Răzvan Firea & Le Petit Indigent: “Fairytales work as symbols for our beliefs and dreams.” 

It was impossible not to notice the lollipop necklace signed by Le Petit Indigent was, lately… everywhere. But Răzvan Firea, the designer behind Le Petit Indigent brand is not at his first fairytale story told through the cool outfits – blue sky prints, princely T-shirts, classical stories translated into modern clothes. I chat with Răzvan Firea about his beginnings in fashion, sustainability and AI, of course. 

We can find Le Petit Indigent products on… website – www.lepetitindigent.com / Designer Drive-In fair (see here more about the latest edition) 

It seems to me that every piece you have in your collections starts from a story (a princess one, a childish one etc). Why’s that? And why do you think we need fairytales in our life? 

What I am trying to do through each medium I use, fashion, art, or even the way I dress, is to tell a story.  When I started Le Petit Indigent that was the drive for the brand, world building and storytelling. I find stories to be an essential part of how we, humans, relate to each other and the world. Fairytales work as symbols for our beliefs and dreams.

Lately, your “biggest hit” If I may say so, was the lollipop necklace, the lollipop T-shirt, they are everywhere! How is, actually, this fashionable lollipop? What’s taste like?  

It tastes like dreams and your crush’s tongue. 🙂 The lollipop is a symbol for Le Petit Indigent. It encapsulates my belief that we should always play and not take ourselves too seriously all the time. It also works as a contrast, because a lollipop can seem childish but also seductive.

How did your first fashion collection look like and what was the trigger for it? Actually, I just invite you to tell me the story of your… fashion designer life?

The first collection, “Regarde Le Ciel” started as a desire to tell stories through clothing and prints, and also as a challenge to redefine what a basic T-shirt looks like ( I’ve created my own pattern through which I wanted to allude to the stereotypical prince sleeve, but in a very minimal, geometric shape). I got inspired by the street art of Paris and made collages that I turned into prints.

Sustainability is now a concept more often used. What is your view about this concept and how it can be identified in your collections?

I’ve always been conscious about what I put into the world and how that affects the environment. I tried to use natural fibers, worked with dead stock and challenged the patterns to avoid waste.

For the necklaces I use natural materials: wood for the lollipop, that I hand paint and coat in nontoxic lacquer, and the pearls are made of glass. I think the way we consume things in general should be sustainable, in the sense of buying stuff we actually love and we’ll keep in our lives for a long time. After all, that’s also a way to build an actual style.

The bestseller item from your collections was…

The bestseller was the Royal Lollipop t-shirt and now the “Sucker Choked me”/ Lollipop necklace. So we go back to the lollipop and the way it became a signature of Le Petit Indigent.

The biggest challenge for a designer nowadays is… Money.
AI – help or threat for designers and fashion? It can be both. I don’t use it as much but I like to think of it as a tool, like Photoshop or others. At the end of the day, without taste and ideas, a computer can’t do anything worthwhile.
On your moodboard we will always find… Pink.
The designer you would like to ask for a coffee and a piece of advice would be… (what would be the question to ask him/her?) Elsa Schiaparelli. Nothing about fashion, I would just try to get to know her as a person. 
An item to be banned from fashion history, in your opinion? I don’t think fashion should be radical. There is room for everyone, and any item, even if regarded as “ugly” can look beautiful with the right styling.

Photography: personal archive of Răzvan Firea & Le Petit Indigent.