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A sharp felt pen, exciting in the hands of a lively duo, BIMduo stands out from the crowd with its humour and applies its illustrations to such diverse and varied projects as the We Love Green festival, the Molitor spa and Swallow’s Tail, a Polish design duo. “Better to live one day like a tiger than a thousand years like a goat“: if their motto resembles them so much, it is because more than ten years of love and art bind these two exhilarating personalities. Ophélie Avril and Loïc Fercot begin to draw and take us for a stroll through the dreamlike jungles and coloured beings that populate their worlds. Freshly arrivals on Rue Vertbois, they now open the doors of their Parisian refuge to us.
L’Erudit standing mobile by Volta Paris.
JH7 Coffee Table by Jaime Hayon edited by &tradition.
Loïc, Ophélie : can you tell us about yourselves?
I first came to Paris to study applied arts at the École Estienne and I stayed here. I started out in an advertising agency as artistic director and graphic designer until 2016 when our studio, BIMduo was born. Today we divide our time between our job as head of art in an advertising agency and our many projects for BIMduo.
Loïc and I are a bit like a meeting between North and South. I come from Marseille, and my background is more atypical. Studies in literature, a period in architecture, a specialisation in space and exhibition design and above all a meeting with Loïc in applied arts. First editor, and today, head of art, always with Loïc as a duo in the city and on stage. We were at school together, and since then we have shared more than one apartment! It was a small step from room-mate to married couple, and we took it in 2016.
How was BIMduo born?
We have always had a creative relationship that has only grown stronger over the years. We both wanted to work, to choose our projects and to enjoy doing them. The most exciting thing is knowing that yesterday we were on the stage of a festival like We Love Green, that today we are thinking about communications for a luxury multi-brand organisation and that tomorrow we have already been entrusted with the keys to an apartment to reinvent.
One evening to invent what our project would be tomorrow together, and now BIM! The studio was born.
If we had to ask you for a few words about the mindset, the vision, the BIMduo style?
BIMduo is an active and creative space where everything is possible with perhaps a guiding thread Each project is built around specific references. It ranges from 70’s pop illustrations to tattoos and vinyl covers.
For each project, we tell a different story. Through humour, colour, poetic graphics, fashion, cinema and musical influences when it comes to creating a set, setting a scene or inventing an interior.
AJ341 pendant lamp white painted aluminium. White plastic Cable. Price 581€. Available on The Socialite Family.
A project or a collaboration that has made an impression on you?
Apiéceur, without hesitation! A brand created by Camille, a highly talented tailor. I fell head over heels for her creations. It was a first for us to produce a limited edition textile design. We can’t wait to show it off!
Swallow’s Tail, a duo of Polish designers. I love their furniture, their use of wood with clean lines. We designed tag labels for them. They designed a table inspired by boats that fits perfectly into the space.
How do you work together? Do you each have a specialisation?
It’s hard to say. We complement each other really. If it’s not me touching up a line, it’s Ophélie who is changing a colour. In the end it’s hard to say who did what!
We discuss things a lot, at all stages. If we really had to apportion the tasks, Loïc constructs the drawing, and I design the space and the colours. Generally, when we agree and are excited, that’s when we know is that we are going in the right direction. We only stop when we are both satisfied.
Do you have an artistic period or trend that particularly inspires you?
An inspiration? I’d say the cinema.
That’s true! For us, films are a synthesis that combines a vision, a palette, music, lights and particular atmospheres.
Tell us about this place, how long have you lived here? What have you changed?
We moved into this apartment in May, and the living area was opened up by an architect. We wanted a place that reflects light, a place to live with special attention paid to textiles, materials. We have defined the spaces with straightforward colours and chosen objects with a history that bring this workshop atmosphere to life and accentuate it.
We fell in love with the neighbourhood and the apartment. Vertbois is a small village in the centre of Paris, there is a particular atmosphere which reminds me a little of Marseille with its terraces at the end of the street. Here there are very few cars and it’s a truly gentle way of life. We wanted a warm place with colours borrowed from Tuscany in the living room. These are enhanced with a touch of Klein blue. For the bedroom, we took inspiration from the film In the Mood for Love by using dark colours, and a wallpaper like a fabric with rich, glowing patterns.
Green Velvet Croisette armchair from Honoré Déco.
Red cushion in velvet. Available in Pink, Blue, Green, White Cream, Grey, Mustard and Burgundy. Removable cover. Delivered with a cushion pad.
Round cushions are so now! Back in favour in some of the most beautiful interiors this September, these soft cushions with their sensuous shape are available in a myriad of different varieties – and can be used in endless different ways. These velvet cushions are certainly going all out. Perfect colours for the autumn/winter season, when we all want to kit out our chairs and sofas. In bright solid colours, The Socialite Family’s round cushions are already a classic – we can’t get enough of them.
SHIPPING: Delivery should be within 5 working days in France and within 7 working days outside France. Please contact us at shop@thesocialitefamily.com should you have any questions.
RETURN POLICY : You can return your order to us within 14 days of delivery for a full refund once the product has been returned to us. Simply contact us within 14 days of receiving your products at shop@thesocialitefamily.com and we will assist you with your return.
Red cushion in velvet. Available in Pink, Blue, Green, White Cream, Grey, Mustard and Burgundy. Removable cover. Delivered with a cushion pad.
Round cushions are so now! Back in favour in some of the most beautiful interiors this September, these soft cushions with their sensuous shape are available in a myriad of different varieties – and can be used in endless different ways. These velvet cushions are certainly going all out. Perfect colours for the autumn/winter season, when we all want to kit out our chairs and sofas. In bright solid colours, The Socialite Family’s round cushions are already a classic – we can’t get enough of them.
SHIPPING: Delivery should be within 5 working days in France and within 7 working days outside France. Please contact us at shop@thesocialitefamily.com should you have any questions.
RETURN POLICY : You can return your order to us within 14 days of delivery for a full refund once the product has been returned to us. Simply contact us within 14 days of receiving your products at shop@thesocialitefamily.com and we will assist you with your return.
Cappuccino cushion in velvet. Available in 9 other colors: navy blue, fir green, brown, red, pink, white cream, grey, mustard and burgundy. Removable cover. Delivered with a cushion pad.
Round cushions are so now! Back in favour in some of the most beautiful interiors this September, these soft cushions with their sensuous shape are available in a myriad of different varieties – and can be used in endless different ways. These velvet cushions are certainly going all out. Perfect colours for the autumn/winter season, when we all want to kit out our chairs and sofas. In bright solid colours, The Socialite Family’s round cushions are already a classic – we can’t get enough of them.
SHIPPING: Delivery will happen in France within 48 hours to 72 hours of dispatch and outside France within 3 to 7 working days. The carrier will contact you directly to arrange a delivery date and time. If you have any questions, please contact us on shop@thesocialitefamily.com.
ORDER WITH CONFIDENCE: You have 30 days to change your mind and return your order. To do so, please contact us on shop@thesocialitefamily.com quoting your order number and we will answer you as soon as possible with the procedure to follow. We will refund your order once we will have received your returned items.
PRO SERVICE: Are you an architect, a decorator or an interior designer? We have a service adapted to your specific needs. Please do not hesitate to contact us on shop@thesocialitefamily.com for all quotes or custom orders.
Is there a piece or object you are particularly proud of?
Blomkal‘s Louison bed. I think that of all the objects I’ve found, it’s the only one that has made Ophélie jealous of me. That was a real victory!
The Pistillino wall lamp in the dining room. A real find at a garage sale. It was cheaper than a cinema ticket, and it gives a waterfall of light by reflecting in the mirror.
What about the one you’re dreaming of?
An E 1027 table by Eileen Gray, a timeless classic.
A terrace with an English garden atmosphere.
Let’s talk colours. What are the ones you have in mind right now?
A very natural palette. Earth colours, brown, ochre.
And for me, it’s shades that harmonise with your colours, clay greens and bright yellows.
What projects do you have in the pipeline?
Transforming an open-space area into several workspaces with defined functions, from the rest area to the meeting room. This time we are working with signage and graphic design.
Rethinking an apartment in the South. This is a project that is really close to our hearts. In the future we would like to have other challenges like this one, why not a restaurant, a hotel… we’ll see!
Photography & Text: Eve Campestrini – Translation: TextMaster @thesocialitefamily
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