Interview
Christelle Eyebe
Christelle Eyebe, better known by her artist name Luc'Angel, is a fashion designer trained in Brussels. Her love for fashion was sparked by watching FashionTV, soon after which she started teaching herself how to design and create her own clothes.
Christelle lives in Brussels and views art as the ultimate freedom of expression. She recently participated in the opening of Milan Fashion Week.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My name is Christelle Eyebe but I use the name Luc'Angel on social networks. That's my artist name. I have been passionate about art since I was little. I have been drawing since my childhood without really having a precise orientation. I touched on everything: portrait, illustration and even abstract art.
One day while watching television with my mother, there was this television channel ‘FashionTV’ which was broadcasting a fashion show. I fell in love with it. For me, it was obvious that that's what I wanted to be: a fashion designer specializing in Haute Couture. I started to learn on my own how to create models and tried to make them. But I continued to touch the other sides of art because in the end, everything that relates directly or indirectly to art fascinates me.
In 2013, after my first year in law school, I decided to dedicate myself to working on my styling and modelling. So I moved to Belgium to train. I enrolled in the Maria Magdalena School of Fashion here in Brussels, and I improved my skills in the creation of haute couture models. Throughout my apprenticeship, the school organized a fashion show every year which I always participated in.
In 2016/2017, I created an Instagram account to exhibit my work in order to gain more visibility. Thus I created my brand, Luc'Angel.”
What would you say inspires you most?
“I would say that inspiration is first of all divine. It comes to me at any time, whether it is during the day or at night. It is like flashes of images that I receive in a lapse of time, and that I must immediately transcribe on a piece of paper or a notepad so as not to forget. I wouldn't really know how to explain it but I would say that when I am inspired, I have continuous images that come into my mind. And as long as I have not finished noting them down, I do not stop or else I instantly forget all these ideas.
But it can also happen that I am inspired by external facts, for example my family or certain urban trends, music, art, museums… I just follow my heart and let myself be guided without asking too many questions, and I think that's really where the magic feeling comes in. When you don't know what to do and just let your heart guide you, it is at this moment that you create unimaginable works which can surprise even you.”
“My work aims to highlight women in all their forms. To value the woman in all her layers, as well as the various metamorphoses that she can go through as a young girl to a mother, or a young girl to a married woman, etc.
Whether she is a young girl, mother, wife, elderly, whether she is thin or round, I believe that the woman is a real diamond.”
How would you describe your work?
“My art is a form of expression for me. When creating, I communicate my thoughts, my feelings, my vision of the world, of design, of positivity and of really loving love.
I would like to take people into my universe. I would like them to escape for a lapse of time in this parallel universe specific to each of them, just to make them forget the constraints of real life.
I would like to awaken the childish and very creative side that they had in their childhood. That they reconnect with the child who is in them, by creating a paradisiacal world specific to each of them (at their personal desire). I think that each of us is born creative but as we grow up, we drown in the constraints of life. We forget to maintain the creative flame in us and this belief that we all have as children to tell ourselves that anything is possible when we really believe in it.
Often, when I create I don't really have fixed ideas; I follow my heart and let myself be guided. I am in my universe and I don't pay attention to everything that is going on around me.”
“There’s a quote from Andrés Suares which, in my opinion, sums up the exact function of art, ‘Art is the perfect place for freedom.’
Art is a way of expressing oneself freely. We create it in different forms. From the moment we create something that comes straight out of our head, there are no more constraints, no more obstacles. It’s exactly what Andrés Suares says: it is perfect freedom!”
What is your creative process like?
“Well, everything always starts with an idea, an inspiration. Then I use a sheet of paper to draw, giving life to the idea in a global way in the form of an illustration with predefined colors. After that comes the design of the model by patronage or modeling. I carefully choose the fabric, cut it out and sew. I like to work with lace, muslins, velvet, satin, tulle and many other materials. Color also plays an important and determining role in the creation process, especially at the visual level. It's all this set of little things that give life to the finished product.
Some creations require the finishing to be done by hand, which can take several hours or even days to do so, and therefore adds a lot more value to the model.”
Which artists influence you most?
“In applied art, Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Chanel and many others. I think they have done incredible things and I am fascinated by how they have revolutionized the world of fashion over time.
In abstract art, Robert Delaunay. His work really speaks to me.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I think an artist’s role is very complex. For decades, an artist has been considered as the one who denounces the facts of society in all its forms; the one who revolutionizes or influences a certain way of thinking or of being as a person.
But for my part, I think that an artist expresses himself according to his aspirations. I don't like the fact that we try to frame the artist in a particular role. I find that it puts a lot of limits on his imagination. It restrains him and keeps him captive.
I think that each artist evolves according to his time and current influences.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I’ve taken part in a few exhibitions here in Brussels, especially in 2019 and début 2020.
This year, 2021, I participated in the opening of Milan Fashion Week thanks to Event Savo, and it was very exciting.”
