Aur茅lien Lecour, Tony Saint Hua, their leDIVAN in China

Le Divan, concept and inspirations

Le Divan is a project born in 2007 with its sole purpose to bring to life the artistic vision of Tony Saint Hua and Aurélien Lecour. It is an avenue for the two designers to dream, experiment and explore the artistic potential of fashion.

This practice of free creative activity acts as a form of psychotherapy for Aurélien and Tony. They plunge the depths of their emotions and ideas in order to extract their artistic vision.

So came the name to describe this process: Le Divan, the French term for the couch clients would sit in while revealing their thoughts to a psychologist.

The psychological analogy runs deeper still as Le Divan's purpose is to provide customers with an expression of their individuality and potential. And ultimately it's about feeling good about themselves, which is also a major point of psychotherapy.

The concept of the couch is also symbolically connected to a kind of lifestyle that is opulent, exclusive and of course, comfortable.

The artistic vision

Tony Saint Hua and Aurélien Lecour share a definitely focused opinion concerning their role as designers. They believe that one's attire is at the same time a reflection of, and influence to, the wearer's personality.

Their ambition is that garments from Le Divan delivers a state of mind. Their aim is to inspire positivity, reach potential and give customers the confidence to be who they wish to be.

The ideal Le Divan silhouette is sober and elegant, with a touch of oddity. The collection remains an edgy alternative to formal wear, by filling its lack of personality and individuality, and provides more consistency to casual wear. The body figure is enhanced by fitted garments and well displayed volumes.

Garments from Le Divan proudly flaunt their identity without being loud. Structure and shape are inherent in each design while superficial decorations are banned. And when there is a point to be made, they're created by innovative details. Essentially the beauty of the garment is on subtle and unexpected details, high quality fabrics and of course, a perfect fit.

The designers' inspirations

Many similarities can be found between the work of Aurélien and Tony and the process of architectural creation. It can be found in their sensibility in materials and structure that is essential to their creations.

Their choice of materials are noble, natural, structured and with a distinct personality. And in their hands these materials are shaped, folded and pleated much like an origami artist with paper.

The "dramatic" consistency of many Le Divan creations has been inspired by the expressionist movement in general and in particular, German expressionist cinema (early to mid 20th century). This inspiration is telling in Aurélien and Tony's strong belief that a garment speaks a great deal about the person who wears it, and it is a very expressive and direct communication with society at large.

The First Flagship Store in Beijing

"A coat is like a second skin". Protected by a heavy red door, Aurélien Lecour's studio can be found at the end of a narrow alleyway in north-west Beijing.  On Saturday 17th November, this tall, blond and slender 24 year old stylist from Marseilles welcomed the first guests of the second monthly presentation of new range of "Le Divan".

Created a few months ago with 35 year old Australian stylist Tony Hua, "Le Divan" is known for its shirts, jackets and coats for both men and women. This is also a collaboration between two professional fashion stylists, both with strong individual personalities and on their own career paths. For a start, Lecour has been in Beijing for two and a half years, and has worked primarily in distribution. His counterpart, on the other hand, has only been in Beijing for six months, and worked in his own shop (Midesko - Millennium design knockout) in Australia for around ten years.

This range of clothes was born out of a mutual love and knowledge of the subtle mixes of Japanese and Western styles of clothing. "Le Divan" is a reference to the psychiatrist's couch, to therapy and to the fact that everyone has to rack their brains", Lecour explains. One challenge that the two thought about was about taste. In a 200m2 apartment, divided into a conception studio, a sewing room, and bedrooms, the whole place is decorated with big white hangings, stylized light fittings and old wall posters. There is a table covered in broken slate and a black sofa. In this trendy room are around sixty beautiful pieces from the winter collection, displayed with obvious pride, both on the rack and on models.