Kreativno staklo Srbije

Creative Glass Serbia

Kreativno staklo Srbije

Creative Glass Serbia

La Soufflerie reinvests its earnings in sustaining the craft of glassblowing

Zidna vaza Simon, malina, reciklirano staklo, dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
‘Simon’ wall vase in raspberry, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

La Soufflerie reinvests its earnings in sustaining the craft of glassblowing

‘Simon’ wall vase in raspberry, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie I|| Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Zidna vaza Simon, malina, dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
‘Simon’ wall vase in raspberry, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

With its unusual mission and slightly eccentric recycled glass creations, the Parisian studio founded by husband-and-wife duo Valentina and Sebastien Nobile has been captivating the design community for over a decade. Established in 2007 as the only glassblowing workspace in Paris at the time, it was named La Soufflerie, which means a place where something is blown. Today, it has evolved into a global brand for designed recycled glass, driven by Valentina and Sebastien, a large atelier on the outskirts of Paris, workshops in Tunisia and Turkey, a refined boutique in the Odéon district, and a passionate network of distributors worldwide. As Valentina reveals, a second Paris boutique is soon to follow.

In 2007, Paris had fewer than five professional glassblowers

It all began quite spontaneously. Sebastien was already an experienced mould maker when, around 2007, he became interested in glassmaking. Finding two elderly masters willing to teach him the craft, he realised that Paris and its surroundings had fewer than five professional glassblowers. Around the same time, he met Valentina, who also approached glassmaking with great enthusiasm. After getting married, the couple spent their honeymoon travelling through Jordan and Syria – regions where, at the dawn of our era, glass first began to be blown using the glassblowing pipe, a then-new invention.
Various products designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

Shortly after their return to Paris, both of Sebastien’s teachers passed away, and the city’s last glassblowing course was also closed. Concerned for the survival of the craft they were passionate about, they decided to establish a non-profit association dedicated to preserving traditional hand-blown glass – L’association La Soufflerie. They set up a glassblowing studio in the 18th arrondissement and opened it to the few remaining glassblowers. This allowed anyone interested to witness the craft firsthand and learn the traditional techniques of glassblowing.

Olive, dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Olive, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

The first pieces sold on the very same day

With the help of two glassblowers, the Nobiles managed to create four recycled glass vases in 2009. They set off on their bicycles to visit local florists, selling every single piece on the very same day. Receiving their first feedback on the types of vases customers actually wanted, Sebastien began making larger, more desirable models. He would return to the florists on his bicycle, this time towing a small trailer to deliver his new creations. Orders steadily grew, and the glassblowers were kept increasingly busy. In this way, La Soufflerie truly came to life, and by 2016 they could proudly count 75 business clients — including hotels, florists, and boutiques — across 11 countries.
The choice of recycled glass as their working material was just as spontaneous as the founding of the association. Knowing that glass is 100% recyclable and abundantly available, the Nobiles felt it was the most logical material to work with. Initially, they focused on recycling only packaging bottles, but today they are able to melt down perfume bottles, window glass, and even automotive glass. Their expertise owes much to the master glassmakers they met during their travels around the world. From them, they learned both production technology and the traditional techniques of crafting recycled glass. Following the same path, they eventually opened workshops in Tunisia and Turkey, where the finest local artisans have been creating glass exclusively for La Soufflerie for nearly a decade.
Vaza Taka Miel, dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Vase Taka Miel, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Ljubav (Amour), sa drškom, svetlo plava, kreirana za Hôtel Amour (Pariz); dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
‘Amour’ with handle, light blue, created for Hôtel Amour (Paris); designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Valentina and Sebastien provide their artisans not only with work, but also with furnaces and tools imported from Venice, the cradle of modern glassmaking. They fund additional training and employ them as teachers, to pass on their knowledge and skills to younger generations. Aware that mastering hand-blown glass takes at least ten years, they do everything necessary to ensure the survival of this traditional craft, particularly in Paris.

A spontaneous approach to serious design

The Nobiles design all of La Soufflerie’s products. Thanks to their complementary knowledge and skills, acquired long before founding the association, they do so with great style. Sebastien applies his extensive expertise in moulding and model-making. As a master mould maker, he teaches at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts (Les Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris) and runs a separate atelier in the city centre dedicated to moulding and patination (Moulage et Patine). Meanwhile, Valentina is a master of visual arts and art history. She gained her knowledge and experience in Paris, New York, and Milan, where for more than a decade she worked in painting, video art, photography, and production management for the advertising industry. In addition to product design, she is devoted to their promotion and to shaping the La Soufflerie brand.

Opéra light blue cake stand, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Candle holders and some other products of La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
La Soufflerie pieces reflect a deep understanding of art history and aesthetics, yet through the Nobiles’ spontaneous approach, a bust of Pericles becomes the stopper of a bottle, a champagne glass in Venetian Baroque style doubles as a bowl for peanuts, an original sculptural nude of Joséphine Baker becomes a candle that burns away in one evening, and church statuary crafted using Rodin-inspired techniques lives on as a fruit bowl — and so on.
Enchanted by glass, the duo designs their creations with a sense of playfulness. This approach often leads to slightly “quirky” pieces, the very ones that customers remember most and return for. They pay little attention to design trends and do not see themselves as designers, but as artisans. They explore their material and make only what appeals to them. Drawing on personal experiences with glass — which often go beyond its basic purpose and acquire new uses — they design pieces to be multifunctional. Inspiration comes from everywhere: the artworks of friends, their children, travels across France and the world, visits to family, and many other memorable experiences.
Vaza rimska oplata, tamno plava; izrađena prema crkvenoj plastici iz 18. veka; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Vase Roma Chemise Dark Blue, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Amphora vase, green, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
By insisting on hand-blowing and maintaining a direct, personal connection to glass as a living material that rapidly changes its state, the Nobiles create objects that carry the energy of human craftsmanship beside a blazing glass furnace. They draw a clear distinction between artisanal and artistic glassblowing. A craftsperson must be able to blow and shape the same object a hundred times in a row, even a thousand, whereas an artist may create a piece only once. For this reason, they see the imperfections of hand-blown glass — slight variations in shape, traces of colour, tiny bubbles — as hallmarks of its highest quality and, ultimately, its humanity. Through their designs, they emphasise the ergonomics of forms and details that are clearly shaped by hand, without the intervention of any machine.

Heads (Têtes)

Mladić starac (Youngman Oldman), dvostrana boca oblika glave; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Youngman Oldman, carafe with two sides/faces; designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Staklo Tête; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografije: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Tête glass; designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

Within La Soufflerie’s range of roughly one hundred products, the most iconic are the so-called Têtes — the Heads. These include vases and glasses shaped like human faces, as well as decorative objects and candles poured into head-shaped vessels. As striking and unusual pieces, the Heads have become a conceptual signature of the La Soufflerie atelier, often developed by Valentina and Sebastien in collaboration with other artists. Each one begins with the creation of an original clay sculpture — a Head that serves as the model for one or more moulds in which the glass will be hand-blown. La Soufflerie sells around 80,000 Heads each year, in the form of glasses, vases, sculptures, and candles.

Another exceptionally original category of La Soufflerie products is their vases. Having started with them and developed them in collaboration with florists, the Nobiles arrived at truly unusual shapes. Nothing quite like them can be found from any other producer.
Kamen vaza, malina; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Rock vase small, framboise; designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Venecija, čaša za ledeni čaj II fotografija ljubaznošću La Soufferie
Ice Tea Venezia Framboise, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
The rest of La Soufflerie’s range consists of practical glassware — jars, boxes, reed-diffuser holders, lids, Christmas decorations, glasses, jugs, bottles, plates, bowls, cake stands, egg cups, butter dishes, and cutlery holders. The value of each piece is highlighted by a design that reveals what it once was, most often a bottle, and what it has become – a beautiful new creation. New collections are released around three times a year.

Origins and hues of recycled glass

Most of the products are made from recycled bottles, window glass, and automotive glass. The Nobiles purchase tons of such glass, primarily from restaurants, hotels, and factories. They then thoroughly wash it, crush it by hand, and melt it for hours at a thousand degrees in a low-walled furnace made of clay.
Vaze lopta; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Vases Boule (Ball) designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Činija Hodočasnik (Pilgrim), malina, inspirisana dizajnom činija američkih Kvekera; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
The Pilgrim bowl, framboise, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
The colours of the products come from the hues of the recycled glass, most often packaging. Green glass is produced by recycling bottles from alcoholic beverages, mainly wine and beer. Olive-green glass comes from wine bottles, olive oil bottles, and certain champagnes. Brown shades are achieved by melting champagne bottles and adding small amounts of specific oxides. Each piece often shows a subtle hint of another colour — one clear piece might have a greenish tint, another a slightly smoky or bluish tone. By adding crushed old perfume bottles, a soft yellowish shade is created, giving the piece an antique appearance.
Other colours – blue, yellow, turquoise, and framboise – are achieved by blending natural minerals such as copper, iron, and cobalt with melted clear bottles, window glass, and similar post-consumer glass. At one point, the Nobiles even experimented with melting blue ashtrays, popular in the 1950s and 1960s, to create unique shades of blue. In earlier times, used glass was far more abundant – for example, mineral water and milk were commonly sold in glass bottles – but today, with the rise of plastic packaging, recycling opportunities are sadly much more limited.

The art of glass mastery

The creation of a La Soufflerie piece begins with a prototype. For items with a sculptural element, such as the Têtes, an original clay sculpture is first crafted. This is then cast in plaster, and the resulting mould is used to create a second mould, known as les coquilles (the shells). These shells are sent to a carefully chosen bronze caster in the Somme region of northern France, who transforms them into a bronze mould. Once returned to the atelier, this bronze mould becomes the essential tool for hand-blowing the glass, bringing the original design to life with meticulous craftsmanship.

The molten glass is gathered, blown, and shaped by the most experienced artisans in Paris, Tunisia, and Turkey. Using ancient techniques, they usually work seated, as traditional brick furnaces are relatively low. No machines are used, not even for cutting. Every piece is “opened” by hand, and bubbles are trimmed with hand-held glass scissors, which is why each creation is truly unique. If a piece doesn’t take the right shape or breaks after cooling, it is broken down and returned to the furnace to be melted again.
Jedan od gipsanih kalupa; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
One of the plaster casts, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
The molten glass is gathered, blown, and shaped by the most experienced artisans in Paris, Tunisia, and Turkey. Using ancient techniques, they usually work seated, as traditional brick furnaces are relatively low. No machines are used, not even for cutting. Every piece is “opened” by hand, and bubbles are trimmed with hand-held glass scissors, which is why each creation is truly unique. If a piece doesn’t take the right shape or breaks after cooling, it is broken down and returned to the furnace to be melted again.
Hurricane Vase with 3 Feet Light Blue, designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

Caring for every detail

Since 2021, La Soufflerie has been using small electric cars (Citroën Ami) for local deliveries of its products. All items are packed in eco-friendly, carefully designed, and very inexpensive packaging. After all, why waste resources on something that will be discarded immediately? The glass is always wrapped in unbleached kraft paper.

For customers visiting the shop, wrapped glass is placed in simple bags made from recycled cotton. When shipped, the pieces are carefully nestled in boxes of recycled cardboard and paper, filled with Fibrene de Touraine wood wool and old newspapers. Each morning, Sebastien collects yesterday’s papers from the café where he enjoys his first coffee, while neighbours regularly leave their old newspapers outside the atelier, knowing they will be used for packing glass. Around the world, La Soufflerie customers often discover snippets of French newspapers inside their boxes — sometimes quite intriguing. To cushion against bumps and vibrations during transport, worn and brittle boxes are cut into strips and squares and placed between the wrapped glass. This makes the packaging entirely eco-friendly while giving the glass 100% natural protection. Bubble wrap is reserved only for the most fragile items, especially those embarking on long journeys.

For customers visiting the shop, wrapped glass is placed in simple bags made from recycled cotton. When shipped, the pieces are carefully nestled in boxes of recycled cardboard and paper, filled with Fibrene de Touraine wood wool and old newspapers. Each morning, Sebastien collects yesterday’s papers from the café where he enjoys his first coffee, while neighbours regularly leave their old newspapers outside the atelier, knowing they will be used for packing glass. Around the world, La Soufflerie customers often discover snippets of French newspapers inside their boxes — sometimes quite intriguing. To cushion against bumps and vibrations during transport, worn and brittle boxes are cut into strips and squares and placed between the wrapped glass. This makes the packaging entirely eco-friendly while giving the glass 100% natural protection. Bubble wrap is reserved only for the most fragile items, especially those embarking on long journeys.

Guardians of the Parisian avant-garde legacy

Beyond the glassware that dominates their collection, La Soufflerie also creates candles and functional or decorative objects in plaster and terracotta. Among these, the Joséphine vases and sculptures stand out, inspired by the sculptor Marie-Jo Bourron (1931–2012) and her celebrated nude of Joséphine Baker — the iconic dancer, human rights heroine, and recipient of France’s highest military honours. Sebastien came to know the piece through his long friendship with Bourron and reproduces it in terracotta and wax as a heartfelt homage to femininity and French craftsmanship. It is precisely these unexpected creations, emerging alongside everyday items like glasses and bowls, that captivate customers and leave La Soufflerie firmly in their memory.

Proizvodi La Soufflerie; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografija: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Various products of La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Atelje i prodavnica La Soufflerie u Parizu
La Soufflerie Boutique, 7 Rue de l’Odéon, Paris II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie

Since 2022, La Soufflerie has been the custodian of yet another landmark of avant-garde and cosmopolitan Paris — the former bookshop La Maison des Amis des Livres, opened in 1915 by writer and publisher Adrienne Monnier, who ran it until she died in 1955. Located near the Luxembourg Gardens, the space later served as an art gallery and is now a La Soufflerie boutique. The Nobiles have restored it with care, preserving the legacy of the legendary bookshop — refurbishing the wooden shelves, recycling found materials, while leaving the shopfront and display windows unchanged. In 2025/26, Paris will welcome another La Soufflerie boutique.

From a dying craft and a single-flower vase to a modern glassmaking institution

By making traditional glassmaking the heart of their daily life, Sebastien and Valentina Nobile have, in just 15 years, created a small kingdom of recycled glass design. While the Têtes, displayed in one of Paris’s legendary avant-garde spaces, seem to take centre stage, the true heroes have always been the glassblowers. The journey began with just four vases, which local florists eagerly purchased and reordered. Listening closely to the advice of florists and shopkeepers, La Soufflerie quickly entered a phase of creative excitement, giving rise to dozens of strikingly original pieces and securing a bright future — not just for the studio, but for the Parisian glassblowing craft itself.

Staklo Tête; dizajn i izrada: La Soufflerie || fotografije: ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Tête glass; designed and handmade by La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
Razni prozvodi brenda La Soufflerie II ljubaznošću La Soufflerie
Various products of La Soufflerie II Photo: courtesy of La Soufflerie
By blending the revitalisation of intangible heritage with real market demand for responsibly made products, used glass and unique new designs, high education with gentle humour, Western and Oriental influences, and family and business life, Sebastien and Valentina Nobile have built La Soufflerie into a modern, hybrid institution of contemporary glassmaking.

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