Nicolas Ouchenir calls from the Cannes Film Festival and switches his phone to video mode so that a panorama of the Mediterranean before him can be appreciated. He is seated at a long table that has been laid for a lavish lunch. Giddily, he zooms the camera in on a place card scrawled in the elegant calligraphy that has made him France’s go-to man for all manners of correspondence. “Penelope Cruz,” it reads. When the camera resumes focus on his face, he’s grinning. “It’s a good life, ” he says, glancing at the brilliant sunshine and spectacular views afforded from the terrace. Calligraphy—deriving from the Greek words kallos (beauty) and graphein (to write)—has long been an esteemed art form and Ouchenir, who counts Christian Dior Couture, Chloé, Chanel and many more of the world’s most storied fashion houses as clients, has built an illustrious career from his command of the fountain pen. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Nine Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 31 Fabienne Verdier An interview with the painter who learned her trade in China—then applied it on an epic scale in France. Arts & Culture Issue 29 Day in the Life: Shirin Neshat Charles Shafaieh pays a visit to the home of one of New York’s most widely recognized artists. Arts & Culture Issue 27 Finding Francis The relationship between talent and its discovery: a cautionary tale. Arts & Culture Issue 17 My Bedside Table: The Illustrator As a children’s book illustrator and comic-book artist living in Oslo, Norway, Øyvind Torseter often finds inspiration in the moments before sleep. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA.
Arts & Culture Issue 31 Fabienne Verdier An interview with the painter who learned her trade in China—then applied it on an epic scale in France.
Arts & Culture Issue 29 Day in the Life: Shirin Neshat Charles Shafaieh pays a visit to the home of one of New York’s most widely recognized artists.
Arts & Culture Issue 27 Finding Francis The relationship between talent and its discovery: a cautionary tale.
Arts & Culture Issue 17 My Bedside Table: The Illustrator As a children’s book illustrator and comic-book artist living in Oslo, Norway, Øyvind Torseter often finds inspiration in the moments before sleep.
Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts.