installation was created entirely from 135gsm and 270gsm Coloursource Bright White, made by James Cropper and supplied by Winter & Company.
Photography: Shaun James Cox.
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About James Cropper Creates
James Cropper Creates is the creative platform of James Cropper, one of the world’s leading specialist paper manufacturers. Through James Cropper Creates, the company supports artists, designers and makers working with paper as a material and medium, commissioning projects, enabling collaborations and documenting the creative possibilities of exceptional paper. jamescropper.com
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