Sue Wang

Laure du Pabillon, who’s the power behind the Christian Lacroix shows. She began her career at Nina Ricci. After, she joins the House of Jean Patou where she worked to assist the young and new designers. Laure stepped into the role of PR director for Christian Lacroix, which position she held for 22 years, she organizing Lacroix’s Paris shows four times a year; also manage the brand image internationally. 

On Thursday, May 5th, She present as a special guest for Academy of art fashion show events. She shared with us the incredible craftsmanship of French masters who are behind the scenes of Haute Couture and fashion luxury. Also she talked about the Lesage embroidery, which is a traditional embroider technique, when haute couture designers need embroidery, they go to Lesage.

    JEAN-Francois Lesage

How they works:
The drawing 

Every embroidery begins with a drawing; the drawing itself is first done on scale in pencil on a tracing paper. This process can sometimes require 2 to 3 weeks of work. 

    
The pricking

Once the drawing is complete, the embroiderers prick the same with a fine needle so as to perforate it entirely following the outlines of the drawing. This delicate operation can necessitate 2 to 3 days of work for a dozen embroiderers.

Fixing the design

Once pricked, the tracing is held by the embroiderers who place it either on a fabric extended on aframe or on a table when the fabric is too supple or risks being deformed.

Now the embroidery can begin 

The embroidery frame is in wood and can weigh upto 120 kgs for a 6 meter frame. 

The embroidery

The embroidery develops from the centre to the outside, by opening the fabric rolled around the frames and by stretching the fabric each time on the frame with the help of steam that is passed from underneath so as to maintain the fabric perfectly stretched. 

The tools

The needle and the crochet or hook make up the essential tools of an embroiderer. The crochet is a sort of fish hook which enables the embroiderer to get a grip on the thread which he holds in his left hand under the frame, to pass it through the fabric and by twisting his crochet to make a knot which resembles a link in a chain; from where the name chain stitch. The embroiderers often make their own crochets which they adapt to their hands.