6 new Ateliers on Maison d’Exceptions The 14 January 2019 - Maison d'Exceptions - Markets insiders

Aurélia Leblanc – Paris, France 
Hand weaving

After studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, Aurélia Leblanc launched her craft weaving business in 2016 in Paris. She specializes in weaving and sometimes combines this technique with textile printing or embroidery.

She is convinced that an crafting scale of weaving is the ideal field for innovation. Hence, she tests by marrying fibres and diversifying know-hows. Metal yarns and banana fibres, denim dyeing on an aloe vera yarn or even horsehair mixed with ostrich feather: through original material blends she unveils unexpected and surrealist textures’ vocabulary.

Eric Charles Donatien – Paris, France
Featherwork

Founded in Paris in 2010, Éric Charles-Donatien’s feather workshop is a true creative laboratory from which he creates tailor-made accessories and develops finishing techniques for fashion and interior design.

Today he extends the traditional featherwork techniques learned directly from André Lemarié, founder of the eponymous company, by applying surface treatments – fine-gold gilding, lacquering – and combining feather with other materials such as metal. Like a sculptor, he forges shapes and volumes where, in trompe-l’oeil, the feather turns into fur or a masterpiece of cabinet-making.

Golden Silk – Siem Reap, Cambodia
Sericulture and silk weaving

The Golden Silk farm was created in 2002 in the Siem Reap region of Cambodia. It preserves the ancestral know-how of golden silk – the Khmer silk par excellence that dressed the kings of Angkor. Specialist in the field of artisanal weaving, the know-how of the craftsmen weavers is declined from ikat to brocatelle.

From breeding to processing, the entire sector develops locally which makes it possible not only to ensure the quality along each step, but also guarantees environmentally friendly practices and a social model that ensures employees a monthly salary regardless of their performance.

Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council – Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Handwoven braiding

Talli, also known as desert lace, is a handwoven braiding technique of metal threads. This exclusively feminine know-how, similar to that of bobbin lace, is passed on from mother to daughter.

Between 8 and 50 bobbins of yarn will be used depending on the complexity of the braiding. Talli is traditionally used to decorate wrists, hems and collars of dresses or shirwal, the traditional Emirrati female trousers. Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council’s mission is to supervise many craftspeople in order to ensure the international outreach of their practices.

Kashida Studio – Gopalpura Byepass, India
Artisanal methods of fabric finishing

Plumenova is committed to preserving the kalamkari technique – an ancient art of textile embellishment practiced in South India that combines freehand painting and delicate hand embroidery made of pure silk threads – in a sustainable social and industrial practice.

Since 2007, an in-house R&D department has been extending the traditional production of unique pieces through the use of printing and machine embroidery technologies. The team includes over 300 highly qualified craftsmen and designers that ensure excellency and a know-how preservation.

Lemarié – Pantin, France
Feather workers / Florists / Textile craftsmen / Pleaters

Founded in 1880, Maison Lemarié is one of the last feather-working companies and over time has become a privileged partner of the great couture houses and fashion designers. While feather working is at the origin of the company, its expertise also extends to flowers and in its couture workshop it produces smocking, incrustations and sophisticated flounces. The company bought Maison Lognon in 2014 and now creates many types of pleats for the leading names in fashion.
In recent years, Lemarié has offered its expertise to labels in order to develop merchandising and events-based projects.