A short glossary

Tulle and lace

The Leavers loom Invented in England at the beginning of the 19th century and smuggled into France during the Napoleonic period, the celebrated mechanical Leavers looms run on an expert, highly resistant principle of interwoven threads. Operating like complex, precious musical instruments, these looms have been conserved, restored and used by Sophie Hallette for over a century. The cacophony of sound made by ten tons of metal functioning under the skilled hands and watchful eyes of exceptional craftsmen and craftswomen, produce the world’s finest, most creative, most beautiful laces.

Alençon This luxurious lace with abundant motifs echos nature in shimmery chiaroscuros. Carnations and roses flirt with peonies in its bouclé weave. In a subtle scene sketched on a Leavers loom, gimp yarns define motifs for more opacity.

Cluny With its thickness and rustic character, it cleverly hides a game of mathematical theories, subtle edifices, geometric structures or sensitive architecture with Gothic inspiration. A strong balance for the most famous of laces.

Chantilly A light, delicate floral bouquet that is feminine and willowy with a rare elegance. With its game of shadows and lights, this transparent voile originated in ancient times.

Net Its tale has been told since antiquity : that of a geometric weave on an intentionally rustic, often irregular, sometimes thick ground. Gimp and background threads join together and can include almost anything in their net…

Guipure Lace This daytime lace is comfortable to wear, a “little nothing” with a sinuous texture. It is humble, sociable and easy… with an impressive thickness. Modest and assertive, its bold expressions show off details and motifs.

Malines This lace is definitely clever! It makes an impact, shows off and outlines motifs with a slightly thicker thread. A pinch of lightness makes it desirable while its four-leaf clovers add a special pleasure !

The Bobinet loom After centuries of being made by hand, the invention of the tulle loom quickly meant that this refined, extremely delicate fabric could be produced mechanically. The Bobinet loom, created in Nottingham in 1808, revolutionized the burgeoning tulle industry by using a knotted weave technique that was sturdier and suppler. “Bobbin” tulle, so fine that it becomes amazingly transparent, is also highly resistant. Threads in silk, wool, cotton, linen or other innovative materials are enhanced on these exceptional looms and inspire creativity. Between 1986 and 1996, the House of Sophie Hallette restored and gave a new life to thirty neglected, hundred-year-old bobinet looms. Today they produce one of the world’s finest tulles.

Origami Sometimes the rich techniques of France’s heritage cross paths with Japanese origami to be suddenly enriched by this magnetic poetry. What wonderful stories and universes we can discover in this lovely jewel of a shimmery-printed cotton tulle with a cloud of raised, stitched pleats !

Wave In Northern France near the Sophie Hallette factory in Caudry, waves crash on the coastline … one almost feels their vibrations in the looms. Here thin strips of silk tulle cut and sewn together reproduce these moving undulations. An invitation to travel ?

Bobinet weave It has come a long way since it was invented in Nottingham in the early 1800s and has never disappeared. Bobinet tulle was revolutionary then and continues today! Wefts twist around warp threads in its net : the first step for thousands of variations limited only by the imagination.