Christel in the Sky !

Auteur : Ariane | 10-30-2010

It was my friend Anne who, at a party, told me about the creations of Christel.
‘They are beautiful and poetic, you’ll love the work of Christel and to top it off it would be a great subject for Cocotte Design!’

She was right! It was a true journey into space when I discovered the website Volabile Créations. In addition, we shared a great moment during the interview; you know, a nice moment during the usual day of madness!

Christel told me about her career: business school, work, and then letting go of it all when realizing that it no longer suited her. She then started doing graphic arts and set up her own business.

NO, chance meetings are not random; they are provoked without even knowing it.

Christel’s life did a 180° turn when she stopped when finding an unearthed treasure, a mobile, at a flea market while looking for a wedding gift for a friend. Here she met the creator of this symbolic object of her soul, an artist, 75 years old, who confirmed her future success.

Two prototypes were enough to convince Sentou to order a hundred.

With her business barely legally established, she exhibited at the Salon Maison & Objet in 2003 where she received more orders for boutiques in France and abroad. Her second exhibition appearance brought even more orders, this time from Hermes and Ines de la Fressange, the Artistic Director of Roger Vivier. They ordered custom made mobiles. After that, the press started to contact her.

In 2007, Volabile, a combination of ‘volatile’ (birds in flight) and ‘mobile’, was running like a machine. But Christel became bored managing the logistics as much as creating. She then chose to stop making the collections and to devote her time to custom-made creations.

Wow, brilliant!

To preserve the authenticity of her ‘Volabiles’, she wants, at all costs, to remain true to herself as well as to her suppliers, her true partners in production. This includes:

- The mixing of asymmetric shapes with the art of balance (no doubt there are some key calculations!)

- A sleek design with very smooth angles and the color of aluminum parts, like nickel-finished parts for a contemporary look.

- Fine materials creating a poetic lightness.

The ensemble embodies the life of a place and the thoughts that come up.

Christel follows her instincts and honors orders from prestigious clients with large-sized mobiles, ranging from two to five meters. She created for the new Roger Vivier boutiques in London, New York, Miami, and Moscow. For the launch of their new line, Chaumet asked Christel to create the aerial version of a Baptism, more than 180 mobiles have been created.

Gold mobile - 12 meters of height -  Galeries Lafayette Maison - Christmas 2006

For Hermès, she made a large mobile (3mx3m) with helicopters (my favorite!), which embellishes spaces dedicated to the Hermès brand ‘Hélico’. In case you would like to give one as a gift, it is possible but if your wallet will complain a bit. Renting the mobile is also possible!

Her design studio is currently at her home, a small quiet space about 8m² in size where she can make smaller models and prototypes before producing them in full size.

Aside from work, Christel adores anything that exhibits contemporary art. She has a penchant for modern times, anything that has to do with our famous year of birth, which has some similarities with what is happening today in the street!

Women like Iris Clerc and Peggy Guggenheim, fascinate her for their extravagance, their freedom, and their involvement in the art market.

She loves to travel which leads to the discovery of new artists.

She comes from a family with an auctioneer, so Christel is interested in interiors with a soul. She feels rather close to the woman from the 1930s, and does not appreciate the complete contemporary look ‘ultra design’, for her black and white click without poetry. Her favorite object would be a string of lights for its brightness and the festive atmosphere it brings.

Currently, Christel participates in ‘petit h’, a new entity set up by Hermès via the Foundation of Business who donates their scrap materials to various artists for them to create new items. Without wanting to advertise, it’s a great idea! A sale will be held on November 13 at their boutique.

Today, Christel seeks some quiet time, needed to develop new creations using other principles of balance, different effects of color and light creating new poetry.

I will end here because I have already shortened my «bla-bla» not to bore you. Instead I invite you to discover these creations at the gallery Daveau Queysanne (Paul Bert market, Saint Ouen, see contact on website) or on her website: www.volabile.com

Christel Sadde
21 rue de Moscou
75008 Paris
06 20 67 60 19
contact@volabile.com