THE ART OF EMBELLISHMENT
Used creatively by the world's greatest interior designers, past and present, trimmings of multiple varieties – from fringing to tassels and many others in between - are the ultimate icing on the decorative cake. From classic to contemporary, all manner of styles are represented in Declercq Passementiers' collections.
Used creatively by the world's greatest interior designers, past and present, trimmings of multiple varieties – from fringing to tassels and many others in between - are the ultimate icing on the decorative cake. These adornments enhance and enrich, bringing contrast or complement to a dominant colour, while adding a certain delicate refinement. From classic to contemporary, all manner of styles are represented in Declercq Passementiers' collections.
Astroll along rue Etienne Marcel in Paris is likely to bring a wild and trendy shopping spree or some form of culinary indulgence. However, if you are in search of something completely different, in amongst the flagship stores of Yohji Yamamoto, Kenzo, Thierry Mugler and the like, sits a charm of a shop at number 19. Behind heavy wood and glass double doors lies an almost exhibition-like space which is actually the showroom of Declercq Passementiers, one of the pillars in the art of interior design and possibly the world's most renowned creators of trimmings.
Declercq Passementiers' story began in 1852 when Joseph Bertraud, Claude Declercq's great-grandfather, bought a tiny factory located on rue Quincampoix in the heart of Paris and began creating decadent trimmings for grand buildings such as the Opera Garnier.
Joseph's daughter, Marie-Louise, married Ernest Perret and eventually inherited her father's business. In 1900 the workshops were moved to rue Saint-Sauveur.
In 1930, during The Depression, Gaston Perret was the first to create the small ‘shuttlecock' that would revolutionise trimmings for several years and thus La Passementerie Nouvelle was born.
In 1948, Gaston's daughter, Jacqueline Perret Declercq, began to work at his side and later took over the direction of La Passementerie Nouvelle in collaboration with her son Claude.
In 1971, the business moved to rue Etienne Marcel, and in 1972 it acquired Louvet & Mauny, a company dating back to the 18th Century, then in 1977 the prestigious company Andre Boudin, renowned for having made some the world's most beautiful trimmings during the first half of the 20th Century.
In 1980, Jérôme Declercq began an apprenticeship in the craft and today he is the General Director of Declercq Passementiers. In 1990, Elisa Declercq joined her father and brother at the heart of the company and today she manages the manufacturing side of the business.
Generations of craftspeople have handed down their expertise and ancestral techniques, thus perpetuating the refined traditions of a trade that has become rare. Jérôme and Elisa Declercq represent the sixth generation of this family of trimming-makers and are dedicated to the innovation of their craft.
Declercq Passementiers trimmings are made using traditional craft techniques: 80 percent are produced by hand, utilising the oldest methods. Each item is created with utmost care, from conception to colour choice to the actual production. Scores of agile fingers weave, embroider and twist threads to create braids, fringes, tassels, rosettes, and other decorative treasures.
Trimmings are the only textile product where several different structural techniques are used in the creation of a single item. The first step is the research for the various materials needed for the
production of an order. The threads are grouped by width and quality in the appropriate colour tones and according to use. If the dyed material cannot be found in the existent stock, Declercq prepares the raw materials and has them dyed. After dyeing, they are spooled and the next step is the preparation of the threads on the loom.
Some of the materials are destined for the mechanical loom, first carefully threaded onto the loom as the desired pattern requires. The mechanical loom allows Declercq to create the most complex ribbons, braids and some of the simple gimps. Other materials are hand-woven to create the more complex gimps, velvet ribbons, braids and bullion fringes.
Other materials go to the work table, where items are assembled by hand without the use of looms, including tassels and complex gimps.
Museums and historical buildings under renovation call on Declercq Passementiers' expertise to reproduce trimmings of exceptional intricacy and beauty, and The Peninsula Paris is no exception. Interior designer Henry Leung commissioned Declercq to produce four dramatic Oriental-style tassles, each 1.6 metres in length for the hotel's Chinese restaurant LiLi. Made from pure silk, each tassle took 600 man hours to make using 15 kilogrammes of fabric. “That was the first time we had created such large pieces,” reveals Declercq. “We had to make a sculptured mold and modify the pieces as we went along to make sure that they were absolutely perfect.”
Leung also worked with Declercq and Design Percept to manifest the fibre optic trimmings on the large portrait of LiLi, which sits at the entrance of the restaurant, marking Declercq's first venture into the extremely complex world of fibre optic fabric.
Declercq was also tasked with creating the tassles and trimmings for The Historic Suite at The Peninsula Paris, which involved dyeing the embellishments to exactly match the ivory and aubergine drapery fabrics produced by Prelle, another specialist company located just around the corner in Place des Victoires.
30 people currently work in the Declercq Passementiers atelier and when asked whether he fears such artisans will become fewer and fewer, Declercq is passionate, saying, “The company has preserved its ancestral techniques while constantly innovating its methods and designs, so it is vital for us to train young people for the future, otherwise we will be in big trouble. We are the only company in the world to perform this kind of work so meticulously.”
History has indeed proved Declercq Passementiers to be one of the pillars in the art of interior design.
“Museums and historical buildings under renovation call on Declercq Passementiers' expertise to reproduce trimmings of exceptional intricacy and beauty, and The Peninsula Paris is no exception”