Alis in Wonderland
How can you not see the world differently when your name is Alis.
My passion for art, costumes, and fandom began very early. I designed and made my first fursuit at twelve, and then others followed for my friends. Riding this wave of enthusiasm, I created gory and bizarre felt plushies, trashy and flashy sculptures, and tangled clothing. I also painted a lot of walls, furniture, and a few canvases.
Today, at twenty-two, I'm a craftswoman specializing in faux fur. It was a natural path for me from day one. My parents, Lyne and Stéphane, share their experience with me as I take flight. My versatile talents as an illustrator find full expression in this incredibly comprehensive activity, where drawing, sculpture, and fabric constantly interact.
My heart and my hands are the most beautiful tools I have been given. Now all that remains is to bring them to life.
Creatures with black outlines
If I had to define my style today, I would say it's a blend of fantasy and darkness with vibrant colors, always with a touch of philosophy. Each creation I make is an expression of the present moment, my feelings, life, but also death.
This is what we call the Toony style. Not the round, harmless toony you see everywhere, but a toony that keeps its teeth. Our hybrid creatures blend animal, vegetable, and mineral elements, as if nature had improvised instead of following a plan. A horn can become a branch. Fur can extend into bark or crystal. Nothing is ever quite what it seems at first glance.
Today, our creations are inhabited by outlines and unexpected combinations. Tomorrow, it might be the turn of blur and minimalism. Style evolves because we evolve, and that's perfectly fine.
To transform imagination into reality, much trial and error and detours are essential. Through practice and repetition, the right form will eventually emerge.
A family story, before it was a profession
The Atelier has never been the work of a single person, even though I am the one who bears the name and the style. It's a family affair, where everyone contributes what they do best.
Lyne, my mother, is a clothing engineer and seamstress. She laid the technical foundations for everything we make. Thanks to her experience, we combine creativity and expertise, and each piece we deliver meets fit and comfort requirements that cannot be improvised.
Stéphane, my father, comes from the world of communication and now works in design and 3D printing. He is the one who gives shape to the rigid elements of our creatures, horns, claws, structures, everything that fabric alone cannot express.
I grew up between the two, with a pencil in one hand and scraps of fur in the other. What I do today wasn't born in a book or in a school. It was born at the kitchen table, a little earlier than average.
We enjoy teaching as much as we enjoy making. We have welcomed several trainees to the workshop, not to sell a method, but because explaining what we do forces us to better understand it ourselves.
Collaborate, don't execute
A quote that starts with a complete specification document, with every detail already decided, isn't really like us. We prefer a slightly more open start, where we feel there's still room to suggest something you hadn't yet imagined.
It means we ask questions, sometimes a lot of them. We come back to you with a different idea than what you had in mind, not to impose our vision, but because we've seen a technical solution or an artistic direction that could make the creature stronger. You remain the decision-maker from beginning to end. But we refuse to be just a pair of hands following instructions.
This is what makes each project take a little longer to start, and much more accurate in the end.
What drives us forward
We love creatures that we don't yet know how to name.
We love projects where, at the quote stage, we don't yet know how we're going to approach it. That's a good sign. It means we'll have to invent something, look for a new material, test a structure we've never built before. Each project forces us to change our methods, sometimes even our way of thinking. It's tiring. That's precisely why we keep going.
We also love accessories, extensions, and layers. A creature never quite stops at its head.
What we don't do as well are very straightforward designs, classic canine styles, projects that are entirely predetermined and simply require execution. It's not a question of quality. It's a question of accuracy. Other workshops do this very well, often faster and for less money than we do. We'd rather direct you to them than disappoint you.
Our place is elsewhere. Where things are a little complicated.