Atelier YUL: makes minimalist bags for creatives

New York-based architect Cece created accessories brand Atelier YUL as a solution to how to smartly transport her technical drawings

(Image credit: Atelier YUL)

By Siska Lyssens

last updated 27 October 2022

in Features

‘My interest in product design is second to my interest in solving problems with design, at whatever scale that may be,’ says Cece, a New York-based architect who had a frustrating problem: ‘How to transport my architectural drawing and models in carryalls that matched my minimal style and reflected the love I put into the work.’ In response, she created Atelier YUL, a minimal accessories brand for creatives who need to carry around their sometimes unconventionally sized and shaped materials.

Cece, a nickname her grandfather gave her, is the name she prefers to use in relation to her brand; an homage to the person who ‘had a big impact on me: not only teaching me to draw, but how to observe and think creatively. He started me on my path to architecture and design.’

The pared-down sacoche, envelope, &eacute;tui, folio and tube and pochette — *The pared-down sacoche, envelope, étui, folio and tube and pochette, reflect their essential function: transporting and protecting one’s work*

Atelier YUL's leather goods are based on Cece’s philosophy, which draws from Vitruvius, the Roman architect and engineer who lay the foundations of what today is known as neo-classicism. In Cece’s words: ‘I seek a harmonious balance between strength, utility, and beauty.’

In the case of Atelier YUL bags, that means she ‘was able to express a functional simplicity that is a lot more difficult to achieve at the scale of a building.’ Taking their name from the – eternally elegant – French words sacoche, envelope, étui, folio and tube and pochette, the pieces are pared down to their essential function: transporting and protecting one’s work.

At the moment, Atelier YUL is available exclusively on the brand’s website, but Cece’s in talks with retailers in the US, Canada and Europe. She’s eager to share this solution to her own problem: ‘I’ve always been one to enjoy making things with my own hands, and the scale of product design is very appealing because it has a more intimate relationship to the human scale.’

Q Yul Enveloppe Table — ‘I’ve always been one to enjoy making things with my own hands, and the scale of product design is very appealing because it has a more intimate relationship to the human scale,’ says Cece

A Yul Enveloppe — Cece’s philosophy takes its clues from Vitruvius, the Roman architect and engineer who lay the foundations of what today is known as neo-classicism

Yul Pair — In her carryalls, Cece ‘was able to express a functional simplicity that is a lot more difficult to achieve at the scale of a building’

F Yul Folio On White — 'I seek a harmonious balance between strength, utility, and beauty,’ Cece explains

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Atelier YUL: website

Siska Lyssens has contributed to Wallpaper* since 2014, covering design in all its forms – from interiors to architecture and fashion. Now living in the U.S. after spending almost a decade in London, the Belgian journalist puts her creative branding cap on for various clients when not contributing to Wallpaper* or T Magazine.