Michèle Lamy (born February 5, 1944) is a French culture and fashion figure. She has been a clothing designer, performer, and film producer. She is the co founding partner of Owenscorp and functions as the Executive Manager Art/Furniture.

Early life and education

Lamy was born in 1944 in Jura, France. Her grandfather made accessories for one of France's most famous couturiers,

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and career Poiret was bor ...

. She studied law, and during the 60s and 70s, worked as a

defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

, while studying with the postmodern philosopher

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

Career

In 1979, Lamy moved to New York and then settled in Los Angeles, where she set up a fashion line and ran two cult restaurants/nightclubs – Café des Artistes and Les Deux Cafés in 1996 with her first husband, experimental filmmaker Richard Newton. In 1984, Lamy created a clothing line called ''Lamy''. She hired

Rick Owens Richard Saturnino Owens (born November 18, 1961) is an American fashion designer from Porterville, California. In addition to his main line, Owens has a furniture line and a number of diffusion lines. Early life and education Richard Saturnino ...

, who later became her business partner and eventually her companion and husband. In 2001, Lamy and Owens left Los Angeles to settle in Paris and got married in 2006. In 2004, the couple established their own fashion company Owenscorp, describing their business partnership as "asking a gypsy to organise a war with a fascist." Lamy produces the furniture that bears the Owens brand. She also designs jewelry with

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and has appeared in

FKA twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 16 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musica ...

and Black Asteroid music videos. She formed the band LAVASCAR with the artist Nico Vascellari and her daughter Scarlett Rouge. In November 2010, Lamy posed for a shoot for ''

Vogue Paris ''Vogue France'' (stylised in all caps) is the French edition of '' Vogue'' magazine, formerly called ''Vogue Paris'' from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been regarded as one of the top fashion ...

'' with the photographer Steven Klein. In 2013, Lamy was featured in ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' with her daughter from her first marriage, artist Scarlett Rouge. In 2015, she was featured in one of the videos for the EP ''

M3LL155X ''M3LL155X'' (pronounced "Melissa") is the third extended play (EP) by English singer and songwriter FKA Twigs, released on 13 August 2015 by Young Turks. The EP was lauded by music critics after its release and peaked at number 63 on the ''Bill ...

'' by

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 16 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musica ...

. Lamy appeared in the first clip; ''Figure 8'', wearing a headpiece with a luminous bulb imitating an

anglerfish The anglerfish are ray-finned fish in the order Lophiiformes (). Both the order's common name, common and scientific name comes from the characteristic mode of predation, in which a modified dorsal Fish fin#Ray-fins, fin ray acts as a Aggressiv ...

. At the 2016

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

, Lamy transformed an old container ship into a floating saloon. The same year, she recorded songs with her good friend, rapper

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mo ...

. Rocky said about Lamy, "Hardly anyone knows how important you have been behind the scenes for my career. You did not just design my album covers, you took me to art fairs and showed me the art world." In 2017, Lamy and Rick Owens were featured in Lou Stoppard's book about fashion's most important and iconic duos, titled ''Fashion Together: Fashion's Most Extraordinary Duos on the Art of Collaboration''. In the book, Owens said that Lamy was more his "mate" than "muse." And, "I don't think anyone would ever think of Michèle as a passive muse. I think that's why she sparks people's interest—because she doesn't fit the typical role of a muse." Lamy has practiced

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

for 35 years. In 2018, she set up her own boxing gym "Lamyland" in Selfridges, London. The space previously was home to A$AP Rocky's AWGE Bodega. It is now reinvented every few months. In October 2018, Lamy curated a performance series featuring a tour of "Outsider Art Fair Paris" by British performance artist

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. In January 2019, Lamy held an

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

"Genius You" in collaboration with Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker, taking place all around Selfridges, London. From May to November 2019, her boxing installation: "What Are We Fighting For?", had been shown in Venice Biennale. During November, Lamy also participated in Performa 19 where he presented ''Before We Die'' (2019) created with

Cecilia Bengolea Cecilia Bengolea (born 1979, Buenos Aires) is an Argentinian artist, choreographer and dancer. Her works have been shown or performed at the Desert X of the Coachella Festival, the Art Basel or the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao amongst other venues. ...

. Lamy said about her approach to fashion and design, "I like to really be with a lot of people and exchange ideas and the best way to be is to do something together, so I'm easily seduced… And when it's the idea or I want to lead a bunch of people somewhere and do something together, I think that's generous." In 2020, Lamy collaborated with director Katya Bankowsky for ''Battle Royale'', a series of short films that feature Bankowsky and Lamy preparing for a fight.

Personal life

Lamy has one daughter, artist Scarlett Rouge. Lamy is married to fashion designer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Michele 1944 births 20th-century French women artists 20th-century French businesswomen 20th-century French women lawyers 21st-century French women artists 21st-century French businesswomen 21st-century French women lawyers Living people French emigrants to the United States French women boxers French women fashion designers French fashion designers French women film producers People from Jura (department) Nightclub owners