Lesage Creates Embroidery Fireworks in Paris

“Lesage and all of the maisons d’artwork are a part of the way forward for style,” Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of style, wrote in an e-mail, “and the contribution of every maison is vital, not simply at Chanel, however when you take a look at reveals as we speak, everybody desires to worth the distinctive savoir-faire.”

This previous summer season I spent a day in Lesage’s shimmering world, the place sequins, beads, metallic threads and extra come along with the ability of the petites mains (in English, tiny arms), because the expert seamstresses of Parisian style homes are referred to as.

At Lesage, the artisans are predominantly girls from assorted backgrounds. Some are graduates of École Lesage, the in-house embroidery faculty, though its coaching program, which might contain as a lot as 150 hours of instruction, shouldn’t be a prerequisite for a job. One employee now on employees, for instance, previously taught historical past and geography.

“Probably the most tough half is to make,” Mr. Barrère stated. “We’re speaking about people, not machines.”

Mr. Barrère stated it takes at the least 100 hours to make an embroidery for a easy ready-to-wear garment. “In high fashion, it’s 600, 800, 1,000 or 2,000 hours of labor, it relies upon,” he continued. “Every time you multiply it with the value per hour and it turns into very, very costly.”

The inventive course of at Lesage is each collaborative and intensely private. Right here is the way it works:

Conveying a Theme

Style collections often have themes, and Lesage artisans work with designers and their groups to show these themes into embroidery.

“Every mission is exclusive,” Mr. Barrère stated — and to clarify it, he described the work behind the Chanel Cruise collection, designed by Virginie Viard, Chanel’s inventive director, and offered in Might on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles.