Silk and Sensitivity

Laurine Malengreau captivates with her creativity. Her large-scale textile wall hangings are making statements in many interior spaces in Paris, and across the globe; striking, mesmerising and elegant in equal measure. It is not merely the vibrancy of the shades and the scale of her pieces, but the delicacy of the textural fibres and the composition, which evokes emotion. Finding harmony between gestures, materials and colours are at the heart of her business, OOLMOO.

From her workshop in Aubusson, Laurine is inspired daily by the city’s connection to the ancient tradition of tapestry making. Every single step of her creative process is by hand, requiring utmost patience and precision. She starts her pieces by sketching with dry pastels, conjuring up the colours and patterns that will result in her composition. Then she carefully inlays on a chiffon background, before placing the wool, mohair, silk or merino fibres, in such a way that they become interwoven together, resulting in the unique blends of hues. To ensure resistance, Laurine then uses water and soap, heat and cold to bind the wool fibres into the silk, transforming the piece into non-woven fabric. 

The Nuno Silk technique which Laurine practices, has its roots in the felting processes of Central Asia. It is a rare form of interlacing fibres, mastered by few. Laurine takes the traditional steps and adds a contemporary twist. The outcome is innovative design pieces. The Age of Enlightenment, with its notable stretched silks on walls and embellished ceilings, often inspires her wall hangings. In 2009, whilst living in Madrid, to take lessons in painting on silk from Carmen Escolano, who taught her the art of Nuno Silk. This soon led to the founding of OOLMOO.

Laurine’s path to becoming a textile creator was an organic one. Always fascinated by art, she studied history of art at university and went on to work for Prado museum in Madrid and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Grand-Hornu, Belgium, then as a producer and scenographer for Cultura Europa. In 2012, a job opportunity arose in Aubusson, as Director of the Artist Residencies, this lead to the discovery of all the local textile businesses. In 2016, she redefined her creative process – creating a new use of Nuno Silk.




“My inspiration originates from the oneiric, from the organic world, in the instinctive dialogue between my fingers and the raw materials. It echoes the feathers of birds or the singular movement of elements.”