France · Haute couture accessories; Feather craft; Paris heritage
Plumasserie Parisienne
The selection; dyeing; cutting; and assembly of feathers for haute couture — the Paris plumassier tradition that supplies the feather accessories for biannual couture collections and for theatrical costume. Paris plumasserie involves the entire feather chain: selecting feather species and quality; dyeing feathers to haute couture color specifications (the most demanding color precision in any material in the France archive); cutting and shaping individual feathers; and assembling them into the bouquets; boas; and garnitures that define couture excess.
Risk level: Endangered · Not listed
A contemporary studio practice by Karine, working as La Dentellière de Carton near Mougins on the French Riviera.
Épernay, in the Marne department, is home to the last operating corsetry workshop in France — the Chantelle factory, where roughly 85 seamstresses hand- and machine-construct structured lingerie using techniques with no remaining external…
The hand-cutting, hand-stitching, and finishing of fine leather goods in France, centered on le point sellier (the saddle stitch) — a technique dating to the 13th century, developed originally for saddle-making, in which two needles share…
The making of needle lace in the Point de France tradition — the French royal lace established by Colbert in 1665 to replace Venetian lace imports and sustain the French state finances.
The tradition of the Paris haute couture embroidery house — the maison de broderie that maintains archives of historical stitch techniques and materials; develops new embroidery for each couture season; and trains the brodeurs who execute…
The making of luxury fans — the assembly of the monture (fan sticks, in ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, or wood) with the feuille (fan leaf, in paper; silk; or lace) in the Paris tradition.
The bobbin lace tradition of the Rhineland — historically influenced by the Mechelen (Mechlin) lace tradition of the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium), whose proximity to the Rhineland through trade routes made Mechelen bobbin lace…
Fine needlework from Srinagar, Kashmir, in which a sozankar covers a printed design on pashmina or fine wool with a couching-and-reinforcing stitch worked so that both sides of the cloth look identical (dorukha).
Dense hand embroidery in silk floss, usually white or pastel on dark silk, worked on the saris, jackets (jhabla) and borders (kor) of the Parsi community of Gujarat and Mumbai.
Joseon-era (1392-1897) Korean embroidered pillows worked with sipjangsaeng, the "ten symbols of longevity" -- a grouping of sun, clouds, mountains, water, pine trees, turtles, deer, cranes, peaches, and the herb of eternal youth that at…
Tush kyiz (Туш кийиз — 'wedding hanging') is the embroidered textile panel hung on the honor wall of the Kyrgyz yurt behind the bridal couple — the most elaborate embroidery tradition in Kyrgyz culture.
The hand embroidery (sulam) that decorates the Nyonya (Peranakan) kebaya, a sheer voile or organdie blouse hand-sewn from five panels.