Hand-made laces taken from dresses and jackets from the Edwardian period are collaged and seamlessly combined in a Maison Martin Margiela jacket from the house's Artisanal Autumn/Winter 2012-13 collection.
The laces were bought second-hand in France, Belgium and Great Britain: the jacket lapel is made from the satin underskirt of one such find, while the clasp brooch is an Edwardian crystal door handle found in New York.
The jacket could be used as one of those unique garments that can break the boundaries between the modern and contemporary concepts (in this case modern looking vintage pieces are reused to create a contemporary design), but this is also one of the many perfect examples that allow us to enter into the delicately fragile world of the "Haute Dentelle" (on until 1st June 2019) exhibition at the Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode (The Museum of Lace and Fashion) in Calais, France.
The event - curated by fashion heritage specialist and author Sylvie Marot - illustrates the place occupied in ultra-contemporary fashion by the lace woven on Leavers looms.
Lace in this event dialogues with Haute Couture as the exhibition features 65 designs from the collections (from 2012 to 2018) of 14 of the most prestigious fashion houses on the French and international scene, plus 65 samples of lace by 15 French lace manufacturers.
The exhibition is also a way to pay homage to the French lace manufacturers who are turning their heritage into a laboratory for research and a source of creation. Time-consuming and complex to produce, lace making requires indeed a team of experts to assemble an entire piece.
"Haute Dentelle" offers a unique chance to see very exclusive gowns and unique samples from close up as there are no display boxes creating a barrier between visitors and garments.
The selection criteria was based on relevance and diversity, but the event curator hopes visitors will not just dream about the fashion designs on display, but will also focus on the different part of the lace-making process - from designing a piece incorporating lace to actually weaving the lace and then incorporating it in a design.
Besides, visitors are encouraged to discover more about the actual history of lace: the only textile with a truly European origin, hand-made lace first appeared in the 16th century in Flanders and northern Italy.
Characterised by an openwork support material and motif, it was mainly made employing two techniques: "needle lace" was made using a parchment, thread and needle; "bobbin lace" was created by a set of bobbins and with a lace pillow as a support.
In the nineteenth century, the mechanisation of lace production sprang up in England, in the city of Nottingham, and later in France, in Calais, Caudry and Lyon.
Mechanisation made lace production easier and expanded its use, yet, even though the new manufacturing technique made it less costly, it still required a numerous labour force with dedicated know-how. This know-how gravitated around the lace weaving loom known as the "Leavers" loom.
At the beginning of the 1950s, there were some fifty haute couture houses and more than 150 lace manufacturers in Calais alone (the lace that has been produced in Calais for almost 200 years is exclusively mechanical, but it was initially inspired by hand-made lace), other production centres included Caudry and Lyon.
Calais had more looms, though, as records show it boasted around 1,390 looms, while Caudry only had 400 and Lyon and Saint-Quentin had around 360; this meant that Calais was widely considered as the capital for mechanical lace.
German industrialist, Karl Mayer developed in 1955 knitting looms that manufactured a new product - Raschel lace. Cheaper and technically lower than woven lace, it was still labelled "lace", so, to differentiate, French professionals created a trademark - "Dentelle de Calais®".
The exhibition clearly shows that, although at the moment there are just fifteen mechanical lace factories in France (there were 40 in 2001 and 230 in 1950...) and fewer than 1,000 Leavers looms still in operation throughout the world, there is a lace Renaissance in fashion.
Both the technologies – woven and knitted – are being used for different applications: the former is employed for luxury pieces; cheaper lace is instead mainly mechanically produced in low-wage countries and, since most of us aren't able to make the distinction between the two types of lace, "Haute Dentelle" represents a great occasion to learn more about this textile.
Organised in the temporary exhibition gallery, "Haute Dentelle" opens with Chanel's Haute Couture S/S 2013 designs, one of them a dress in laminated Leavers laces with scuba (a textile similar to neoprene).
It continues with Viktor & Rolf and Zuhair Murad, passing through Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Gaultier and Margiela, all of them showing the diverse uses of mechanical lace in contemporary fashion.
Each display case is dedicated exclusively to one couture house to show its originality, but the lace houses are put on the same level as the supplier is identified and the lace – the raw material – is documented in detail.
This curatorial strategy allows visitors to look at the entire process behind the lace creation and learn more about modern manufacturing secrets and cutting-edge experimentations including waxed effects, lamination on rubber, transfer metalising and coating with silicone.
Yiqing Yin's Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2013-14 dress features for example siliconised Leavers lace (a technique patented by textile designer Tzuri Gueta) and tulle by Sophie Hallette; a Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2017-18 gown by Bertrand Guyon for Schiaparelli features instead a tear motif rendered in lace by Calais-based manufacturer Darquer.
The latter collaborated with the artist Rose-Lynn Fisher on this lace. One of Fisher's photographs from the "Topography of Tears" series - a study of tears under the microscope - was indeed the inspiration behind Darquer's "Tears & Lace" collection.
In some cases the pieces on display are reinterpretations of previous ones: the "bourdon" lace (so called because of the presence of a cord - "bourdon" in French - which outlines the motif woven directly on the loom) in a Chanel gown, calls to mind the same technique employed in a 1968 design; a Balenciaga dress created in June 2015 is instead the new version of a 1957 dress made in a blue shantung, but the new version incorporates a hand-embroidered lace by the House of Balenciaga ateliers in India, and a lace mechanically embroidered on a Cornely machine by the lace manufacturer (Soltiss).
In other cases apparent simplicity hides complex motifs or an intricate history: Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli's dress in Leavers lace (by Solstiss and Darquer) from Valentino's Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2015-16 collection looks almost monastic in its basic silhouette, but it actually includes collar and ailettes embroidered with round beads and structured with the use of a metallic thread.
The various laces and tulles making up this dress amalgamate to create a new material: the superimposition of layers, cut-outs and inlays and the juxtaposition of motifs give a mysterious alchemy to this dress.
A golden coloured laminette gown by Alberta Ferretti integrates a lace with a point d'esprit (dot) motif and another with a round motif, designs executed in the 1950s and 1970s that prompt visitors to consider again the dichotomy between what's modern in the history of fashion and what is contemporary.
Maria Grazia Chiuri's tulle and Chantilly Leavers lace gown for Dior's Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2017 collection features a skirt with four flounced tiers of rounded petal-shaped laces by Solstiss, a motif that is directly linked to the house's iconic 1949 Junon dress.
For fans of innovative creations, the most intriguing section of the exhibition will be the one looking at lace transformations: fashion designers such as Iris van Herpen borrow indeed the "lace effect", but they reproduce it with different and technologically advanced processes such as laser embroidery or 3D printing.
Videos of catwalk shows, photographs, further sample laces (the Maison Lemarié has provided samples demonstrating research into textile manipulation) and a glossary and chronology complete the exhibition offer.
While "Haute Dentelle" allows visitors to admire rare gowns (with just two exceptions, most of these pieces are on public display for the very first time) and photograph them as well (without flash), it closes on a rather sad note.
Even though lace has entered other realms, inspiring architects and interior designers, furniture and home accessories such as tableware, or papermaking and jewellery, and artists create visually striking video installations inspired by the textile, and while there are university lecturers reintroducing lace in special projects (remember Mal Burkinshaw, Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Programme Director, and his "Silhouettes en Dentelle - Series 1"?), lace is absent from the syllabuses of most fashion and design schools because it is a material of great technical complexity, difficult to manipulate and costly.
The major challenge for this exhibition is therefore to introduce students – the future actors in the world of fashion and design – to woven lace, so that they will get to know the opportunities that this textile can offer. Hopefully, there will be enough time to do so as "Haute Dentelle" will be on until 1st June 2019.
Image credits for this post
1. Dress in appliquéd Leavers laces, Alberta Ferretti, Couture Spring/Summer 2016 Collection (Solstiss and non-identified laces) © Robin
2. Dress (detail) in appliquéd, Leavers laces, Alberta Ferretti, Couture Autumn/Winter 2014-15 Collection (Solstiss and Darquer laces) © Robin
3. Dress in Leavers laces, Alberta Ferretti, Couture Autumn/Winter 2016-17 Collection, (Dentelles Méry laces) © Robin
4. Dress in mechanically overembroidered Leavers lace, Balenciaga, Ready-to-Wear Spring-Summer 2016 Collection (Solstiss lace) © Robin
5. and 6. Dress in hand-embroidered Leavers lace, Chanel, Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2016 Collection (Solstiss lace) © Robin
7. Chanel display, "Haute Dentelle", The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode, Calais, France. Photography by Fred Collier
8. Skirt (detail) in hand-cut Leavers lace with a floral motif, Chanel, Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015 Collection (Solstiss lace) © CHANEL, Karl Lagerfeld
9. Dress with flounced tiers of tulle and Chantilly Leavers lace, Christian Dior Couture, Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2017 Collection (Solstiss lace) © DIOR
10. Dress in Leavers lace interwoven with laser-cut leather "lace", Iris Van Herpen, Ready-to-Wear Spring Summer 2016 Collection (Darquer lace) © Robin
11. Dress (detail) in Leavers lace interwoven with laser-cut leather "lace", Iris Van Herpen, Ready-to-Wear Spring Summer 2016 Collection (Darquer lace) © Robin
12. Dress and headdress in watered ribbon, tulle and Leavers lace, Jean Paul Gaultier, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2016-17 Collection (Solstiss lace) © Robin
13. Dress in Chantilly Leavers lace mechanically overembroidered with lurex, Louis Vuitton, Cruise Collection 2018 (Solstiss lace) © Robin
14. Ensemble smoking jacket and trousers in Leavers laces, Maison Margiela, Couture Autumn/Winter 2012-13 Collection (Sophie Hallette and Solstiss laces) © Robin
15. Dress in Leavers lace featuring an organic motif (macrophotography of tears), Schiaparelli, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2017-18 Collection (Darquer lace) © SCHIAPARELLI
16 and 17. Schiaparelli display, "Haute Dentelle", The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode, Calais, France. Photography by Fred Collier
18. Dress in Leavers laces, Valentino, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2015-16 Collection (Solstiss and Darquer laces), Photography by Fred Collier
19. Dress in silk tulle and Leavers lace, and cape embroidered with ostrich feathers, Valentino, Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2014 Collection (Marco Lagatolla and Sophie Hallette laces)
20. Dress in jersey and Leavers lace, Yiqing Yin, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2013-14 Collection (Sophie Hallette lace) © Shuji Fujii
21. Dress in siliconised Leavers lace and tulle, Yiqing Yin, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2013-14 Collection, (Sophie Hallette lace), Photography by Fred Collier
22. Jacket and skirt in recycled tulles laces, Viktor & Rolf, Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2016-17 Collection © Viktor & Rolf
23. Chanel display, "Haute Dentelle", The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode, Calais, France, Photography by Fred Collier
24. - 27. Zuhair Murad display, "Haute Dentelle", The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode, Calais, France, Photography by Fred Collier
28. Dress (detail) in Leavers lace overembroidered with beads and feathers, Zuhair Murad, Couture Autumn/Winter 2017-18 Collection (Sakae laces] © Zuhair Murad
29. Chanel display, "Haute Dentelle", The Cité Internationale de la Dentelle et de la Mode, Calais, France, Photography by Fred Collier
Comments