Onze Mai is an atelier in the French Alps that restores antique textiles to their former glory. Each piece is hand-picked from brocantes, flea markets, caves, and grandmothers’ linen cabinets across France. The textiles are then brought back to the French Alps to be laundered in glacier river water, mended if needed, and hung to bleach and dry in the Mediterranean sun. This process can take up to a month (if you take time for lunch and rosé in the garden)!
I started Onze Mai after moving to France and (graciously) inheriting my French husband’s antique linens. I sourced a few antique chemises for my bridal trousseau for my wedding at the very ancestral home where the atelier is located, and where my baby was born. I then wore these nightdresses during pregnancy and after her birth, and was amazed to feel both beautiful and ordinary while breastfeeding in them.
I was amazed by how these garments are beautiful enough to be wedding lingerie, yet simple enough to cook and garden in. I think about the great-great-grandmothers who wore them through every season of life, and I hope that one day you will be able to pass them on to your daughter’s daughter.
Amen.
Sabrina Yvonne, Jules & Hélène Grignon