Nelly Saunier

A feather artisan from the age of 14, Nelly Saunier trained at Lycée Octave Feuillet before continuing her studies in applied arts at the Olivier de Serres school. In 1989, she returned to teach at Lycée Octave Feuillet, helping to pass on a rare and highly specialized savoir-faire. Alongside her teaching, she collaborated for more than fifteen years with leading fashion houses including Jean-Paul Gaultier, Nina Ricci, Givenchy, and Paco Rabanne, as well as jewellers such as Harry Winston.

Named "Maître d’Art" in 2008 and awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2012, Nelly Saunier combines artisanal precision with creative freedom. Her personal works transform feathers into a medium of expression, exploring light, symbolism, protection, and poetic metamorphoses of animal and vegetal forms. Today, she is regarded as a virtuoso creator, capable of bridging the worlds of fashion, design, and contemporary art through an ancestral technique.