The Parisian gallery le19M, supported by Chanel, is opening the archives and workshops of Maison Lesage, a historic pillar of French haute couture know-how, specializing in embroidery.
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Founded in 1924, this house produces embroidery and weaving pieces, such as certain embellishments on the emblematic Chanel tweed and decorative pieces, playing a crucial role in the development of haute couture.
More than 500 artisans work there and the house has no difficulty recruiting, indicates Bruno Pavlovsky, director of Chanel’s fashion activities and president of 19M. “We have quite a long waiting list and I think the young people who are there are quite happy to be there.“, he said.
Tested at the turn of the century, Lesage has survived only thanks to the support of Chanel, even though the company also works for other houses.”At the time, they had to be backed by a brand to ensure that it continued to exist and Chanel imposed itself since historically Mademoiselle Chanel already worked with most of them and (its artistic director) Karl Lagerfeld even amplified this phenomenon“, explains Mr. Pavlovsky.
The exhibition Lesage, 100 years of fashion and decoration presents pieces from the archives of the collections of Karl Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent and Chanel. Immersive, even downright psychedelic, installations reveal the mysteries of needle embroidery or so-called Lunéville crochet, a piece of which can take, bead after bead, hundreds of hours of work.
The exhibition is organized in the le19M gallery, which, since 2021, has brought together fashion houses (Atelier Montex and Studio MTX, ERES, Desrues, Goossens, Lemarié et Lognon, Lesage et Lesage Intégrés, Maison Michel, Massaro, Paloma), Porte d’Aubervilliers in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It runs until January 5.
The competing group LVMH will also open its own know-how center which will be inaugurated in 2025 rue Bayard, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.