Clémence Grisot: A career guided by manual crafts and fashion
In Bormes-les-Mimosas, milliner Clémence Grisot took over "Les Bibis du Midi", creating bespoke hats.
In the old village, the shop and workshop "Les Bibis du Midi" has a new manager. Clémence Grisot, 32, a trained milliner, creates custom-made hats there and perpetuates an artisanal know-how present in the village since 1999.
Clémence's taste for creation dates back to her childhood.
“As a child, I drew a lot, sketching dolls and silhouettes with many accessories, especially hats, shoes, and bags,” she remembers.
A training path dedicated to creation
After middle school, while dreaming of becoming a fashion designer, she enrolled in a vocational baccalaureate in fashion trades, which introduced her to sewing, mannequin draping, and working with materials.
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After her baccalaureate, she moved to a high school in Dole (Jura) offering training in performing arts costumes. She obtained a DTMS (Diplôme Technicien Métiers du Spectacle), dressing option, then a DMA (Diplôme Métiers d’Art), costume maker option.
It was a rich education, combining drama classes and the study of historical costumes. She devoted an extra year to beaded embroidery, "additional background knowledge," even though this technique has not found a place in her current creations. This is how Clémence turned to hats, after a first internship in 2013.
“The world of hats is extraordinary. What I like is precisely all the diversity of techniques,” she confides, mentioning an element of crafting and fun that immediately won her over. Her training ended in 2017 when she obtained a CAP Chapelier Modiste in Lyon.
From a holiday destination to taking over the workshop
Then, she did an internship in Bormes-les-Mimosas, where she had been coming on holiday since childhood. She knew the hat creation workshop "Les Bibis du Midi" in the old village, having seen the former manager at work. She applied to do her internship there.
Her application was accepted and the two women spent a month together in 2017. At the end of this internship, the former manager offered her the chance to take over the workshop and shop. But at 23, Clémence felt she wasn't ready: “I didn't feel mature enough to take over the management of an establishment.”
Three years later, in 2020, she decided to take the plunge. During the 2020-2021 season, she learned how to manage the workshop alongside the manager, who was approaching retirement, and discovered the seasonal nature of the business.
“She gave me some rein (…). I had carte blanche to have a creative space and, at the same time, I served customers,” she says.
Discussions regarding the transfer of the workshop began in 2022. The young milliner bought the business in June 2023 and signed the lease the same year. In 2024, she became the new manager. In 2026, she is starting her third season at the helm of the establishment.
Rehabilitating the hat in everyday life
“I would say the craft chose me, because I had this opportunity, I wanted to give it a shot, and one thing led to another, I'm learning to master the craft,” summarizes the shopkeeper.
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Her sensitivity to finishing work and dexterity are almost innate: “These are things embedded in my DNA.”
She also developed a stylist's role on the job: “I analyze skin tone, eyes, and hair, so I know what to put on a person's head.”
For the young woman, the hat is an accessory to be rehabilitated in daily life.
“Anyone can wear a hat. It's an accessory that has been neglected: since it's on your head, you are immediately noticed, seen,” emphasizes the designer. She points out that just a century ago, nobody went out bareheaded.
“The whole challenge for me today is to reappropriate the hat on a daily basis. You can stay classic, the main thing is to feel good. The hat is you: when you put it on, it should be obvious. You shouldn't feel it on your head,” concludes the young woman.
Practical information
Les Bibis du Midi1 montée de l’écureuilBormes-les-Mimosas06 22 70 13 31Instagram: lesbibisdumidi_Facebook: Les bibis du Midi_
Article from the print edition of La Gazette du Var