The Montebury — What makes Charles Georges' ties so exclusive?
Charles Chouéri — Everything is handmade, from the beginning to the end of the process. The fabrics are dyed by hand, patterns are hand-painted and then the manufacturer cuts them by hand. The folds are also handmade. We are much closer to the spirit of haute couture than ready to wear. It is more a couture work with the respect of luxury craftsmanship. Products are partly made in Switzerland and partly in France. There is in both countries a great tradition for craftsmanship. Handmade, precision and quality are typically Swiss. Obviously France is the country of fashion, French people also have great expertise. In fact, the manufacturer that makes the ties is a Swiss company based in Geneva but with their workshops in France, near the Swiss border, but still in France. The workshop that dyes the fabric is based in Switzerland, in the canton of Bern. They specialize in hand dyeing and only work with vegetable colours. They work with flowers, leaves and roots. It is really all about the respect and the defense of luxury craftsmanship.

The Montebury — So, each tie is unique?
Charles Chouéri — As the patterns are hand-painted, they evolve on the fabric and then, when the ties are cut, the same patterns are not found in the same place. If one takes two ties from the same model, there will be small differences. They are also seven-fold ties. It is this set of folds that does not exist in traditional ties. Seven-fold ties are lined in their own fabric, which means that one finds the same fabric on both sides of the tie. About two times more fabric than a traditional tie is used to create a seven-fold tie, which means that one can make four traditional ties out of one meter of fabric but only two seven-fold. Each tie is numbered, accompanied with a certificate, the seal of the brand and a sample of the fabric used. There are two types of silk: twill and crepe. The white ties are made of crepe silk and the ones with a coloured background are made of twill silk.

For the white ties there is at the workshop an additional operation, white being obviously see-through. In order to avoid superimposition of patterns, they put another layer of white silk between to make it more opaque.

A tie looks like a very simple product but is actually very difficult to make, a lot of operations are involved.

The Montebury — Are your designs seasonal?
Charles Chouéri — No, the design is not done by season or by collection. Models are kept. At some point some might be discontinued and others arrive. It is continuous work and never stops all year long. We do not go from one season to another and we do not discontinue models to be replaced by others. I consider it timeless work.

The Montebury — Why have you chosen to use silk as a material?
Charles Chouéri — I find silk is a very nice material, it is a very fine fabric. It is something that has a nice touch. I also think it is something quite magical if we know how it is made - silkworms produce the yarn. Plus, silk is a fantastic, very strong thread which is elastic. If one pulls a thread of silk, one can lengthen it by 25% and after it returns to its original length. I think there is something really fascinating in silk. However, it is not the only material I like, as there is much more.

The Montebury — Where does the inspiration for your designs come from?
Charles Chouéri — There are things that are there, within myself. Sometimes I don't even realise they are there and one day they come out. One day I will say to myself: “Look. I am going to design this pattern.”

Where does the inspiration come from? It is finally something hard to explain. In a day, without even realizing, we retain a lot of information, a lot of data. Our eyes catch thousands of images. A lot of things that come to us live within us and then one day, they come out, in a different way without really knowing how. It is the same when I start working on a painting. Where does the idea of a painting come from? I do not know. Sometimes it is like a flash in my mind. “Look, I could do that.” So I try, sometimes it is good, sometimes not so I say to myself it was not a good idea. Although, an idea often gives birth to another. We start doing something and after we say to ourselves “I might be able to change, to do it a bit differently.” So it gives something else.

The Montebury — Because you work as an artist, you do not create your product for a market, you do not take trends into consideration.
Charles Chouéri — No, it is that. Indeed, my work is completely timeless, outside of time and outside of trends. It is something very personal and it is true that I do not take into consideration what is done elsewhere. I am interested but I do not really feel concerned.

The Montebury — Who is the Charles Georges target customer?
Charles Chouéri — Men who have true values in life. Cultivated men, who like art and literature. Men who are sensitive, deep and not superficial. They are not only satisfied with appearances, they do not live superficially. Men who still give importance to some true values and to the quality of things, how things are made and thought. It is a question of state of mind. Men for whom a product is not just a product with a label but something more, deeper. Finally men who have a certain lifestyle. What is important for me is that I try to defend true luxury. We live in a world where luxury is more and more democratized. The democratization is simply not possible. It is something else. It is marketing, business, everything you want but not luxury. When a product is introduced as luxury while everybody wears it on the street, it is wrong. One uses a word that is no longer appropriate to the reality. For me, luxury is a privilege and, in life, privileges are rare. Luxury is something rare. Luxury for everybody is impossible. In life, luxury can exist in various areas. For instance, in a days work, being able to take two/three hours off to leave the office and have a nap, a walk or a tea and to forget everything. It is a luxury that one offers to oneself, a moment in brackets, a moment for oneself outside the world, outside problems and concerns. It is rare. Even that, to have a nice time, is luxury. Time is a luxury, a privilege. It is rare to have time for oneself, one has to fight. This is the spirit of the thing, it is to work on something special, beautiful, but made in a specific state of mind for customers that can understand and appreciate it. A banker from Lausanne who really likes the ties told me: “Finally something different. I am fed up of ties for bankers. The market has been the same for years, it is always the same thing. I have had enough, I want something else.” I was very interested and touched by this reaction, especially from a banker. There might be this rigid image of a banker, someone a little bit insensitive but no, there was a real enthusiasm. Among the customers who come to my shop in Lausanne, there are several bankers who want to wear something else.

I created a flagship store for the brand in one of the rooms of my art gallery. The gallery is over two floors with several rooms and I chose one of them that I renovated and transformed. When one comes to Charles Georges, one enters the art gallery. So, there are also works of art to see as well as the shop. It is the link between art and fashion.

The Montebury — Why did you choose Switzerland and especially the city of Lausanne?
Charles Chouéri — I have been living in Lausanne since my childhood. It is a city I like, with a lot of charm and the border of the lake is beautiful. It is a very pleasant city because it is green, there are plenty of gardens, trees and parks. But Lausanne is obviously not the perfect place for fashion. Because I live there, I have never thought to move somewhere else, not yet anyway. It is true that I really like Paris, however I will look for points of sale because it is essential to create a network. I am looking for some very exclusive and elegant shops. One in Paris. Today there is the flagship store in Lausanne and a beauty salon for men where they have a corner. They created a display with a poster to present a part of the collection to their customers. It is also possible to buy on the website but there is no other shop which stocks the brand. One of the next steps is to develop the presence of the brand on the market. There is no need to have several shops, one in Paris, one in London and in Monaco. There are two or three Swiss groups of luxury shops located in Geneva, Zurich and Bale. I would like to work with one of them to have some points of sale in Switzerland. This is the next step, a network in Switzerland, Paris, London and Monte Carlo.

The Montebury — It is interesting that you sell online. What do you think about selling luxury goods online?
Charles Chouéri — It is a new trend. I think it is a good thing because it is convenient. If one is interested in a brand or in a product, one will not necessarily find it where one lives. I find it really pleasant to be able to find a product online that one likes, to simply order it and for it to be delivered at home. We say that online is for everybody because everybody is online, but they will not be interested in the same product. There are obviously consumer products but the fact that a luxury brand sells online does not offend me. I thought it was normal to do it. I just think we can't buy everything online. A tie, yes, but not a suit, if one did not try it on, I do not know. Clothing and shoes seem difficult to me. Some shoe retailers sell online but I have never tried to order a pair online. Even if one orders ones size, the model can still not fit. If one orders a pair of shoes in leather and after has problems, if they hurt, it is annoying. It is like clothing, I do not know if a woman can really buy a dress online except if she has tailor who after does the fitting. For instance, a well cut suit, which falls perfectly, online, even if it is from a very good label, there will certainly be alterations to do, which to me seems more difficult. Right now there is no problem because Charles Georges just sells accessories.

At the moment three products are available: ties, bow ties and scarves. For the scarves, another material is used: cashmere, which I love. I mix both with a model which is on silk on one side and in cashmere on the other. All silk models use the same silk twill as the ties do. The same house makes them. The scarf collection is currently being created. The first models are black, I am now going to work with grey and purple. A pink scarf is not easy to wear for a man.

Each model of bow tie is either “pre-tied” or “to tie”, still using the same hand painted silk twill as the ties. Not every man knows how to tie a bow tie.

The Montebury — What is the future of Charles Georges?
Charles Chouéri — I have two main projects: to develop the network of points of sale and then I will work on a collection of knitwear in cashmere. It is something for next autumn because I like cashmere as well as the craft of knitting. It will be something new in a way that cashmere is generally used very traditionally. I will work with colours, patterns, text and words. As a jumper presents a large surface, I will work like I do with a painting, with abstract shapes. I really feel as a painter when I work on this collection of knitwear. The first prototype is being analyzed and manufactured. It is the next step but I will certainly not go further with clothing. I do not want to do suits because knitwear offers a lot of possibilities for creation and especially since I have rather traditional tastes for menswear. I do not think I can revolutionize men's suits and there are designers out there who are interested in suits that I do not think are wearable or even suitable. There are not several ways of wearing an elegant suit. I do not see what I could bring to this field. I only want to be involved with things that I can bring a personal touch to, my style and my ideas. Knitwear is both a garment and an accessory. It is in between, which is why I have an interest for this product. I feel there is a gap in the market; cashmere but worked differently.

The Montebury — Which artists inspire the style of your collection?
Charles Chouéri — I have very eclectic and wide tastes, which spread over several centuries. I obviously feel very touched by contemporary creation as it is the environment I am involved in. I also really like painters, to only speak about them, from the past centuries: English painters, including Turner, Gainsborough, whom I find superb, Reynolds, Constable etc. The English school as a whole. But also El Greco, Rembrandt, van Dyck. They are wonderful painters.

In the paintings from the twentieth century, there are so many names to mention. At some point, I really liked Francis Bacon, another English painter, but less so now. I think he suited me during a period when I was myself tormented. Today I think I have a freer, calmer mind and Bacon, who is a wonderful painter indeed, slightly bothers me. I feel less linked to him than I used to be. For example, I really love Lucian Freud. Freud is wonderful. I also like abstract painting: Rothko, Jackson Pollock, the whole American school of the fifties/sixties. I could make a very long list.

There are plenty of things I am interested in and I am touched by, for various reasons, but also in other areas. I am also very interested in music, both classical and contemporary as well as jazz. I have always been very open-minded, intellectually very curious. I enjoy discovering new things at all times and I try to know as much as possible. One day we will all leave this world having only discovered a small part of what the world has to offer us. We can spend our life studying, discovering things, but it will always be a small part of what exists. Life is too short for that. Read all the existing books, see all the paintings: it is impossible. But it is essential to try, to always be open and try to discover what is unknown. When I hear about a painter, a writer or a composer that I do not know, I am interested to see if I am interested. When I go to the book shop, I also go to discover novelties. I see names of writers I have never heard of or that I have never read any books from. Sometimes I like, sometimes not. It is important for a human being to be as open minded as possible, to discover what the world offers, what human beings have created. All what we can learn help us to live a better life. The richer one is inside, more one is able to give. In order to give and create, there is a need for a solid base. All what one discovers, one is able to transform it and to give it back in a different way.