Orelsan on his clothing brand: "We launched without any business plan, for fun"

Orelsan is not just a successful rapper.The artist from Caen also co-founded in 2014 a clothing brand, Avnier (penultimate contraction).With his Swiss partner and friend Sebastian Strappazzon, he embarked on this adventure without knowing anything about the fashion world, as he told us on Friday at the "Made in France" fair, of which Europe 1 is a partner.

"Sebastian had a clothing brand, he sponsored me.At one point I realized that I only wore clothes of his brand, so he offered to make a collaboration with him for a t-shirt.He then told me that he dreamed of founding a brand, so we started without any business plan, without any project, for fun, "said Orelsan.

"It was super important to pay attention to employee working conditions"

The rapper had to learn about the heap, especially to find factories in Portugal."I come from the world of music, we knew no factory, we even paid for the addresses of the first factories (in Portugal)", recalls Orelsan, who absolutely wanted to make his clothes in Europe.

"Sebastian was made outside of Europe, but for me it was super important to pay attention to the working conditions of the employees, to know where the products come from.It was important to do this in short circuits and in factories that meet certain standards, "he said.

"As I speak slowly, we believe that I am super lazy"

Between his career as a rapper and entrepreneur, Orelsan has a well -filled agenda."As I speak slowly, we believe that I am super lazy," he quipped, in reference to his characteristic way of expressing himself."But everything is linked, when I make a film, I have to choose the clothes of the characters.We do not dress the same a 15 -year -old teenager who listens to rap or a 38 -year -old mother.When you create a clip, you must also choose clothes.Even if in France we are not used to seeing "multifunction" people, it is linked, "said the rapper.

Orelsan also explained his role within his brand."With Sebastian (the co-founder), we are called for an hour, I say to him:‘ I will do a sweatshirt with a big zip, so we can open it when we want."And then Sebastian realizes the idea".Orelsan recently associated with the Saint-James brand, one of the symbols of "Made in France" fashion, which produces its clothes in Normandy.