by anne-claire petit Š
forever yours
anne-claire petit from idea to final product anne-claire petit loves special projects
not for sale, but free for acp-lovers
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from idea to final product
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up the fruity stairs
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anne-claire petit loves
oops a daisy
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let’s keep in touch
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seasonal collection images
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cooperations & custom made designs
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Ages ago, when I was a student at the Design Academy, I learned all about textiles, the different techniques and the value of high quality materials. Also, they taught me how to look differently; to see how size, shapes and colors matter. These lessons formed my core creative and entrepreneurial values. Today, these values still influence the choices we make regarding the collection, the safety of our products, our ecological foot print and the work conditions of our gifted handicraft teams. We are very well aware that we need to cherish the women that work for us. Especially now when many age old handicraft skills are in danger of being lost in the process of Chinese modernization. Hopefully our collections ACP Accessoires and ACP Home, as well as the influence of our worldwide network of dedicated clients, will help to keep the craft of crochet alive!
anne-claire petit
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from idea to final product the story of our collection
CHINA
NEPAL
THAIL AND
The making of a 40 cm long lobster takes about 39 hours Amsterdam is home base to Anne-Claire Petit. She lives and works here since 1990. In her studio/office/showroom at the heart of the museum quarter, she brainstorms ideas, chooses color schemes and makes sketches, together with her creative team. If the chosen technique is crochet, the sketches and color schemes are sent to the crochet experts in China and Nepal. For the knitted dolls, these are sent to Thailand. On the other side of the world, the head artisans create the first sample and pattern for production. Once Amsterdam agrees on the final design, the other artisans start crocheting, knitting or sewing. After a few months when a ship load is complete, it is shipped to our Dutch warehouse from where the products are sent all over the world.
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Inspiration
Chinese crochet artisans
Often Anne-Claire is asked how she finds her inspiration. This is a hard question as this is not a conscious process, or a mental activity one can actually observe or feel: who knows how the brain really works? Maybe her creativity is just about connecting things, by seeing the old, familiar thing as something new. For Anne-Claire this could mean that the designs sprout from her love for animals, from children’s books illustrations, specific color combos and geometric patterns that catch her eye‌ Add a light hearted attitude and plenty of innate curiosity to these preferences and there is no doubt that the collection is very much intertwined with the personality of the designer.
Most of the detailed work of Anne-Claire Petit is hand-crocheted by women living in countryside villages of Northern China. In this part of the country women have passed on their handwork traditions for many generations; it is part of their cultural and craft heritage. Over the last decade more and more women have started to work for Anne-Claire and a warm bond has developed.
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Made by hand Each crochet item is unique as it is 100% handmade. For example a 30 cm/12 inch long dachshund takes about 3 days of work. The organic cotton is dyed according to the specific ACP colour schemes to ensure the desired intensity. The women, about two hundred, work at home often with their neighbors. They determine their own schedule, so when kids come home from school or harvests need to be taken care of, the crochet is put aside.
Socks and gloves shaped into characters Since a few years the growing sock and glove family is part of the collection, thanks to a trip to Thailand. Always on the lookout for new techniques, color schemes, shapes and figures, Anne-Claire Petit found a place in Bangkok where women produce knitted work gloves and regular socks. Anne-Claire asked them if they would like to make doll-type characters - and sure they did! For the initial designs she takes the shape of a sock or glove as a starting point. From there our women in Thailand sew, stuff and dress them by hand, one-by-one. Their understanding and dedication has led to excellent international teamwork.
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Safety first
Appreciation of the artisans
We do our utmost to ensure that our toys and products comply with our own high standards as well as the European and international legal standards. All our toys are tested and comply with the international toy safety directives. You can find the CE marking on the attached labels. Our products are examined by SGS to ensure they meet EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements. These tests certify that:
The artisans that work for us have done so for quite some time now. We know them well and visit them regularly in China and Thailand. We really appreciate the specialised handwork they do and pay them accordingly. Our crochet teams in China usually work from home. They schedule their crochet around their farm and household chores. Our team in Thailand works in a clean and spacious atelier.
• our products have no sharp edges, points or small parts and that no potential hazards exist • our products need all requirements with regard to inflammability • labels are safe • no harmful chemicals are used; the dyes used are colourfast and 100% azo free
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Organic cotton: where possible We only use the finest cotton, wool and cashmere for our products. Organic cotton is utilised whenever possible. The filling material is new and safe.
Meeting at the fairs While the artisans are at work in Asia, Anne-Claire and her sales team show the samples of the newest collections at trade fairs in Europe and Asia, such as Maison & Objet. Here they enjoy to meet the visiting retailers, architects and other buyers faceto-face. They discuss work, the collection and many other things, always making sure to mix business with pleasure!
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up the
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fruity stairs
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anne-claire petit loves:
the classical elegance of Jacky Kennedy
my dog Wies, a Hungarian Vizsla
fabrics used
Wallace & Gromit: an old time favourite
Relativitaetstheorie in der farben und formenkunst, Mikhail Matyushin
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sketch by Picasso
Work of Patricia Urquiola, here for Green W Hotels Vieques Island
for traditional costumes
my old Mercedes (I still miss it)
the beauty and taste of Asian food
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specials
Cooperations & custom-made designs
We love to get off the beaten track, to see and do new things. That is one of the reasons why we enjoy working together with other brands, designers, illustrators, museums, organisations. We design new items for them or reinterpret existing graphics and paintings into 3D hand crocheted objects.
Rintje
Anne-Claire loves dogs. Especially her own dog Wies, but also the ones in books, films and art. Fox terrier Rintje was one of her all-time favourites. Together with Rintje’s creator, the late Sieb Posthuma, award-winning illustrator and writer, she designed the 3D Rintje in crochet. photo: Amber Beckers
World of Mouk
In 2011 Anne-Claire worked together with graphic artist Marc Boutavant. We feel very at home in the colourful World of Mouk and love his form language and sense of humour. 24 • acpapers
Schaatsenrijden in een dorp, Hendrick Avercamp, c 1610, Rijksmuseum
BB by Airborne & Anne-Claire Petit
Rijks
We redeveloped the iconic AA by
For the Rijksmuseum, the Dutch
Airborne, also known as the butterfly
national museum, we designed
chair, in crochet in a children’s size.
17th century dolls. These
It is named BB by Airborne & Anne-
figures were inspired by the
Claire Petit and saw the light of day
winterlandscapes of the Dutch
thanks to a chance encounter with
painter Hendrick Avercamp.
the French owners of Airborne. When
As with these 17th century
they recognized their commonalities
paintings, artisanship is an
- a preference for primary colours
essential element in our work.
and clear simple designs – a new cooperation was born. Letter by Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo, c 21 November, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)
Van Gogh
When, in 2009, the Van Gogh Museum organised a prestigious exhibition on the correspondence of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh, we were asked to design an object to support this exhibit. Our hand crocheted air mail envelope has been sold at the museum ever since.
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colophon publisher
Anne-Claire Petit editor
Véronique de Weichs de Wenne graphic design
Mariëlle Tolenaar • studiosap photography
Hieronymus Evers, Aart Kooij, Anne-Claire Petit, Zhang Zhengye, Inga Powilleit special thanks to
Eléonore de Bruine, Janneke van der Velden, Linda van Velthoven, Wies, Reyer van der Heyde - De Bary, Norman Trapman and Florentine Haak, Sep Kantavanich Wang Xue Fei, Sun Aixia, Yang Enjie, Yang Yongfen, Ti-Songli, Fang Weijie, Fang Yumei, Yang Fenrong and all the other ladies from our crochet teams in Northern China and Nepal, as well as our team in Thailand pages 14-15: We have attempted to contact the rightful claimants to request permission for the use of the images. In case you feel your copyright should be recognised, please contact us. print
InteGrafica, Hoofddorp
© 2015
anne-claire petit accessoires Van Baerlestraat 144 1071 BE Amsterdam The Netherlands t +31 (0) 20 6792338 info@anneclairepetit.nl www.anneclairepetit.nl www.facebook.com/acpaccessoires press agency Anne Delajartre 15, rue de Cléry 75002 Paris France t +33 (0) 140263869 contact@annedelajartre.com www.annedelajartre.com