Business Cards

Vintage business cards of suppliers of bleu de travail in France:

Alice Kinh (2)

An improvisation by Alice Kinh, the only directive being 'bleu de travail': La Bleue. 

Choreographer Jean-Christophe Ydier.

Bleu de Paname

Bleu de Paname, a made in France Parisian brand, has worked its way to the forefront of the menswear scene in the space of seven years thanks to its efficiently simple offer: “updated” workwear for the labour and leisure of a new generation of urbanites.

Founded and run by Christophe Lépine and childhood friend from the south Parisian suburbs Thomas Giorgetti. Lépine, who was working at Nike’s Parisian Head Office, and Thomas Giorgetti who was busy in the fashion press industry, started Bleu de Paname in 2009 as a “secret” brand. Both partners were simultaneously busy on a number of different activities and the pair started thinking up a single-product brand in 2008 based on denim jeans, both already having a strong belief in local workwear; revisited French working attire.

Back then, that segment of fashion had absolutely no cool factor in France, yet Christophe and Thomas both believed that with the right fabrics and references, their jeans would provide a perfect introduction to an impactful brand.

They turned to their huge personal collections of new or worn garments for inspiration: streetwear, traditional, military and civilian clothing. The brand’s statement was very clear: upgraded workwear turned into perfect outfits for the daily lives of urbanites.

Bric A Brac

Miners (M/F) in bleu de travail on the mantlepiece

Miners

Miners in the Ruhrgebiet (British Occupation Zone), Germany, 1946.

Duo Umai

Nomads of dance, Socio-choreographers Théo-Mogan Gidon and Alice Kinh of dance ensemble Duo Umai. November, 2012.

Blue Art

 Art in bleu de travail from the German Democratic Republic

Bleu de travail in the GDR

From the Socialist Workers and Farmers Republic DDR (GDR):

Dutch Scenes

Dutch country life in bleu de travail

Chicks

Saving chicks with bleu de travail

At the Mine

Workwear hanging at the mine, (France), waiting for the miners return:

Dutch Foundries

Workers in Stork Foundry in Hengelo, 1910

Workers at the Jaffa Foundry in Utrecht

Port of Amsterdam

Workers in the Port of Amsterdam near the Van Diemenstraat. Apprix. 1900

Zic Zazou (2)

Cheap Workers in the Netherlands

Workers in the Netherlands, pre WW2. Maximum pay 0.26 per day...

Zic Zazou

…30 years on! This really is a record for a band that has not followed the traditional pathway, a band whose core aim has always been to strike a balance between street art and stage-show, providing a steady, skilfully-blended stream of music, poetry and humour.

Nine musicians, comedians, singers, all playing a variety of different instruments some traditional, some used in unconventional and imaginative ways and some of which are pure invention. Their art has taken them into the realms of traditional Beaux Arts brass band music, recycled punk, hybrid musette/funk rock  and into art involving a hotchpotch of musical objects.

Saint Jean de la Croix

The people who live in Saint Jean de la Croix are called the Jeanicrussiens. Saint Jean de la croix in English is John of the Cross who was a Carmelite, and the patron saint of contemplative life.

Ox Teams

The last peasants using oxen for farm work in the French Midi, naturally in bleu de travail.

Clogs

Wooden shoe maker in the Rhone, 1964

Behind The Scenes at Old Town

Behind The Scenes at Old Town in Norfolk, UK.

Hungary

Socialist worker in Hungary, 1975