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IFJ Journalism Gradients15

Rafel Delalande and Alexandra Groover started the collaborative project La Voisin London combining Rafel's tattoo art and Alexandra's clothing designs. They took the brand name from Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin, a 17th century fortune teller known for supplying aphrodisiacs to Louis XIV and his court. Rafel adapts his illustrating techniques to print on black fabric using bleach discharge printing, allowing them to create impermanent tattoos through a reversal of the tattooing process.

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54 views1 page

IFJ Journalism Gradients15

Rafel Delalande and Alexandra Groover started the collaborative project La Voisin London combining Rafel's tattoo art and Alexandra's clothing designs. They took the brand name from Catherine Deshayes Monvoisin, a 17th century fortune teller known for supplying aphrodisiacs to Louis XIV and his court. Rafel adapts his illustrating techniques to print on black fabric using bleach discharge printing, allowing them to create impermanent tattoos through a reversal of the tattooing process.

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MEET LA VOISINS RAFEL DELALANDE AND ALEXANDRA GROOVER

Introduce yourselves.
We are Rafel Delalande and Alexandra Groover.
Rafel is a tattooer and Alexandra is a designer. Together we started a collaborative project called La
Voisin London.

How did your paths cross and how did the idea for
the collaboration come about?

Taking their brand name from CATHERINE DESHAYES


MONVOISIN, the most fashionable seventeenth-century fortune teller luring MADAME DE MONTESPAN
into the affaire des poisons, London-based RAFEL
DELALANDE and ALEXANDRA GROOVER have developed in a short span of time a collection of
multi-functional pieces (fabric rather than dress,
a play between concealing and revealing embodied in their iconic hoods) reflective of old and new
stories. Groovers signature black monochromes
are narrated upon by Delalandes pen which in
his tattoos and illustrations evoke the linearity of
Drers woodcuts and Holbeins Danse Macabre,
the washed nightmares of Gustave Dor and the
corch rather than the well-known imagery of
50s revival tattoos that have become so popular
over the last twenty years. Revised bestiaries and
astrologies fit perfectly within this contemporary

Iconologia, its complex references catered towards


a niche, less seasonal and branded market (though
still highly successful with items sold in London,
Paris, New York and Tokyo).

About a year and a half ago, we met through friends


at a gallery private view, and we have been together ever since. After we became a couple, it didnt
take long for us to decide that we wanted to start
a collaborative project. We felt that our skills and
aesthetics were complimentary and that it would
be enjoyable for us to combine them to create
something new. We liked the idea of Alexandras
black clothing acting as a blank canvas for Rafels
darkly themed drawings. Fortunately many other
people liked the idea too, and we have been selling
out on our online shop as well as in our two newly
acquired stockists in Tokyo.

that explores the beauty in the dark and mysterious side of the human psyche.
Whats the La Voisin fly?
Our decision to use a fly as our logo icon is threefold: we liked it as a symbol for the Spanish fly of La
Voisin, and also for our coincidence in each having
our own personal fly emblems in our lives before
we met. For years, nearly every day, Alexandra wore
a ring with a large engraving of a fly. It was her favourite ring and she wore it all the time until it fell
apart. Due to the large size of the ring, she became
known around London for being the girl with the
fly ring. People always remembered her because of
it. Lastly, when we met, we found it amusing that
Rafel had a nearly identical fly (in shape and size)
tattooed on his forehead. As our work is inspired by
our fascination with cults and rituals, we decided to
take this coincidence as an omen and to incorporate it into our logo.

Why choose a poisoner for the brands name? What


was your first encounter with Catherine Deshayes
Monvoisin?
Our label La Voisin is named after the 17th century French sorceress who supplied Spanish Fly
and other aphrodisiacs to Louis XIV and the French
Court. Alexandra had read about La Voisin some

time ago and was fascinated by her story, particularly her specialisation in aphrodisiacs and love
potions. We had always wanted to create an alterego project of sorts, and we were waiting for the
right moment. When we began to plan our collaboration on a more serious level, we felt that La
Voisin would be the perfect inspiration for a label

One thing I find particularly interesting about La


Voisin is how it allows people to wear impermanent
tattoos: how in fact it is a reversal of the tattooing
process, almost its negative (reflected in your choice
of white on black), like printing to etching/engrav-

ing. Rafel, how did you manage to adapt your illustrating techniques to such a different method? Is it
the same process?
I am always adapting my work to suit its final function. With my drawings, I try to create very high contrast images with large amounts of black. I do this by
applying black ink to a white background, creating
a dark image with strong highlights. We both share
a love for black clothing, so we agreed that I would
have to adapt my drawings for a black background.
For our garment printing method, to achieve a similar visual effect to my drawings, we did the reverse:
we decided to use the technique of bleach discharge
printing onto black to capture the same bright white
quality of the white image emerging from the black
fabric. When I create drawings for La Voisin, I am
thinking about the final printed fabric as much as I
would think about a final tattoo on the skin. When I
draw for our collection, I adapt my ideas and imagery
to suit the fabric and the particular garment. Though
my drawings for La Voisin have elements of tattoo
inspiration, I dont envision them as tattoos: they are
more black and more graphic, making them better
for a fabric print and less suitable for a tattoo. La Voisin has become an
enjoyable opportunity for me to
develop a drawing style that is
separate from tattoo and allows me
to explore another
form of expression in my personal work.

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