Maison Lesage

The definitive monograph on the most luxurious and illustrious Haute Couture embroidery house in the world, featuring specially commissioned photography of Maison Lesage’s historic creations. The most prestigious Parisian Haute Couture artisans, Maison Lesage has collaborated with the biggest names in fashion, from Chanel, Schiaparelli, and Yves Saint Laurent, to Cristobal Balenciaga, Valentino, and Alexander McQueen. Founded in 1924, when the Lesage family bought the eminent firm of Michonet (then a supplier to such fashion legends as the House of Worth), Maison Lesage has created exceptional embroidery motifs—often requiring hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of precise beadwork—for star fashion designers for decades. Perhaps best known today for the masterpieces it creates for Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel collections, the house was bought by Chanel in 2002 as part of its Paraffection group to ensure the survival of the house’s unique history and extraordinary skills. Illustrated with specially commissioned photography of the house’s historic creations and illuminated with texts by Patrick Mauries, who has written extensively on Chanel, Maison Lesage is both a tribute to exceptional craftsmanship and a journey through more than one hundred years of fashion at its most sumptuous and inventive. This book will be coveted by anyone interested in luxury fashion.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "A powerful debut that proves the threads that interweave our lives can withstand time and any tide, and bind our hearts forever."—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of Belleweather and The Vanished Days A historical novel inspired by true events, Kelli Estes's brilliant and atmospheric debut is a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, highlighting the power of our own stories. The smallest items can hold centuries of secrets... While exploring her aunt's island estate, Inara Erickson is captivated by an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. The truth behind the silk sleeve dated back to 1886, when Mei Lien, the lone survivor of a cruel purge of the Chinese in Seattle found refuge on Orcas Island and shared her tragic experience by embroidering it. As Inara peels back layer upon layer of the centuries of secrets the sleeve holds, her life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core—and force her to make an impossible choice. Should she bring shame to her family and risk everything by telling the truth, or tell no one and dishonor Mei Lien's memory? A touching and tender book for fans of Marie Benedict, Susanna Kearsley, and Duncan Jepson, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk is a dual-time period novel that explores how a delicate piece of silk interweaves the past and the present, reminding us that today's actions have far reaching implications. Praise for The Girl Who Wrote in Silk: "A beautiful, elegiac novel, as finely and delicately woven as the title suggests. Kelli Estes spins a spellbinding tale that illuminates the past in all its brutality and beauty, and the humanity that binds us all together." —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author of The Beekeeper's Ball "A touching and tender story about discovering the past to bring peace to the present." —Duncan Jepson, author of All the Flowers in Shanghai "Vibrant and tragic, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk explores a horrific, little-known era in our nation's history. Estes sensitively alternates between Mei Lien, a young Chinese-American girl who lived in the late 1800s, and Inara, a modern recent college grad who sets Mei Lien's story free." —Margaret Dilloway, author of How to Be an American Housewife and Sisters of Heart and Snow

This practical step-by-step guide to haute couture embroidery covers everything from machine and hand stitching, to tambour beading, goldwork and monogramming. Whether you are interested in adding monogrammed initials to your favourite bathrobe, stitching a flower on your favourite jacket, adding sparkling beads to a new dress or creating a goldwork embellishment, Fashion Embroidery teaches you how to add a unique touch to your clothes. In this beautifully illustrated book, Jessica Pile, the Production Director at Hand & Lock embroidery, explores the intricate techniques used in fashion embroidery. With hand-drawn designs, catwalk photographs and step-by-step guides, this book is perfect for beginners looking to personalise their own clothes, as well as more experienced embroiderers who want to apply new techniques to different fabrics. Beginning with an inspirational overview of the fashion industry, Jessica looks at examples of embroideries and embellishments by a variety of couturiers, including Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hardy Amies and Burberry. The book then demonstrates the basics of three main techniques – goldwork, tambour beading and embroidery stitches including silk shading, satin and stem stitch. In do-it-yourself projects, Jessica first helpfully explains the basics of materials; she teaches you how to pick the right fabric, what tools to use, where to source materials, what types of wire or beads to use and terminology. Taking influences from existing couture designs, she then shows you how to execute these learned techniques onto your own clothes. This book is perfect for fashion students, textile artists, and those who want a more unique look to their clothes.

An introduction to the design, production and use of luxury embroideries in medieval England (c. 1200-1530) In medieval Europe, embroidered textiles were indispensable symbols of wealth and power. Owing to their quality, complexity and magnificence, English embroideries enjoyed international demand and can be traced in Continental sources as opus anglicanum (English work). Essays by leading experts explore the embroideries' artistic and social context, while catalogue entries examine individual masterpieces. Medieval embroiderers lived in a tightly knit community in London, and many were women who can be identified by name. Comparisons between their work and contemporary painting challenge modern assumptions about the hierarchy of artistic media. Contributors consider an outstanding range of examples, highlighting their craftsmanship and exploring the world in which they were created.

From Maison Chanel on rue Cambon to Jean Paul Gaultier on rue Saint-Martin, the history of French fashion is often closely tied to those of Parisian addresses. With exclusive photographs by Guillaume de Laubier and text by Désirée Sadek, Inside Haute Couture offers a private tour of 10 meccas of French fashion. From the splendor of VIP reception rooms to the privacy of sewing ateliers, the daily lives of the most renowned figures in haute couture are show­cased alongside the skilled artisans and their stunning creations. This book is an unprecedented journey into a world often closed to the public, against a backdrop of an exceptional architectural heritage.

A comprehensive history of high fashion in Paris from Madame Grès and Balenciaga to Yves Saint Laurent and Yohji Yamamoto, spanning all aspects from clothing and accessories to perfume. Ever since Charles Frederick Worth dressed the Empress Eugénie in the 1860s, launching a "golden century" for dressmaking, Parisian haute couture has been a source of endless admiration and fascination. Its emphasis on exquisite design and meticulous craftsmanship propelled it to the forefront of the fashion industry. The position and practices of haute couture may have evolved over time, but the work of many contemporary couturiers reveals a strong sense of continuity, from the creations of Jeanne Lanvin and Christian Dior, through to their modern counterparts in Jean-Paul Gaultier or Viktor & Rolf. This chronological study traces the history of the esteemed couture houses of Paris, examining the role of the designer and the extraordinary craftsmanship behind the finished creations, the place of haute couture in Parisian culture, and its influence in the wider fashion industry. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between haute couture and the client, as well as the dualities in modern haute couture—its sense of exclusivity and quasi-mythical aura countered by an ever-increasing reach into popular consciousness and attainability. This volume is richly illustrated with images of the most superb pieces created by exceptional designers. Various incarnations of Chanel’s timeless quilted handbag, Fath’s charmingly patterned silk scarves, and Poiret’s elegant perfume bottles demonstrate that haute couture encompasses far more than just clothing.

The role of the Lesage family from their Paris debut, with designs for Vionnet, Schiaparelli, and Dior.

Using previously unexamined and untranslated French sources, Claudine Lesage has illuminated the intertwined characters and important relationships of Wharton’s French life. The bulk of the new material comes from the daybooks of Paul and Minnie Bourget; Wharton’s letters (in French) to Léon Bélugou; and the author’s personal research in Hyères. Highlights include letters used in Wharton’s divorce proceedings and a mysterious autobiographical essay written by Wharton’s lover Morton Fullerton. Most significantly, Wharton’s friendship with Bélugou, absent from most Wharton biographies, is, for the first time, fully recounted through their extensive intimate correspondence. The year 1907 was a milestone in Edith Wharton’s life and work. Unlike Joseph Conrad, who had, virtually overnight, forsaken his native land for an adopted one, Mrs. Wharton’s transition required several years of shuttling back and forth across the Atlantic. At first, all of Europe beckoned to her, but, from 1907 on, Wharton would claim Paris and, after the war, the French countryside as her home. All the while, her work, long regarded as being exclusively American, followed a similar trajectory.