Trimmings

Passementerie, the fine art of detail in haute couture

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Trimmings details the history of Declercq’s passementerie, the fine art of detail in haute couture.

In 1852, Joseph Bertaud bought a small trimmings factory in Paris that had been making passementerie since 1760. Although passementerie—the woven textile accessories adorning furniture and clothing in the form of a fringe, tassel, braid, crest, and beyond—reached France in the Middle Ages, the house continues to uphold the excellence and pass down the history of the Declercq Passementiers factory 170 years later. Having collaborated with major institutions such as Versailles and Chantilly and prestigious decorators and architects such as Jacques Grange, Patrick Frey, Franck Sorbier, Mathieu Lehanneur, Michel Charrière, Joseph Achkar, Jamie Drakeet, Gabhan O’Keefe, and François-Joseph Graf, the factory has withstood the test of time and adapted to the fluctuating fashions in vogue in decoration.

In the elegant Trimmings: Declerq Passementier’s Mastery of Excellence filled with archival photographs of the factory’s rich history juxtaposed with modern photographs by Alexandre Réty of the rich fabrics and material, journalist Catherine Deydier unwinds the thread of Declercq’s family legacy, guides us through the factory workshops and technique, and interviews some of the greatest textile designers.