My professional history is closely linked to two decisive encounters: that of my husband and that of my own desire to evolve, just as my daughter was coming of age.
I met my husband in 2012 in France. A Canadian, he had lived in France for thirty years before spending several years in New York. At that point in his life, he had chosen to rebuild his life in Provence, and that’s how we met at a party.
We waited until 2016, when my daughter turned 18 and went off to university, to live together and divide our lives between France and the United States. As my husband had ties to Florida, we settled in Miami.
This change was profoundly transformative for me. I was beginning to tire of my professional activity and was on the verge of losing my biggest client. I felt it was time to move on. I wanted to return to a more creative profession, to redraw by hand and work in contact with people. Loneliness is often one of the most difficult aspects of freelance work: the solitude of the creative person in front of the computer screen.
With the moral and financial support of my husband, I realized that this was the perfect time to make this change.
Miami is a city of events. Luxury hotels, the beach and new concepts flourish here all year round. It’s a fast-growing, extremely dynamic city, and an ideal place to work in the events industry.
So I started drawing again. Every day. Anything: an apple, a hand, a face on the bus. The secret to learning to draw is daily practice. My job is a craft: the hand has to be exercised constantly. It’s not something you’re born with, but the fruit of hard work and perseverance.
After a few months, I started posting my drawings on social networks. One day, Louis Vuitton Americas asked me to come and draw their customers. I was scared to death. Today, I find it almost unconscionable that I dared to draw live for the first time at Louis Vuitton. But I also had the naivety and audacity of those early days.
This first big name enabled me to win over other customers in the United States, then in Europe, notably in Paris and Switzerland, with houses such as Dior and Tiffany.
In 2019, Le Bon Marché in Paris offered me a pop-up store for two months at Christmas, where I offered my live portraits as a gift idea. It was a success, and the experience was repeated several times, at Le Bon Marché and then at La Samaritaine. The LVMH group really helped launch my career.
Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to take part in some extraordinary events.
In Gstaad, invited by Bulgari, I drew for a private presentation of haute joaillerie. A monumental snowstorm accompanied my arrival, after a train ride from Montreux to Gstaad – one of the most beautiful rail routes in the world. Here, Bulgari was presenting exceptional pieces to some thirty clients in a palace suite. The creations had no price limit. Being surrounded by these marvels, observing them, touching them, sometimes wearing them and designing them, was simply unreal.
Fendi also invited me to Riyadh to host the opening of their boutique in Saudi Arabia. The country was just beginning to open up, but it was still a very special experience. I mainly drew veiled women. Some agreed to reveal themselves in a private room to be drawn, while others showed me photos on their phones, often very filtered. The experience was as surprising as it was unforgettable.
In 2023, we moved from Miami to New York. New luxury houses, such as Buccellati and Chanel, began to take an interest in my work. Designing in the Chanel apartment in the 57th Street flagship is a unique experience.
In 2024, On Location invited me to draw for a fortnight during the Paris Olympic Games. It was an extraordinary moment. At the same time, I had the honor of drawing for Warner Bros, which had privatized the Louvre to offer its actors, producers and guests a unique experience around the Olympic Games.
Drawing these personalities live, after strolling through an almost empty Louvre, facing the works of Delacroix and accompanied by an opera singer, is one of those suspended moments that mark a career.
Last year, and again this year, I’m also designing for a major luxury house partnering the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami, as well as in New York for the Football World Cup.
The boundary between sport, luxury and event experience has never been so thin. Discover the artistic world of Véronique Jacquart and her unique creations of living portraits.
