Anja Bondroit

Fashion designer, tailor, stylist, clothing coach and animator of creative workshops… Anja Bondroit has been working in clothing design since 1994, reinventing herself and questioning her art over time.

 

Anja was born in 1974 in Germany, and her youth was shaped by the different countries in which she traveled and lived. After training in sewing with Uli Schneider, a renowned German designer, she chose to work for 5 years in Belgium as a technical assistant in production monitoring for the ready-to-wear manufacturer Mayerline. At the same time, she designs and produces her own creations in Africa and Asia.

 

Then in 2003, she decided, with her companion at the time, to go to Canada, more precisely to Montreal, multicultural city. They buy the workshop "Les Mains Folles". She uses this platform to develop a sophisticated, feminine and unconventional style, with a touch of bohemianism. Always and again inspired by the warm tones and the varied materials of the East and Africa, the sets of the "Les Mains Folles" collections which are sold for 14 years in various shops and craft shows in Quebec, Ontario, in British Columbia and New York. Anja's creations are known as luxury clothing handcrafted in Montreal where comfort merges with exotic elegance".

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In 2017, she put her business on hold in order to take time for her personal development and question the evolution of her craft. Indeed, its activity is evolving towards a very unique concept which frees itself from the sirens of overconsumption. On the one hand, it focuses on recycling noble materials to create fashion accessories as well as a "basic kit" of some essential clothes that adapt perfectly to the different needs of her clients. On the other hand, she decides to work more directly with her clients and develops a concept of personal coaching as well as recycling the hidden treasures that any wardrobe is likely to offer.

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In 2019, after many years of solo creation, Anja decided to expand her workspace and invite other artists to share her studio-loft called “Au fil du cœur” . The workshop offers its members the opportunity to benefit from a privileged space so that they can devote themselves to their creative work. A space of inspiration, sharing and conviviality around the creative gesture. Every weekend, “creative appointments” are organized. These are meetings, allowing participants to discover or deepen the art of sewing, felting, weaving, painting and beadwork.

 

Anja stands out through a personal ethic: combining eco-responsibility and refined creations. In her activity as a designer, stylist, clothing coach, as in the workshops she runs, she offers to retouch old clothes and even transform them into new pieces of clothing. Reinvented clothes, which allow the one who wears them to feel shine again in their outfit. Because this is Anja's second commitment… Giving people who trust her the opportunity to wear clothes that reflect their personality, and in which they will feel joy and pride.