Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/384868
The stresses facing the go-to calligrapher for Paris' fashion elite, at times, run high. "During couture week this year, I hand- addressed 102 envelopes for a very big designer—one that everybody knows—from 10 p.m. until morning for a show that was the next day at noon," says Nicolas Ouchenir, the man in question. "I used a very special handwriting. It was super chic. Then the next morning, they decided to cancel the show." It's all par for the course for Ouchenir, whose Paris-based studio situated just across from Colette contains rows upon rows of fashion week invitations for heavy hitters such as Rick Owens, Maison Martin Margiela, Hermès and Gucci, just to name a few, each meticulously conceptualized with the most basic of materials: pen and paper. This Paris Fashion Week, he intends to pull a marathon of similar all-nighters that begins the two weeks before the start of the presentations and lasts until all of the fanfare ends. The state of Ouchenir's desk, covered in various inks, crumpled papers and an array of writing utensils, indicates the workspace of a very busy man. Despite our age of evites, text messages and emails, his work is still high in demand, seemingly for two reasons. First of all, "When you receive a handwritten invitation, it makes you feel really important and essential to the event," he theorizes. "When you get an email, you get the sense that the party is going to be the same without you." In his early days as a gallerist at Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand, he was sending his collectors handwritten notes before power publicist Pia de Brantes enlisted his craft for her firm. She opened his world to clients like Versailles, Rothschild and Prada, which eventually led him to open his own studio 11 years ago, although the 52 BAL HARBOUR A few things you'll find on the desk of Nicolas Ouchenir: Pen: The kalam, a sharpened piece of sugar cane dipped in ink. Ink: Montblanc Stationery: Louis Vuitton, Le Cabinet d'Ecriture Paper: The cheapest one. Font: Arial. It's clear and simple, like an old typewritten letter. It's got no emotion. ARTS & LETTERS Meet NICOLAS OUCHENIR, the master calligrapher who writes the fashion world's most exclusive invitations. BY JANELLE ZARA Nicolas Ouchenir has designed invitations and signatures for some of the world's most high-profile fashion houses. ABDELWAHEB DIDI; ABOVE, PORTRAIT BY NOEL MANALILI