Driven by their shared objective to promote savoir-faire and vocational training in the fashion industry, the Paris education authority, the Mo·MADe Campus, and the designer Mossi Traoré joined forces to set up a laboratory to pass on the skills of Haute Couture excellence.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Madame Grès, they created a collection inspired by the work of the great couturier, famous for her art of the fold and her references to antiquity, and an iconic figure for Mossi Traoré. The work of this “pop-up Haute Couture workshop” is exhibited in the Studio of la Galerie du 19M, alongside original pieces by Madame Grès on loan from Olivier Châtenet and tribute pieces by Yohji Yamamoto and Olivier Saillard.

Mossi Traoré and Les Ateliers Alix

Driven by the spirit of knowledge transmission, the stylist Mossi Traoré founded the school Les Ateliers Alix in 2015. Focused on creation and the mastery of savoir-faire (from corsetry to embroidery and finishing), the school trains around thirty students per year. With the support of its association Les Ateliers Parisiens created in 2016, Mossi not only trains young people in Haute Couture but also helps them to get their start in the professional world. The school and the association also train women from priority neighbourhoods or migrants with no qualifications in the world of couture, in order to help them pass the CAP professional qualification as an external candidate and support them in finding a job. For the designer, Les Ateliers Alix is also an opportunity to pay tribute to Madame Alix Grès, whose work he is passionate about. Fascinated by the designs of Yohji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake, Margiela, by Indian culture but also Japanese manga and contemporary art, in 2017, Mossi Traoré launched his women’s ready-to-wear brand MOSSI which echoes the rigour and aesthetic qualities of couture.

Mo·MADe Campus

The Fashion, Métiers d’art and Design (Mo·MADe) Campus connects designers, major fashion houses, and students from the vocational track to help them build ambitious career paths and develop the exceptional skills needed to preserve heritage savoir-faire. Since 2019, it has promoted equal opportunity programmes and supported young people to take control of their academic and professional careers by helping them fight self-censorship and raising their awareness of the depth and breadth of the art and manufacturing professions. By contributing to the influence of these training programmes, which are little known to the general public, the Campus creates new vocations for young people who are sometimes distanced from the cultural and creative professions. The Campus brings together 25 fashion training establishments in the Île-de-France region.