The International City of Lace and of Mode

It's almost time for the unraveling of the Cité internationale de la dentelle et de la mode! in Calais, France. A museum of Lace which is nothing new for a city which since 1816, has devoted such gracious designs and touches to this uber delicate airy fabric. After much history, Calais today has six companies of lacemakers (Boot, Brunet laces, Codentel, Cosetex, Desseilles international, Noyon laces), accompanied by eight companies of completions (cutting, dyeing, etc.), all in the same levels of famous fashion houses like Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier, Dior, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, Chantal Thomass, Aubade, Warner..

The inauguration is set at June 11, 2009, by the Mayor of Calais. The building is designed by architects Alain Moatti and Henri Rivière (worked in the head office of Jean Paul Gaultier). What they had to say about the project, “To keep the traces of time and the scars, to thus allow the factory to continue its life and to add, with the frontage light moving, a ultra-technological object, an unreal world, an always renewed glance. There is not of another relationship between the factory and this frontage, only that which opposes the softness of lace with the brutality of the factory”.

The museum will house an extraordinary permanent exhibition showcasing the history, the present, and the future of the lace of Calais. Many visitors would be able to discover the trade secrets of the most extraordinary fabrics. There are so many great events that follow the opening that is sure not to be missed!


Cité internationale de la dentelle et de la mode
135, quay Commercial, 62100 Calais
Inauguration on June 11, 2009.
“Sea - lace, lace - sea”, of Maria Dompé
Varnishing on Thursday May 14, at 6 p.m.
www.citedentelle.calais.fr


via prestigium mode, ville de Calais.