Camille Labarre: The Art of Bringing Objects to Life

Fashion, sculpture, puppetry, and performance converge in the imaginative world of Camille Labarre. Through LAB LAB, her New York-based creative studio, the artist and designer explores the relationship between the body, materials, and movement. From sculptural headpieces to theatrical puppets, her creations challenge conventional boundaries between art and design.

Her multidisciplinary approach has shaped projects for Thom Browne, Nike, Madonna, and The Jim Henson Company. A Drama Desk Award-winning Broadway puppet designer, Camille Labarre approaches every project as an opportunity to build something unexpected. For IRK Magazine, she discusses craftsmanship, collaboration, experimentation, and the magic of bringing objects to life.

IRK Magazine: LAB LAB moves between fashion, sculpture, puppetry, and immersive environments. What connects these disciplines in your practice, and what can you express through an object or wearable that fashion alone cannot?

Camille Labarre: I started LAB LAB to create a studio where I could lead projects across different disciplines. Creative direction connects everything we do, but these fields share more similarities than people might expect. They all explore the body, movement, and our relationship with objects and surroundings.

Ultimately, everything we create functions as sculpture brought to life through meticulous craftsmanship and engineering. I’m interested in objects that exist between art, fashion, and performance. Working with different materials and techniques allows us to explore that space freely.

Camille Labarre: For instance, building a puppet requires careful consideration of movement, weight, and functionality. The artistic vision must always work alongside the technical knowledge needed to realise it. This dialogue also informs how I approach fashion.

I love treating garments and accessories as sculptures that interact with moving bodies. My background in art and puppetry gives me a different perspective. It allows me to introduce techniques and ideas that fashion doesn’t traditionally embrace. That’s one of LAB LAB’s greatest strengths, and it attracts clients seeking something beyond conventional design.

Inside the Imaginative World of Camille Labarre

IRK Magazine: Your creations often transform familiar materials into objects that feel almost otherworldly. Where does this fascination with transformation come from, and how do you recognise when an idea has developed its own universe?

Camille Labarre: There’s a particular kind of magic in transforming materials into something entirely new. I’ve always loved taking ordinary, familiar materials and discovering how far design and craftsmanship can push them.

However, the transformation doesn’t end when the object is complete. Something equally fascinating happens when it interacts with the human body. A seemingly static sculpture suddenly comes alive through movement. This applies equally to puppets, headpieces, and wearable objects.

Camille Labarre: I think this relationship explains my interest in theatricality. I’m drawn to creations that produce an illusion and blur the boundaries between reality and fantasy. I love objects that feel tangible yet somehow dreamlike. For me, that’s the sweet spot.

Crafting the Extraordinary

IRK Magazine: From runway headpieces to theatrical puppets and editorial objects, your practice constantly adapts to different creative visions.

Camille Labarre: My role is to bring a strong creative perspective to every project. That’s a major reason people approach LAB LAB. Equally important, however, is translating that vision into a physical object through our multidisciplinary approach to fabrication.

Most of my work involves collaboration in some form. When I lead a project, I often bring other artists into the process. I’m always interested in their perspectives and alternative approaches. As a creative director, I believe you should never assume you know best.

IRK Magazine: How do you maintain your artistic identity while collaborating, and can another creator’s perspective take your work somewhere unexpected?

Camille Labarre: You need enough confidence to lead with conviction. At the same time, you must remain open to other people’s expertise. Their contributions can take a project somewhere you might never have imagined.

Additionally, building the right team is another essential part of my work. I look for people’s individual strengths and create opportunities for them to contribute fully. Finding someone talented, collaborative, and generous with their knowledge makes all the difference. I’m always looking for those people.

This openness also shapes projects where we fabricate another designer’s vision. Turning an initial concept into a physical object involves an enormous amount of design. The final result can vary considerably depending on who builds it.

Camille Labarre: With custom projects, everything becomes a prototype. We constantly solve problems, test possibilities, and negotiate the gap between theory and reality. You have to embrace uncertainty and trust both the process and the people involved.

Honestly, I find that unpredictability exciting. If every step and outcome were entirely predictable, the work would become rather boring. Each project presents a different puzzle. My job is to understand its challenges and bring together the right people to solve them.

Camille Labarre and the Poetry of Objects

IRK Magazine: In an increasingly digital world, your work remains deeply connected to physical materials and traditional craftsmanship. What role do experimentation, technical limitations, and unexpected discoveries play in your process?

Camille Labarre: Much of our work involves translating two-dimensional ideas into three-dimensional objects. We take a concept and figure out how to make it physically exist. This process requires experience, intuition, and plenty of experimentation.

One of the best parts of my job is having the freedom to play. Evidently, I can test different approaches, explore unfamiliar techniques, and discover where an idea might lead.

Over the years, I’ve collected skills, tools, and techniques that continue to inform my practice. I have a particular fascination with traditional crafts that were once commonplace but have gradually disappeared. I’m genuinely passionate about researching these disciplines and understanding their histories.

Between Fashion, Sculpture and Fantasy

Camille Labarre: Crafts such as basketry and millinery contain extraordinary generational knowledge. I deeply respect that heritage, and it forms the foundation of much of our work. For example, my approach to building large-scale stage puppets draws directly from techniques I learned while studying wicker furniture-making in Germany. These influences find their way into almost everything that leaves our studio.

Of course, we also embrace new technologies when they serve a project. Our studio has a small army of 3D printers, which have proved incredibly useful. I don’t see traditional craftsmanship and digital fabrication as opposing approaches. Instead, I believe in understanding what each technique offers and knowing when to use it.

Camille Labarre: Unexpected discoveries also play an important role. Sometimes a material behaves differently than anticipated, or a technical limitation leads to a more interesting solution. We might even discover an unusual material that perfectly captures a client’s imagination.

All in all, these happy accidents emerge from working directly with materials. They remind me why the physical process matters so much. Ultimately, I want to keep learning, experimenting, and discovering just how far we can push things.

The Art of Making the Impossible Tangible with Camille Labare

IRK Magazine: Whether on a runway, a stage, or within an editorial image, your creations invite audiences into another world. What do you hope people experience when they encounter your work, and what possibilities would you like to explore next?

Camille Labarre: Above all, I hope people experience a sense of wonder. I also want them to feel an impulse to engage with the work, whether through performance, play, or physical interaction.

Camille Labarre: I think people crave these experiences more than ever. The world can feel like a frightening place, and perhaps that makes moments of imagination and escapism even more valuable.

It might sound a little corny, but I believe in the importance of creating magic and moments of levity. If the work I make with the incredibly talented people around me can offer someone a little of that, then I’m happy.

***

About Camille Labarre

Camille Labarre is an artist, designer, and creative director at LAB LAB, a New York City-based creative studio that blends fashion, sculpture, and performance. A Drama Desk Award-winning Broadway puppet designer, she brings a sculptural approach to wearable art, accessories, and objects for the stage and screen. Her work includes a custom piece for Madonna’s Vanity Fair cover, headpieces for Thom Browne for New York Fashion Week, and projects for Nike and Alex Mill. She also regularly works with The Jim Henson Company. She holds degrees in Sculpture from Yale and in Arts Education from Cambridge.

---

FEATURED IMAGE: Spider Headpiece, For a private client, Design: Camille Labarre