Scrolling through Nathalie Lete’s Instagram page is the equivalent of love at first sight. It’s hard not to be fully enthralled with her aesthetics, which comes across anything and everything she works with. Her illustrations, textile art, and even the walls in her house are all covered in her naive artwork, both playful and charming.
Born in 1964 to a Chinese father and a German mother, and based in Paris, Lete’s work is a homage to her multicultural upbringing and is influenced by folk art. Describing her work as something between arts and craft, folk art, and native art, Lete is known for mixing different techniques and mediums, including illustration, ceramics, textile, and painting.
“I’m inspired by nature, flowers, animals, insects… and also a lot by vintage toys…” she shared in an interview with Amara. “I also love textiles, folk art… all the applied art in fact. When I was a student, I once saw a book about the Bloomsbury Group (The Bloomsbury Group was an influential group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers, and artists, including Virginia Woolf & E.M. Forester) and I fell in love with this atmosphere.”
Lete admits that quarantine allowed her to further decorate her home, in accordance with her style. She describes her home as a mix between the minimalist style of her husband (an artist himself) and her more playful style. “We like wood, the furniture of the 60s and 70s along with black, gold shades,” she notes.
Her collaborations include acclaimed brands like Gucci, H&M, and Anthropologie, with her work featured on postcards, ceramic sculptures, silkscreen printed t-shirts, rugs, and even limited edition jewelry.
