The mysteries of lace
Immaculately born through the skilled fingers of women, noble lace has today been passed onto businessmen and heavy thundering machines in the factories of the Nord Pas-de-Calais region of France. Once reserved to the most important and powerful in the world, it has slowly entered the wardrobes and intimacy of all women. It has become an asset of seduction; lace has known how to attract men’s attention through the arabesque of its captivating threads.
THE LEAVERS METIERS : a little bit of history...
In 1804 near Nottingham in England, a young mechanic called John Heathcoat observed the movement of lace-maker’s fingers as she worked her tulle network. He started dreaming of a mechanic doing the same job. And four years later, the first centimetres of tulle came out of his invention rushed to patent. Just as quickly, he researched how to export his marvellous tool to France even if it went against customs legislation at that time. Thus this is the reason for the location of the current jewel of French lace in Northern France, at the exit of the current Channel Tunnel.
At that same time, the French mechanic, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, invented a weaving metier which obeys perforated cards. Following the example of the street organ, all the three of the card of this machine correspond to a type of speck and colour of thread which elaborately weaved one after the other, giving birth to incredible designed fabric: the Jacquard fabrics. From threads on needles, these mechanics are adapted to specificities of lace. And thus Leavers metiers are born: large machines weighing between ten and fifteen tonnes, twelve metres in length from where today still the finest and most delicate lace comes from: the lace of Calais !