Petit Plat is one of my favourite HZ designers. I could look at her tiny work all day and wonder ‘just how does she do it?’. All Petit Plat jewellery is entirely handmade from scratch by designer Stephanie Kilgast, that includes each little strawberry, all the tiny kiwi fruits, the itty bitty berries, and all assembled into her beautiful miniature jewellery. As you can tell, I’m pretty awestruck by this!
Naturally then, Stephanie was one of the first people I pestered for an interview for our first zine which we published back in the summer, and here it is…
Name: Stephanie Kilgast (aka Petit Plat)
Age: 26
Location: Vannes (west of France, in the region of Brittany)
Can you tell us a bit about your background? Have you always been creative?
Yes. as a child when I was playing with dolls I did them furniture and food with what I could find. Later I did a lot of jewelry and little animals out of glass pearls, I went on with painting and I studied architecture, which is also rather creative. Now my passion lies in miniature food. But I also really want to make proper miniature furniture and dollhouse. Until now I’ve been working from scratch and it would look better with beautiful materials 
I also want to paint again and try my hand on sculpting dolls.
When did you discover your talent for making minatures?
I discovered my passion for miniatures in summer 2007, while I was searching for a new hobby because I was bored…
At the time I was still a student and didn’t find a summer job so decided to go 7 weeks to my parents. Well after (only) 2 days I got terribly bored and googled like crazy for a new craft.
When I stumbled upon miniatures all my childhood ran back. Indeed as a child, I played a lot with Barbies and made some clay food out of regular sticky clay for them.
Are there any similarities or shared skills between your training as an architect and what you do now at Petit Plat?
Surprisingly a lot. Model making and sculpting in miniature require both the same level of patience and precision. Then I use photoshop all the time for my pictures, because my camera never gets the colors right. And in Architecture I used to work on photoshop all the time to process plans and 3D pics. Then architecture and minis seem to always come short when it comes to time. So being able to work under pressure is important as well. And both are a work of passion. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll be working in architecture some day.
Do you enjoy cooking real food and if so, is it as pretty as your miniatures?
I love eating and cooking but no it never looks really pretty 
but it’s tasty, and that’s what’s food all about. My mother always puts a lot of efforts in presentation of food, but I couldn’t care less. I’m happy to cook and prepare during hours but wasting 5 minutes to decorate a plate that I’m going to swallow done in 5 minutes no
But I like colors and I like my meals to be filled with all kinds of food, so it’s often colorful. Never just plain rice and fish.
What item you have made are you most proud of?
That’s a difficult question, because what I prefer isn’t necessary what I’m the most proud of.
So I’d say I love my gingerbread houses, but I’m really proud of my cheese boards
Oh well I’m pretty proud of my bread and macarons as well.
Can you tell us about your dolls/miniature house? Does it follow a theme? How long have you been working on it?
My doll’s house is based on a simple concept: having all the rooms dissembled so you can easily take 1 room and shoot pictures in it. That’s why I rather arrogantly named in “modular dollhouse”. It’s entirely made out of foam cardboard because it’s lightweight and easy to cut with a simple cutter.
Is it like your real house or is it something you aspire to?
Ha! I wish No it’s not the house I aspire to. I don’t like house, I prefer apartments in cities
What would an average work day be like for you?
I wake up around 7-8 am, mainly because my BF gets up at that time to go to work. I start right away with answering emails and processing orders. Then I work until I get hungry which is usually around 9-10 when I take breakfast. I get back to work and usually (bad habit!) shower when I get hungry again, usually at 12h30-13h and then have lunch.
After lunch I tend to be a little lazy so I surf around, play or well just stare holes in the air
I work until BF gets back home and (unless I really have tons to do) I stop working on the mini food and do something else.
When you’re not working you like to:
Swimming, visiting art exhibitions, reading, making mini furniture, baking, reading blogs, …
Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?
Soooo 29. Well with kids! Yikes! How time flies! I really want some kids, 3 or 4 would be nice – cute little kiddos shouting and rambling and making noise around, that sounds cool. Well that’s about it. The future will tell for the rest
Any other info you’d like to share?
I’m racking my brain off, but all I can think of is “I don’t have a driver’s licence” which really isn’t a very interesting info
Thanks to Stephanie for letting me interview her. You can buy a selection of Petit Plat jewellery on Hannah Zakari or simply just gawk at it like I do!
