Originally printed in Protein Journal Issue #14

A common practice within today’s creative culture is a crossing of lines and a blurring of roles. The idea of a creative only working in a single discipline is becoming obsolete: in a rapidly shifting industry, the looser your job description, the more adaptable you are, and the greater the chance of finding a way to work on a project. It’s all very contemporary, and is amplified in collectives.

Take for example the coming together of fashion, publishing and art direction under the Études Studio banner. Founded by Aurélien Arbet and Jérémie Egry in Paris in 2012, Études Studio was, in its earliest form, the synthesis of fashion label Hixsept and independent publisher, Je Suis une Bande de Jeunes. However, in two short years, the name has become synonymous with multidisciplined cutting-edge style and creativity, and Études Studio has branched out across the Atlantic to open a second studio, in New York.

“We’d been working together in fashion, publishing and art direction for the past 15 years,” says Arbet. “Two years ago we decided to join forces, to bring together the various projects we were involved in and to create Études.” The three fields Arbet mentions continue to make up the bulk of the studio’s work, and the unified branding was an exercise in simplification.

Études Studio’s menswear fashion line has won the most attention, with its signature regal blue and contemporary take on classic men’s styles. However, this is by no means all that the studio does. It also produces beautifully designed photography books and offers extensive art direction, design and consultancy services; Arbet and Egry are equipped to handle most projects. “We do not consider ourselves as one thing, and it’s quite natural that we combine these different practices,” says Arbet

Travelling is much easier than it used to be, you meet people and you do a project here and there

This ‘by any medium necessary’ approach is particularly effective when it comes to the studio’s publishing of photography books. To date, 10 publications have been released as part of its ongoing Blue Book collection, presenting artists ranging from American photographer and artist Daniel Everett to Paris-based photographer and film-maker Mohamed Bourouissa. From the studio, Études takes care of art direction and design as well as the publishing, hand numbering each book so as to underline the value of its tangible form. Although Études Studio started in Paris, the founders do not want it to be pigeonholed as a French enterprise. “It’s a dialogue between two cities,” Arbet points out. “It’s always the going back and forth that creates an energy and more interesting projects.”

Arbet is now mostly based in New York, while Egry primarily takes care of business in Paris. “Travelling is much easier than it used to be. You travel, you meet people and you do a project here and there.” Arbet feels that this internationally fluid approach is the way things are going for the rest of the creative industry: “I think nowadays everybody is working this way, everybody is always travelling." Études Studio’s menswear collections have clear international influences. The spring/summer 15 collection, for example, combines pattern-heavy, motocross-esque prints which are reminiscent of Middle America with sophisticated, trench coat silhouettes typical of cosmopolitan Europe. “You can see someone wearing a traditional outfit or embroidery from Africa and also wearing Nike shoes. For us it’s very interesting, it creates a new language, a new way of dressing and a new culture.” Perhaps a new role for the design collective is as a cross-cultural custodian.

The ability to combine is at the heart of the studio: it brings together transatlantic sensibilities, challenges the notion that a creative entity’s geography is fixed and houses multiple disciplines under a single roof, all sharing a single creative vision.

“People have always mixed things, but it used to be more about communication. Now I think it’s at the heart of every project and that’s something that’s happening more and more.” http://etudes-studio.com/#intro