Cécile Moreau was born in Valenciennes, France. She is an artist and photographer with a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts. Although she has always been interested in fashion and costume design, she never imagined herself as a fashion designer.
In 2002, when Cécile moved to the United States with her husband, she found it difficult to find clothing to fit her petite frame, as well as her individual style. She bought a sewing machine, taught herself to sew and, in the process, found her passion. With her artist’s eye for line and color, she learned that she had natural talent for fashion design. In 2005, she decided to sell her designs and was immediately successful, so she “hasn’t stopped since.”
Cécile has always been concerned about consumerism, pollution, waste and the overall destruction of our planet. She looked ways to reduce her consumption of new materials in her designs, and decided to try recycling used clothing. She was stunned when she first went into a Goodwill Store and found used garments that still had the original tags attached. She began work with recycled textiles and other materials, and her company, Recycled by Hyena, was formed.
She seeks inspiration from all around. “My inspiration comes from a lot of things: the complexity of nature, science, biology, the incredible array of colors, history or literature.” Her work ethic is simple, “My main goal is to enjoy what I do. If I am happy creating clothing, I know it will show in my work and make other people happy too. For me it is an exchange, it is like creating art works.”
Cécile begins her designs by taking apart an entire garment, and she visualizes possibilities as she works. She describes her clothing line as “feminine, a bit quirky, a bit cute, sometimes really weird…but mainly I think it is in constant evolution in concept, shapes and craftsmanship. I like thinking it is an organic process of development.”
Cécile believes the most difficult obstacle for a new designer is funding. “Making a living out of your work is very difficult and for a one person label like mine, there is barely any profit. So it is an ongoing fight to juggle with everything: creating and designing, sewing, advertising, photo shoots and so on…” Her advice to aspiring designers is to “Follow your heart. Work hard. Be a perfectionist.”
Cécile Moreau is a featured designer at UsTrendy, where you can find her blogs and portfolio, or visit the Recycled by Hyena store.
