From the depths of her garage, Marie Gervais colors Lodève with her creations

Marie Gervais Enguéné Poujol continue de créer quotidiennement chez elle. Louise Gerbaud

Le tissu Wax, utilisé dans la mode africaine est utilisé dans ses créations. Louise Gerbaud

La couturière créer vêtements et accessoires fusionnant ses origines africaines et le style européen.

” Today I thank my cousin I pray for her every day for everything she has given me”, confides Marie Gervais Enguéné Poujol, her hands on her sewing machine, with deep gratitude.

On Avenue de Fumel between the grayish buildings, the seamstress's creative boutique, set up in her garage, stands out like a rainbow in a cloudy sky. The human eye is irresistibly drawn to the bright colors and geometric patterns of the clothes hanging on the old walls.

Marie Gervais settled in Lodève six years ago. In an African or European style, she designs clothes for women, men and children, but also accessories such as hats, bags or jewelry. Their common characteristic: they are made from Wax fabric: “it is 100% cotton, covered in wax, widely worn in West Africa which absorbs heat“, explains the designer, originally from Yaoundé in Cameroon.

Marie Gervais also makes clothes on request. Louise Gerbaud

A childhood totally immersed in sewing

This passion for sewing originated in her childhood: ” At eight years old I created my dolls with the white roots of a long grass that I braided, then I made her clothes with pieces of fabric". At the age of fourteen, she enrolled in a technical sewing school while training in parallel in the workshop of her cousin, a seamstress. As an adult, she trained many apprentices and created her own workshop, which grew to such an extent that she was tasked with making the flags of the African countries participating in the African Union summit.

When she moved to Paris, the seamstress discovered French fashion with surprise: “when I saw all these people dressed in black, I asked my friend: they are in mourning every day? “, she recalls with a laugh. After a trip to Lyon, she settled in the region and met her husband, a resident of Liausson. She began selling her creations in front of their house and at markets. Thanks to her training in European sewing in Cameroon, she easily adapted to the demand.

Clothes and accessories are created in a European or African style. Louise Gerbaud

An activity that soothes her

After fifteen years of marriage, they both settled in Lodève in 2018, but her husband died a few months later from an illness. Not driving, she transformed her garage into a shop, despite her doubts: " I followed my desire and finally people came". In her apartment where she makes her pieces, there are a pile of fabrics, but not only that: ” eleven sewing machines are hiding!” she exclaims with a teasing smile.

For this resilient woman, sewing is a lifelong vocation. It is also an activity that soothes her and immerses her in a world outside of time: “When I immerse myself in it, I am absorbed and it is only fatigue that comes to tell me “Madam, it is time for you to rest”. She likes to spend time finding beautiful fabrics on the markets but also observing: “It is the clothes that first attract me on the people”.

Today, Marie Gervais hopes that one of her daughters, who currently manages the workshop in Cameroon, will take over the shop: "I would like her to take over", she confides.

The seamstress sells her creations directly in her garage. Louise Gerbaud