Délicieux shop in Lausanne
At Délicieux, the decoration makes the charm of the shop: a bakery refrigerator as a shop window, tropical plants scattered around the shop… It’s over coffee that Sebastian and Mauricio tell us how they started the opening of a shop. They also give us some good places in Lausanne…
Do you have a background in fashion or did it happen by chance?
Sébastian: The story is that I started to make a brand named Alias One. At the time we didn’t have a shop. Some years later, my partner came to join me because there were things I could not handle such as customs, clothing … I mostly took care of the space in the shops. We both continued to work on the brand. One day we thought that would be cool to open a shop where you have several brands, and together we opened the A1 shop in 2006. A1 Shop name was then changed to Délicieux, and it’s been 3 years ever since.
Can you find the brand Alias One at Délicieux?
Sébastian: Exactly. Alias One was created in 1999. At the beginning I wanted to be a graphic designer, but I ended up being a plasterer-painter. There both completely different. I wanted to express myself and so I started with just prints on T-shirts. And then I was lucky that the shops in the area contacted me to make a sale. It’s more of a brand that’s aimed at Switzerland than France. The items are pretty street wear but basic too although they remain quiet dark. Every year we use more or less the same products but we change the materials and colors. We made a reputation for ourselves with leather gym bags. And it’s been 6 years since we did that. We created our trademark with these bags. We particularly collaborated a lot with Sang Bleu. It is a magazine and a tattoo artist named Maxime Buchi. He tattooed Kanye West and has helped us a lot in promoting the brand and brand awareness.
Is Avenier the next brand that you want to release?
Sébastian: Yes, it is a contraction of “avant” and “dernier” meaning penultimate. I’m launching this brand with the rapper Orelsan. We teamed up to create the brand. Basically we wanted to work on something different to Alias One, but in fact I’s not that much different to the brand. Since I draw everything, you can find my references everywhere.
And you Mauricio what made you want to take the plunge?
Mauricio: Me I was a cook. I started in sales as a seller. After that I was a manager in a streetwear shop in Lausanne.
Today in France there’s fast growing concept shops that are cozy and friendly. Do you feel the same dynamism in Switzerland?
Sébastian: We are in a smaller country. Switzerland tries to do the same as France and countries around. But they’re a bit behind with this type of culture. In Switzerland it’s the beginning of these types of shops. Competition started two years ago. Before there wasn’t any competition, we were almost the only ones. There were street wear shops but they were more Hip-Hop shops.
Is it true that as your next project you plan to open a shop in Geneva?
Sébastian: We’re in the ongoing process. For now we are doing a test in a concept store in Geneva. Every region in Switzerland is very different and Geneva does not have the same mentality as in Lausanne. So you have to adapt and find clients. We are in a place where there are plenty of shops, and we were have our own little space. We’re doing the test there, and after the idea is to open our own shop. This is a logical continuation for us.
What made you want to distribute Olow?
Sébastian: I found the two creators very nice and friendly. We met at the Bright exhibition in Berlin in 2006. They didn’t have many items but everything was neatly done. We saw them the following year, they had really evolved and had kept their neat items but with a slightly larger range. We got on well with both brands. We tested and customers were happy. After it became almost logical to work with you. There is also the brand philosophy, ethics, quality, originality … All these things make us want to work with you.
What do you expect from brands like Olow today?
Sébastian: Continuity. Now the customers are loyal to the brand, they’re impatient to see the new items. We also expect Olow to surprise us with their collections and new collaborations.
Did you do the setting for the shop?
Sébastian: Yes. We thought that “Délicieux” sounded more like a bakery than a street wear shop. We wanted to play with the idea so we salvaged a baker’s fridge. It was not easy to move, we had to remove the window and there were 7 of us carrying it to fit it in the shop.
What do you like to listen to in Delicious?
Sébastian: Me I listen to the latest album of Lino, I’m more French rap.
Mauricio: At the opening yesterday I was listening to Johnny Hallyday (laughs).
Sébastian: We really have a contrast; it allows us to be complementary!
Did you do exhibitions from time to time?
Sébastian: We did a few at the beginning with artists from the region who are in charge of the windows. And then we stopped so we wouldn’t get into a routine. It’s been 2 years since we haven’t done anything. Next year it’s our 10th anniversary , we will surely do more stuff this year. We want to mark the occasion.
If I spend two or three days in Lausanne, what do you advise me to do?
Sébastian: In Lausanne what’s nice is that there are many things to do. I advise you to play ping-pong at the Ping-Pong Club. Every Wednesday they organize an event at the D! Club. I advise you to go for a drink at Bourg Plage. It is under a bridge, it’s an arcade with a large terrace. It’s pretty cool. There are clubs like Le Romandie where there is always stuff organized. From Wednesdays onwards there’s always things going on. There are a lot of Jazz festivals like the Cully Jazz, there are concerts in cellars and outside. Every weekend you can get out and do whatever you want. Lausanne is a hyper developed nocturnal city with lots of places and apart from that there are also festivals throughout the summer.
If you could promote a local artist and tell me a bit about them who would you talk about?
Sébastian: For music there has to be Verveine. It’s music that approaches Bjork. Otherwise for Hip-Hop there there’s Flex Fab, that’s changing tremendously. He won a lot of prizes in Switzerland and we’ve been following him with Alias One since last year. There’s also Ka and Bostanie. And last would be Buvette. For graphic designers, there is someone that I love called Thomas Koenig. There is also Fichtre an illustrator who has his own unique hand. He made a Fichtre Party where he drew live one evening.
Find Délicieux on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you to Sébastian and Mauricio.
– P.L –
