Brecht Evens

Although he is still a ‘young’ Belgian strip cartoonist / illustrator, Brecht Evens (°1986) already has an entire body of work to his name and he is already renowned internationally. With his fourth book 'The wrong place' ('Ergens waar je niet wil zijn'), he won the very first Willy Vandersteen Award, a new and prestigious Belgian – Dutch comic book award. The awarded book was selected from about 300 titles and has been published in French and English.

The theme throughout his works is 'human relationships'. He shows people partying in big groups and at the same time, he illustrates the loneliness of the revelry: people who are not capable of making contact. Evens’ comics are big drawings without the traditional balloons and restrictive frames. His style is picturesque, executed in ecoline, pencil and poster paint.

Being a Belgian brand, Clinch always wanted to work with a Belgian artist, and that is what brought us to Brecht Evens. The explosive and modern style from his last book 'The wrong place' moved us. The result: two beautiful pouches, each with two unique illustrations reinforcing each other by their theme.

brechtnieuws.blogspot.com

Candida Romero

The self-taught French-American artist Candida Romero was born in 1966 in the middle of art, literally.  She was born in the former studio of Chaïm Soutine in La Ruche, Paris. La Ruche is a building designed by Gustave Eiffel for the world exhibition of 1900. For more than a century now, the building has been home to the studios of famous artists: Simone Dat, Marc Chagall, Ossip Zadkine, Fernand Léger, Diego Rivera, Paul Rebeyrolle, Brancusi and many more. Candida was raised in this extraordinary environment. To this day, she still has a studio in La Ruche: the studio formerly owned by Chagall. Apart from that, she also works from Corsica, where she has been working for years on the restoration of a monastery. Since 1995, Candida has given several international (solo and group) exhibitions. We first got acquainted with her work in 2006, when we saw her book ‘IN FOLIO’. We contacted Candida this year and this has led to an inspiring cooperation. The result is one to be very proud of: two extraordinary pouches with an extraordinary story.

Discover Candida Romero son her website.

Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan makes gorgeous story-telling illustrations from cut paper. With fine scalpels he cuts his visual fairy tales in one piece, filled with herbaceous borders, loving couples, phrases, animals, hearts and bells. Enter this world, and you will find a wealth in feeling and meaning: love but hate as well, hope or despair, light and darkness. Rob himself calls them 'tiny works of meaning and mystery.'

Rob was born in 1962 on Cyprus, where his Irish parents then lived, and started to draw from an early age. He now lives and works in England, where he cuts his own work and prints it as well - Rob has an MA in printmaking from the Royal College of Art - and also makes commissioned work for clients such as Vogue, Paul Smith, Liberty and other publishers of books, magazines and music. And now for Clinch as well, which, as a starting brand, is particularly pleased and proud with his co-operation.

Rob's wondrous work can be discovered on his own website.

Frank van Paridon

Frank van Paridon is a master of various crafts. Next to various management functions, having been commercial director of the Cirque du Soleil Europe for instance, he has traveled the world in the past 25 years. Resulting in his book 'No particular place to go' which has beautiful photographs of 'people leading their normal lives; working and having fun, eating, drinking and laughing; their routines and rituals.'

We first discovered Frank's work in Villa d'Arte magazine, which in 2007 devoted a photo feature to his work, and was transported with delight. From his side, Frank reacted enthusiastically to have one of his photographs find a new destination on our leather goods.

Today, Frank combines his passion for photography with Proud to Present, his own consultancy for live entertainment.

Minakani

Minakani is a Parisian design studio specialising in textile designs for fashion and home furnishings, founded by Frédéric Bonnin and Cécile Figuette. Together they create good-humoured designs, which play with naive innocence, poetry, travel impressions, retro elements, fun and fantasy. The versatility of their work has found favour far and wide, resulting in Minakani designs being used in creations from Cacharel and Kenzo, Dim and Wonderbra, to H&M and Topshop to name but a few.

We discovered Minakani's work at a trade show in Paris. The designs appealed to us and we immediately got on well with the creative duo, leading to a cordial co-operation ever since.

Get to know Minakani at their own website, where you can also discover their latest collection of cheerful designs.