Meet Marie and Lucas: Founders of Top Top Céramique

Bonjour! We are Marie and Lucas, two friends creating together. We met at the end of our studies through mutual friends. We’ve always worked together since our diplomas. First it was silkscreen printing then a house plants company. We decided to do something that was “ours” and clay imposed itself on us as we discovered the medium earlier and we both were obsessed by it.

We don’t think that we are hugely known “yet”! But we had the chance to make great encounters and to collaborate with really cool people like Antoinette Poisson. Our objects also are pretty unique thanks to the illustration factor and the fact that we use a lot of color. So it quickly stood out ! Hopefully people were reacting really positively and that gave us the drive to keep doing it. 

The biggest success would be our first collaboration with Antoinette Poisson. But for us it’s also the open studios that we organize in our workplace. It’s so great to have people gathering where you work, exchanging around craft. We’ve had many challenges as in the making process there’s often things that go out of place and stuff you didn’t plan ahead the right way! I think the KanKan collab was pretty challenging, but we can’t wait to see the final result!

Clay is really the medium that captures both our skills and interests. Marie is a trained graphic designer with a big focus of photography and Lucas’s background revolves more around illustration and printmaking. So it really is something that mix well together. We both paint and think about what we want to do next together and even if one of us is experimenting more on the side, the other will always jump in eventually. We try to develop new products and projects organically. Based on opportunities and craves.

Yeah! A lot! We’ve had the chance to meet/work/study with a lot of talented people and we couldn’t be more thankful. We had the chance to share working space with other artists and like during studies it’s really enlightening. Clay is really a tool with endless possibilities. We know so many people that make such different stuff, and therefore working methods are widely different. So shout out to all these people that taught us a lot : Gaëtan (Hot Pote), Amandine Richard, Mylène Escande, Marie-Yaé Suematsu, Lola moreau, Lili Delaroque, Salima Zahi, Louise Ferchaud…

Well money can arrange a lot of things I was told … But good people around you, supportive people are to cherish !

Marie : My diary

What is your favourite scent and why?

Marie : Coffee being made. It was the smell that was always there in the Parisian workshop thanks to nearby Alain Ducasse roastery.

Lucas : I don’t have a great sense of smell but it would surely be Cedar or other wooden scents. 

What is the one smell that triggers a memory - what is that memory?

Marie : The scent of pines from a specific holiday in South West of France in my childhood !

Lucas : I would say the smell of humidity in the wind, like when you get out of the car and you know you’re somewhere else, on holidays, and the beach is near :)

Marie : My photo negatives binder

Favourite shop/ place in your neighbourhood? And why?

Paris : Klin Doeil ! Best shop for cute, unique handmade objects from creators around the world.

Nantes : Les Esthètes. It’s a vintage furniture and decoration shop. The selection is great and prices too ! 

A must go holiday spot..

To stay local we’ll just talk about la plage du Pormain. We often escape there, as it’s so close to Nantes. We lucky enough to have access to a adorable little vintage wooden cabin!