Justine Bonenfant

Justine is a French Lesage-trained embroidery designer, maker and teacher specialising in Haute Couture embellishment and tambour beading. She is based in North London.

Justine’s delicate work is inspired by poetry and nostalgia with a french je ne sais quoi. Her romantic aesthetic is shaped by her love of happy memories, storytelling and her quest to find beauty and purpose.

She graduated in fashion design from ESMOD in 2010 before pursuing her hand-embroidery training at the Lesage School (Chanel Group) in Paris. Justine is a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust alumni and she was awarded by HRH the Prince of Wales at Clarence House to carry out an apprenticeship in Goldwork and Monogramming at Hand and Lock, London based embroidery atelier since 1767.

Her embroidery know-how combines both extensive French Luneville and British needle techniques.

She has lived in Paris, Marrakech, London and Chennai, cities with rich artisanal heritages, where she worked for a broad range of fashion houses and ateliers, from Haute Couture to Ready to Wear and bridal. These include Chanel, Dior, Valentino, Alexander Mc Queen to mention a few.

Some of the luxury pieces she worked on were worn by the likes of Beyonce, Naomi Campbell, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Justine also works on theatre projects for Disney’s musicals.

Justine is a guest lecturer at the Royal School of Needlework and a tutor at Hand and Lock. She has taught international classes in the US, Australia and Indonesia.

Justine is also the founder of accessory label Clo de Vila. Her intricately detailed and witty hand-embroidered neckpieces and brooches got featured in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, l’Officiel, Sunday Times Style, Hunger and Elle to name a few.