Who doesn’t love bread? A fresh roll from the bakery, to fill up on a warm bread basket at a restaurant, it is comforting, nostalgic, and grounding. Baked goods are also at the heart of Studio CoPain: its founders, French food and product designers Sidonie Lepetit, Lucile Barbier and Léa Bardin are particularly inspired by the baguette, which they see as a political and cultural symbol.
‘At the time, the baguette was being added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, and Europe was facing an energy crisis due to the war in Ukraine,’ the trio explain of the studio founding in 2023. ‘In France, many bakers were struggling with rising costs. This context made bread feel especially relevant: politically, culturally, and socially. That’s how our project began.’
Bread ahead: get to know Studio CoPain
The question the studio is frequently asked; 'Why bread?' ‘We met during our studies at the Design Academy Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, and in our final year we decided to work as a trio and selected bread as our research focus,’ they explain.
We learned how to make sourdough and began experimenting with bread as a ceramist would with clay
‘What started as a research-based investigation into bread gradually became a material exploration. We learned how to make sourdough and began experimenting with bread as a ceramist would with clay. We created bread sculptures, testing its limits in form, texture, and durability.’
The studio founders come from rural backgrounds and grew up surrounded by everyday objects passed down through generations: think wooden utensils, and ceramic dishes with recurring motifs and agricultural patterns. ‘Bread was always present on the table and held a central place in our meals,’ they tell Wallpaper*. ‘Today, what inspires us most are these humble, familiar objects: shaped by use, time, and memory. We share a deep attachment to them and a strong desire to reinterpret and revalue them through our future projects.’
For Studio CoPain, food is a design material like any other. They sculpt it and bake it like they would ceramics, and sand and coat it like they would with working with wood. However, it is a medium that is relatively unexplored. ‘Transforming an edible craft into a long-lasting, durable practice means we must develop our own methods, recipes, and technical knowledge, which makes our practice deeply experimental and dynamic.’
Based between France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the trio’s multidisciplinary work is rooted in product design, while also exploring culinary design, scenography, and workshops, all of which share a reflection on traditions, rituals and cultural heritage. At the core of their practice is Suzy, the sourdough starter. Having spanned across, kitchens, countries and projects, Suzy continues to evolve and is alive within every project, drawing the bridge between maker, and consumer.
Their collection Croûte que Croûte comprises chairs, vases and lamps each made from pâte morte; a type of bread dough used for sculpting (and often used in the baking contests). ‘One of the most fascinating aspects of working with food, especially in food scenography and culinary sculpture, is the freedom it offers through its ephemeral nature,’ say the designers.
‘At the end of the day, the work we produce disappears: it gets eaten. There is something deeply poetic in using a material that is meant to vanish, knowing that what we create can only exist for a limited time.
'However, when we use food for product design we carefully develop and test recipes that result in strong, durable materials. Our objects are designed to last indefinitely. They go through a thorough drying process and are coated with bio-wax to ensure they never perish. They have no expiration date.’
There is something deeply poetic in using a material that is meant to vanish, knowing that what we create can only exist for a limited time
To believe that an object made from food is imperishable may seem too good to be true, and is also the biggest obstacle the designers face, ‘One of our main challenges is convincing people that these objects will not rot or decay, but will remain exactly as they are over time. Combining food and product design is a unique practice, and earning people’s trust can sometimes be difficult. But rest assured: our objects are made to last.’
The studio’s aim is to highlight the beauty and craftsmanship behind baking, and reveal the detailed precision which goes into bread making. ‘Bread is a simple and humble material, yet it has been a staple food since the dawn of humanity. It takes countless shapes and flavours across cultures and carries deep symbolic meaning. In French culture, bread plays a central role: it is placed at the heart of every meal, broken by hand, and shared with every dish.
‘In our work, we aim to highlight these aspects and celebrate the craft of cooking and baking as an art form in itself. It serves as visual storytelling, allowing each project to narrate its own history, values, and emotions through form and texture.’
