I was recently invited by Blue Illusion at Pacific Fair to watch an adorable, petite, French lady sit atop a ladder and paint their shop window. Her name is Nathalie Lété, and she is a Parisian artist renowned for her whimsical and enchanting illustrations.

On a recent trip to France, owners of Blue Illusion, Donna and Danny came across Nathalie in Paris and immediately fell in love with her captivating designs and asked her to come to Australia. Whilst here, Nathalie has painted selected stores in Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. She has also collaborated on apparel, homewares and accessories for Blue Illusion’s Summer 2010 collection.

Aside from being one of those French women who make me want to start riding a bicycle everywhere, order baguettes, and tie a scarf around my neck, she is an amazing artist. It is also incredible how quickly she paints – the window was finished in just over an hour!

Nathalie painted during the busy lunchtime period at the shopping mall. She gathered quite a crowd out the front of the store whilst inside, we munched on pastel coloured macaroons and sipped French champagne. After she had finished, Nathalie jumped down from the window sill to sign new season catalogues for customers and chat in adorable Franglish (which is a mixture of French and English if you’re not up to speed with urban dictionary).

Donna Guest, who has opened more than 60 Blue Illusion retail stores with her husband, said that the response has been amazing. She said that Melbourne was incredible, with many art students lining the pavement to catch a glimpse of Nathalie in action. I say, what a lovely way to give back to the art community, whilst gaining some stunningly beautiful window displays. Check out the video.

Tweet

If you enjoyed this feature, you may want to Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter for our latest style updates, giveaways and other juicy stuff. Join us on:

Featured Contributor: Georgia Canning

Discover More Stylish features below:

• Júzcar – The Smurfs Village, Spain
• Reiko Kaneiko interior from London
• Q&A Emma Hack | Artist
• Q&A Simon Lovelace | Artist