EXPRESS SHIPPING WITH 365 DAYS RETURN POLICY
In connection to our Cali XX anniversary x Almost Free Services collab we took the time to ask some questions to the man behind Almost Free Services; Mathieu Courbier. Read more about how it all started, inspiration and Lyon!
photo credits : Lily Courbier
Tell us a little about yourself...where are you from and your background..
I’m 37, born and raised in the south east of France. A boring small city where my mind exploded when I discovered skateboarding, it was all my life. I started to draw everyday and spent a lot of time exploring abandoned places and doing some graffiti, two small trains later and it was the end of my graffiti career. Then I had the chance to make a lot of exhibitions with Carhartt and Vans in the 2010's.
Tell us about Almost Free Services! How did it all start?
With my friend, Julien Rivoire, we had a graphic design studio named Department Studio. We mainly work on video clips (3D and illustration) and motion design. We also developed a small clothing label DPMT. Then Julien pushed his work in 3D art and I just abandoned
commissioned work to focus on drawings again for a few years. Almost Free Services just pop as an IG name, pretty ironic actually. I’m really happy now to have only clients that trust me and let me push my work freely. It’s the same for Julien. The happiest end of a company.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
My work is really spontaneous, it’s more about a feeling than anything else. I start drawing and see what happens. But my neighborhood is a big part of my inspiration. I live on the top of the city near a beautiful antique theater, there are a lot of rocks, lot of history. I draw a lot when I’m traveling and I try to keep as long as possible the feeling and energy of the places we visited.
Tell us about your recent collaborations and if you have one in particular that you are very proud of?
Big question, from several collaborations I kept a good feeling with people so it’s really better when a collaboration ends by a friendship, s/o Virgil Normal, DemarcoLab, Arnold Park Studios and many more. Recently I have worked for Element Skateboard, hardgoods, clothing, kids...really impressive how Element evolve in every era. The team rider is mind blowing! And for SS24 I also worked for Marmot Capital, the sub label of Marmot, under the direction of Kikuno Kiki, she gave me a lot of freedom and I can’t wait to see new collections.
And Thank you, working together for your XX anniversary is quite a big thing for me. Sara, Andrea, I see you.
Future collaborations...is there anything or anyone you would like to collaborate with?
We’ll see what happens! I draw almost everyday so it’s always good news for me to think about how to adapt my paperwork to garments, materials etc. I’ve never worked on a shoe, I’d like to do it!
What is your favorite piece in your wardrobe? Do you have any t-shirts that you are very fond of?
I have old FUCT tees, not wearing them often but i like to keep them, so much bangers.
I have collected SOMEWARE tees, I love the fit and designs. My favourite is a piece with Cometees referring to WuTang, and the one with United Standard and PAM. And recently I had a crush on a Green jacket from Pal Sporting Goods!
Two/three brands, which interest you the most? (let’s exclude the classics :) )
Watch out Den Souvenir, they are long time friends. It’s a shop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, they sell zines and souvenirs and release a lot of collaborative clothings with local and international artists. The scene is really creative from Graffiti to hardcore to pop culture from thailand. I also like Heresy a lot and the merch of publishers like Same Paper, Actual Source, Classic Paris...
Tell us also a little about the Lyon scene, past and present...
Lyon is about Food! The conversation goes back to food every 20 minutes! And the city is also known for the skateboard scene, a lot of Pros, legendary brands like Cliché and smaller but a big part of the culture like All Access, Antiz...You’ll enjoy chilling out in Lyon but you won’t come for shopping.
Other artists you collaborate with or that you would recommend us..
I love the work of Serban Ionescu, Zsofia Keresztes, Gergo Szinyova and i’d like to work on clothes with my friend Adrien Fregosi. I also love photography, i can provide a list, there are so much name : Jeremy Liebman, Peter Sutherland, Jerry Hsu, Christian Delphino, David Brandon Greetings, Jason Nocito, Stephen Shore, Ari Marcopoulos, Chema Madoz...
