Imperial chestnuts with Empire
Valérie Santarelli loves history and images. After training as a historian and years as a TV director in Paris, she decided to return to Ajaccio to devote herself to creation. Her playground? The rich imagery surrounding Napoleon, the Bonapartes and the Napoleonides, which she hijacks, revisits and transforms into a host of objects as well thought-out as they are clever.
Her project was born in 2006, and she is arguably the pioneer of the "made in Corsica" revival. Since then, her method has been emulated by many, but she never ceases to draw on the island's cultural iconography to create contemporary motifs applicable to the quality garments and accessories she offers in her boutique at Le Roi de Rome, a chic, imperial and quirky little gem.
Her creative process? It's built up through books, museums and anecdotes, but she also loves talking about materials, hunting out beautiful fabrics or unforgettable trimmings...
On the manufacturing side, she loves prototyping with scissors, and happily produces by hand the small series she launches every year.
With Castagnina, there was something of a family resemblance... a slightly more mountainous cousin adventure, but our paths were bound to cross!
Didn't young Bonaparte himself derive the first fruits of his freedom from chestnuts? Yes, yes, perfectly, reread his Memoriesin which he recounts a childhood memory: " If I was punished with dry bread, I would exchange it for the chestnut bread of my shepherds. "!
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