31 Dec Interview with Philippe Anton & Fabien Paludetto of LASVIII Paris Luxury Leather

While browsing through a forum post of fashion designers on ASmallWorld, one I found was called LASVIII. The vibrant colors and hypnotic textures of their creations really caught my eye. Curious about the brand, I got in touch with co-owner and designer Philippe Anton and he agreed to have a little interview with us!

Simon: Have to ask this first, how do you pronounce your company name?
Philippe: Excellent question! Our name has a real signification in regards with out style and philosophy.
LASVIII Paris (or LAS8 Paris) is pronounced « La Suite », meaning the next thing, referencing the continuity of our collections. The brand LAS8 has become LASVIII, the 8 is written VIII in roman numeral.
It also reminds a luxury hotel suite, which is for us very interesting in terms of universe for our fashion house. The universe LASVIII wants to be noble and captivating as a palace, awakening discovery, wonder and privilege throughout the stay.

Simon: How did you get your start in fashion and design/what did you do before LASVIII?
Philippe: My Partner Fabien PALUDETTO and I have both entrepreneurs’ profiles and we have always been sensitive to the fashion industry. As refined leather, rare and unique exotic skins and furs are a true passion for us, we started naturally to provide our own vision of fashion, based on values which can be summarized with Know-how, excellence and rarity.
Simon: What’s the story behind how LASVIII came to be?
Philippe: I would say that it is a story of passion. Not only for fashion or leather, but mostly a passion for what I call “beautiful things”. We really think our creations as a piece of art, as jewels. LASVIII Paris is not only a trendy expression. By beautiful thing, I mean a perfect quality and a perfect know how.
Our leather creations are not only made in the most refined leathers, the required craftsmanship is also a strong added value. Each model is made 100% by hand in our specialized workshop in France, and answer high quality standards.
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Simon: What other designers or clothing inspires you and your creations?
Philippe: We are of course aware of the latest trends. We are based in Paris and are really in the heart of a city that lives with fashion. But we do not find any inspiration in term of design from other designers or fashion house. We might share some values with a few fashion houses, like quality or nobility, but our inspiration source are usually not directly with the fashion world.
As I said, we are attached to beautiful things that have history. It can be a specific architecture or monuments, even a part of the French history.
One other great source of inspiration is the exquisite leathers we work with. We spend a lot of time within the tanneries we are collaborating with. Being in contact with a crocodile skin, for example, is like being connected to the animal wild world: each skin can have scars on it, showing the history of the animal, that had to fight for food or territory while it was alive.
Simon: Your designs focus on leather and fur creations, where do you source these natural materials?
Philippe: We chose our partners carefully. The first reason is to ensure the best quality in term leather.
The “know how” differs form a tannery to another; this is why it is important for us to develop collaboration with the most reputed tanneries. For our plunged lambskins, and baby caw, we work exclusively with French tanneries, which provide since centuries the most beautiful leathers. In term of exotic skins and furs, we work with French and Italian tanneries.
The second reason is to ensure that the provenance of our material and leather always respect the Washington Convention, which protects all the endangered species. This is absolutely a condition that has to be fulfilled by tanneries if we want to develop a partnership, even before we look at their leathers.

Simon: What is the process in preparing the skins and incorporating them into your designs?
Philippe: The process is simple. First we chose the most exquisite leather and better “grade”. Each tannery will propose first, second, third, fourth grades… The first grade, which means that the leather is “perfect” is what we demand.
Then, we have to prepare the cutting process. This step, which is a crucial one, takes place directly in the workshop. Once cut, you cannot go backward. When we work rare exotic skins, we take a lot of time before the cut, to be sure that the choices we are making in term of design will be the best one.
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Simon: Please share details of any new creation that you’re excited about with our readers:
Philippe: Lots of the details that we share with our clients are “know how” secrets, especially when it comes with crocodile or stingray skins. The “know how” that is required is represent a real “asset” for our fashion house.
Regarding new creations, we are preparing a new collection mostly based on crocodile leather, which is the “king” of leathers in matters of luxury. The collection will be ready in the beginning of 2013.
Simon: Do you offer customizations or fittings of your current designs or offer to create one-of-a-kind pieces?
Philippe: Made to measure is a philosophy for LASVIII Paris. We receive our clients in our showroom by appointment only, when we study with our clients the creation that will match the best to his or her personality, his or her demands. Our designs are a base on what we start to elaborate one-of-a-kind piece.
The creation is of course on measure and the clients can also choose the type of leather, the color of the jackets and other finishing that we are proposing. One of the exclusive finishing is the gold gilding inscription that allows the client to have his or her name or initials in gold on the leather within the creation for example…

Simon: Can you share any future plans for new pieces or collections?
Philippe: Our main goal is to work on timeless pieces. It’s planned to expand our range of clothing and accessories. However, we wish to remain experts in luxury jacket and become a market reference. We are currently working on new creations such as shirts, travel bags and trousers. For the future we want be focus on prestigious leathers and furs like Crocodile, Stingray, Orylag fur…
Simon: Thanks for your time sharing your boutique fashion brand with our readers Philippe, you really bring something so authentic to the current world of fashion. I’m sure our readers enjoyed checking out such a modern style collection while learning about the traditional quality craftsmanship and materials behind it as I did.
If you’re interested in learning more or purchasing, please visit: LAS8-PARIS.com to discuss and get an appointment in their showroom.