Fit 2 Stitch

Peggy Sagers: Today on "Fit 2 Stitch," we learn about the creation and manufacturing of French Leavers lace.

Made in France for generations, Solstiss luxury lace is renowned for its unmatched quality and endless variety, from delicate Chantilly and bold geometric patterns to timeless florals, bridal designs, and haute couture styles.

Quality, not cost, is the main consideration.

We're joined by Franois Damide, who will give us a master class on the fascinating process of creating luxury lace.

male announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Reliable Corporation, Bennos Buttons, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, and WAWAK Sewing Supplies.

Peggy: Franois Damide has come a long way today to teach us all about beautiful French lace.

I wanna bring him in and introduce him to you because I can't waste a minute of your time and not let you listen to what he has to say.

Thank you again so much for being here.

You were born in France.

You were born in this town that produces lace.

Franois Damide: That's correct.

Peggy: Tell me a little bit about this background.

Franois: So, this is a town that--I'm sorry to say, but it's not a very glamorous town.

It's in northern France, with the gray sky, you know, weather is not the best, not like here, you know.

So, not much sun.

Peggy: And you were born there?

Franois: Yes, next door.

Peggy: Grew up there?

Franois: But grew up there, yes, definitely.

So, it's not the type of town that you will see on a touristic, you know, brochure about France.

They're gonna show you the French Riviera, Paris, you know, the Loire Valley, you know, and so forth, but not northern France.

But, anyway, the beauty of the town is that we are the master of lacemaking and... and voila.

Peggy: So, you didn't stay there, though, and learn how to make lace?

Franois: No, but it's part of the culture of the town.

We used to have a lace festival every year, you know.

So, you could not avoid the lacemaking.

Peggy: Was your family involved in lacemaking at all?

No, okay.

Nothing to do with it?

Franois: No.

Peggy: And when did you start coming into lacemaking?

When did you start to appreciate it?

Franois: So, I always had a sense of style and fashion.

So, obviously, if you love fashion, you know, you have to love lace.

And, again, I was surrounded, you know, with lacemakers and so forth.

And I had an opportunity to work with the company, you know, Solstiss, and that's it.

So, I started at Solstiss, but what really-- to be very honest, what really was-- I was interested was I actually wanted to travel.

I wanted to "leave" the town and explore the world.

And the lace industry, which is a small industry in northern France, 90% of the sales is done outside of France.

Peggy: Oh, that's fascinating.

Franois: You know, to England, Italy, America, you know, Japan.

And I felt that this was an opportunity for me to travel.

Peggy: Aha, so now you could use the company that you grew up with and get out, get out of Dodge, and so you did.

Franois: So, then my dream was to move to America, and my dream was realized.

So, the company sent me to America and to open the US offices.

And my fear was actually not to go back, you know?

So, I really worked very hard, you know, knock at doors of all the fashion designers of New York City.

And, actually, a blessing came when I knock at a company called Calvin Klein, which I'd never heard of before.

And they said, "Oh, actually, we think Mr.

Klein is looking for some French lace for his collection," and I'm like, "Okay, why not?"

you know?

And then he fell in love with the collection, and he did the whole collection for Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus exclusively.

And this was really when the company took off in America.

Peggy: And now you love lace, because as I talked to you and all the conversations we have-- and not just about lace, but personal conversations-- lace is a part of your soul at this point.

Franois: Now it is.

Now it is.

I've been with the company a long time, and I think-- you know, I created a master class.

I'm involved with the Fashion School of America.

So, now I can say I am really the French lace expert in America, the only one.

Peggy: And responsible or, really, wanting to bring lace to another generation.

Franois: Definitely.

Peggy: I think that what I sensed from you is that was just so important to really carry on these beautiful traditions that you were born into somewhat, but to get others to really appreciate and preserve them.

Franois: That's true.

That's true because-- you know, I mean, our business is challenging.

I mean, we are a niche.

You know, we are expensive not because we want to be expensive; it's because the manufacturing is costly.

So, education is very, very important.

So, for the current generation and future generation to understand the difference between, basically, our traditional true lace as opposed to fake lace-- so what we did is that we launched the Solstiss Academy, which we are sponsoring schools, seven schools in America, and we are planning to increase it to ten special schools-- Peggy: 'Cause that was all about education.

Franois: Exactly, and we were very pleased.

And, actually, the school went to visit the factory last week.

And it was absolutely amazing.

Anyway, they love it.

Peggy: So, I wanna start with consumer-- how a consumer buys lace-- which, really, that's a difficult process to do.

But this, for example, is how it comes off the machines, or it comes off in 5-yard pieces.

And so--but as a consumer, you don't really sell to consumers.

Tell me who you decide-- I know you can't tell all these designers' names, but who do you sell to?

Who do you market to?

Franois: Okay, so there's some very famous names that, unfortunately, I cannot reveal, because we are very strict NDA, so, all the top fashion designer of the world buys from us, okay?

So, there's a couple of-- I can mention Valentino; I can mention, you know, Michael Kors for his collection line; Ralph Lauren; you know, Rodarte in Los Angeles; Monique Lhuillier, you know.

And so--all the top names.

So, it's not really for-- I mean, consumer can, of course, buy it.

Actually, we just opened an e-shop in the US.

So, yes, they can buy it, but it's not-- I mean, they have to create a dress from this.

So, this is how the lace comes off the loom.

So, it's a piece of 5 yards, which is the length of the loom, and the width is 36 inch wide.

Peggy: Gotcha.

Is this pile, like, the basic lace?

Franois: So, this is what we call-- I will not call it basic, but I will call it-- Peggy: I know, sorry.

That's too generic.

We'll call it-- Franois: We call it plain--plain lace.

So, here we have a geometric design.

You see it's a two-tone.

So, you have a pale green with the outline of the design in black, okay-- Peggy: It's beautiful.

Franois: --which is all woven together, and here you can see this two-lace design on this dress.

And, actually, you have here that Frdric actually used this dress.

So, you see it's very interesting how in the creative mind of a fashion designer going from a plain sample, which is our showroom sample, and imagining it into a shape, which is magic.

These are dresses that are borrowed from a customer of ours.

So, this is a couture designer, meaning that these dresses retail at least at $1000 and up.

So, here we are talking $1500 to $3000, $4000 or $5000 apiece.

Peggy: So, they really have to use this better quality for it to maintain its shape and its longevity.

Franois: Of course, that's correct, Peggy.

Now, this is also a plain lace with an outline, a small outline, of the design, which is woven into the machine.

This is a classic from our collection.

Peggy: So, when you say "plain lace," it just means that there's one layer, nothing added on top, just one simple layer.

Franois: That's correct, Peggy.

Peggy: Yeah, we're just gonna-- hold that up so we can really see that.

It's just beautiful.

And is there a right and wrong side to lace?

Franois: Oh, there is.

There is.

So, this is the right side, actually.

The right side has a little more volume.

The backside is more flat.

Peggy: Have you had cases where people have used it on both sides, and you've, like, shuddered-- Franois: They use it on the wrong side.

I know, I know, that's part of the education.

I know, and they're like, "It's funny, Franois.

It doesn't look, you know, like the header or, you know, like the sample," and I'm like, "Well, sorry, you used it on the wrong side," you know.

Peggy: So, when we talk about plain lace, just even plain lace, give me just bal--idea of cost, just rough estimates.

Franois: Okay, so, plain lace made in France, shipped in America is-- we have to-- the lowest price is $50 a yard in 36 inch wide.

You know, so that's what it is.

So, that's why we cater to, obviously, luxury designer because our minimum, as I said, is 5 yards.

So, 5-by-5, $250.

So, $250 just with material for plain lace, you can already imagine what would be the cost of making the gown, and then retail, you know, so that's-- Peggy: So, this edge right here-- I'm gonna call it a little scalloped edge, here at the bottom-- every lace comes this way.

So, it can be used or not used, but it all is made like this, and then you cut away the extra.

Franois: Okay, so that's specifically to Leavers lace, meaning made on Leavers loom, which we have on those machines.

Leavers loom are dated from the English Industrial Revolution.

They are 150 years old.

The machine that are extremely complicated to maintain and to work with.

And, yes, so they all have that-- what we call that scallop, which is basically the connection to the other design, and then it's trimmed by hand.

Peggy: Sure, and then what do we have here?

Franois: Those machine again, those Leavers loom, does very fine work.

So, we can use very, very amazing thin Lurex yarn like this one.

Peggy: Oh my gosh, that is just beautiful, and what is-- what's the fiber of the yarn?

Franois: Here, in this case, we are talking Lurex, Lurex.

The net is nylon, and we also have--I'm sorry--some rayon.

Peggy: Okay, so it's a combination.

Franois: It's always a combination to give the depth.

Peggy: And also that luminous, that comes-- Franois: Of course, that's from the Lurex yarn.

But, you see, it's gorgeous.

Peggy: Oh, that is just beautiful.

Franois: It's gorgeous, and this design, just to give you an idea, this design is 70 year old.

Peggy: Seventy years old?

It does not look a day over ten.

Franois: Isn't that interesting?

Peggy: It doesn't.

I mean, it looks as contemporary as anything I've ever seen out there.

Franois: So, this is another one.

This one is made with a heavy yarn.

So, it has a nice weight.

Peggy: And are all the designs designed in-house?

Franois: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Peggy: That is just amazing.

Look at this.

Franois: We don't introduce new-- like, hundreds of new designs per season because, first of all, we have a lot.

What we do is that we introduce a few new--brand-new designs, brand-new patterns, but what we do is that sometimes we change the combination of yarn.

We change the embroidery.

You know, we change-- you know, so there's-- it's a combination of things, but we really introduce, I will say, about 200 new references per season.

Peggy: Wow, I mean, this is just stunning.

I want--there's so much more I wanna see.

What is this type of lace called?

Franois: So, metallic, it's plain but metallic.

So, either with metallic yarn or Lurex.

Peggy: Okay, so this is really beautiful.

I mean, I could see a jacket with jeans out of this.

Franois: I know.

This is cool.

Peggy: So, these are all metallics in here.

And what--give us a price.

From the plain lace-- Franois: And on this, we are talking now $80 a yard.

Peggy: Okay, so it jumps up a bit, okay.

Beautiful.

Franois: Okay, here we are-- here we have the-- it's a Chantilly.

We go a little further with the Chantilly.

Just with a little touch of Lurex, which makes like sparkle like a star in the sky.

I mean, it's absolutely gorgeous.

Okay, this is a beauty as well.

This one also is one of our oldest.

It's, like, 90 years old.

Peggy: Oh, so you've got different color threads in here now.

Franois: Yeah, pink and gold.

So, we see, we play with the combination as well.

It gives a totally different effect.

Peggy: And is it-- are the machines able to be digitized, or is it-- Franois: Oh, no.

Peggy: Yeah, no, too old-fashioned, okay.

Franois: No, I mean, the design are made out of Jacquard cartons, the punch card, and, you know, which takes a big size, you know.

We start to digitize that, it's on the record, but the machine by itself is definitely done, you know.

Peggy: So, this, I wanna look at this.

Tell me what this group is called.

Franois: All right, this group is called Chantilly, Chantilly lace, which is obviously the most famous name.

There was a couple of songs in America, you know, that Chantilly lace, you know.

Peggy: Chantilly Lace got a pretty face, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He really wasn't in love with the lace.

He was really in love with the girl.

But we'll give the lace credit, right?

So, why was it called Chantilly?

Franois: So, why it's called Chantilly, because the city of Chantilly in France in the Renaissance time, each--not each-- but a few town in Europe, like Bruges in Belgium.

It was not Belgium at the time.

It was Flanders.

Bruges.

Chantilly, the city of Tulle, T-U-L-L--you know.

Peggy: So, Tulle is a city?

Tulle lace is a city?

Franois: Yes, Tulle, like Tulle, I mean, net, like a net.

Peggy: Yeah, sure, bridal tulle.

Franois: Exactly, so, Chantilly--you know, Venice, in Italy.

Alenon.

So, all these town had their own tradition of food, clothing, and textile.

So, the ladies of Chantilly were creating handmade lace, you know, bobbin lace, and their style was very sheer and delicate.

So, obviously this is very transparent, very sexy, very glamour, you know.

So, it's for a certain type of clothing, obviously.

Peggy: So, why does the lace get so expensive?

Franois: So, here, in this case, for instance, this is what we call a clipped lace.

I don't know if you see it with the camera.

But, okay, just so you understand, these are little bouquets of flower that you feel are just hanging there.

But, basically, they were all woven together-- like, all the lace prior-- and they were, the yarn, were actually connected.

See, you see the little leftover here?

So, here connected, connected.

Peggy: So, every one of this was all connected like a weft and a warp type?

Franois: That's correct, okay.

Now, what they did in order to make sure that the design stands out, what we do is that we have a sort of scissors that just goes lightly on the lace in order to cut the connection between those yarns.

Then it's vacuumed so the yarn stands out, stand up, and then we actually shave it.

As you can imagine, this is a long process, and what we do after is that we actually trim it by hand and repair because there might be some holes, but we have amazing hands.

They really have an amazing hand, and they repair it.

You don't see the difference.

Peggy: So, the lace goes through the machine.

That's just the beginning.

Franois: So, this is after the machine.

Peggy: Ah, this is after the machine.

They have to go through the vacuum, and they hand-do.

So, that's the expense.

Franois: That's where the expense is.

Peggy: Okay, it's not literal-- I mean, I know the machines-- how old are those machines?

Franois: A hundred and fifty year olds.

Peggy: And they're actually protected by the government?

Franois: So, yes, so it's a law that passed, like, five years ago-- that the government decided that those Leavers loom that are in northern France, there's not too many left-- but, you know, we have the largest concentration of those looms-- that they belong to, you know-- they have to stay in France.

It's called an industrial landmark, okay?

So, meaning-- let's say a company, an outside company, you know, Chinese company, American company, wants to buy our company.

They cannot remove those machine out of the French territory.

Peggy: Wow.

I wanna get to this expensive stuff.

When we're talking Chantilly, how much are we going?

Franois: So, Chantilly, now we are talking $100, $120 because of the finesse.

Peggy: And that isn't just costs you're making up.

Those are costs based on time and hand-doing.

Your lace isn't expensive because you want it to be; it just is.

Franois: It's the making that is costly.

You know, it's funny, people always say, "Oh, Franois, you should lower your prices."

I'm like, "We cannot, unfortunately.

That's just the way it is," you know?

But the quality is there, and thank God, you know, the top designers of the world appreciate us, but look at this.

Look at the Monstera, Monstera leaves in a lace.

Look at this.

Peggy: And I love it when there's something behind it because I love lace, but you can really start to see the pattern when you put something behind it.

Franois: This is another one that is also very old.

Peggy: Beautiful, it's really beautiful.

Go ahead.

Hold that up.

And I'm just gonna put my hand behind.

No, no, no, I just want to be able to see.

That is just beautiful, oh!

So, you don't ever get tired of lace, 'cause there's always new-- more coming out.

Franois: I wanted to say something.

It's funny-- when the new collection arrive, you know, for the next season, so we work one year ahead.

Peggy: And you have two seasons per year.

Franois: Exactly, so one year ahead.

So, we start to-- the launch period is basically September.

So, this September, we will have the collection for the next year-- Peggy: Spring.

Franois: --meaning the designer has time to sample it, to fine-tune their color or their style, and then they gonna present it six month after on the runway.

And then this is when, based on the success of their gown, they will give us what we call a production order.

Peggy: And before we go to this, talk to me just about this dress, because this is-- what type of lace is this?

Franois: So, this is a lace with a metallic yarn.

So, it's a plain lace, but just with a touch of gold.

Peggy: So, that was the first category of plain, the second category of metallic.

Franois: Exactly, exactly.

Oh, you are good.

Peggy: Okay, but now we went to about $80 a yard for the lace, roughly.

Franois: Yeah, yeah, and so this gown is basically like a simple--you know, I will say daywear gown that could be used also for cocktail, obviously, cocktail or maybe evening, you know.

And this--I don't know the exact price, but we will be talking anywhere at least $1500, $2000, and up.

You know, so it's not-- again, it's not for everyone, unfortunately.

We are no longer a commodity textile company.

We are luxury, but we are very proud.

Peggy: I just love that.

I mean, I just think that's so beautiful.

I wanna talk about this one because very, very different because lace can be layered, and I want to show the back of this simply because someone has to be very confident in their backside to wear this dress.

Franois: So, that's obviously very sexy.

That's part of the textile.

You know, it's transparent.

Peggy: Interesting that they wanted to cover the back, but not the bottom.

Franois: The better view, it's the better view.

So, yes, what Frdric did was, you know, to cover obviously the strategic area of the body, and, you know, anybody can wear it if they wish to, of course.

Peggy: Let's talk really expensive, 'cause we get into couture lace.

Franois: I wanted to finish what I was saying.

So, when I get the new collection, when I get the box from France of the new collection, it's Christmas, and that's why I don't get tired of it.

It's so inspiring.

Peggy: I know that feeling.

Franois: And I've been with the company so long it's like, "Oh my God, you guys are absolutely amazing."

Peggy: Oh, that's awesome.

That is exciting.

Franois: I know.

Peggy: We all get that feeling with that new, especially when it's fabulous.

Franois: Exactly, so this is-- this is another type of lace.

This is the wrong side.

I'm sorry.

This is what we call Alenon, meaning it's a heavier lace.

So, this is a plain lace that has been embroidered by a cord.

So, "Why a cord?"

you might say.

It's very basic, but actually the point-- Peggy: You can really tell the difference in the weight.

Franois: The point is to highlight the design of the flower.

Peggy: It's thicker.

Franois: Yeah, so the city of Alenon, like I was mentioning, you know, during the Renaissance time and up to the 19th century was specialized in heavier, coarser lace, and this is what we are doing, you know, today.

Peggy: It's beautiful.

Boy, the weight is really different.

Franois: The weight is amazing.

So, this type of lace is very, very successful for the bridal designers.

You know, for the gown, I mean, it's nice.

Peggy: And what would this cost, roughly?

Franois: Now, here we are talking $180, $200 a yard.

So, we are talking of, you see, this jump... Peggy: If you do a train in that, you can get a really-- Franois: But that's what it is, you know, okay.

Now, this is the crme de la crme, if you will say.

Peggy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is the fun part.

Franois: So, this is what we call our haute couture line-- so, meaning that this is a plain lace or an Alenon or a Chantilly that has another type of work on top of it.

Look at this.

Peggy: Like, layered.

There's layers here.

Franois: Like layers.

So, here we have a gold lace, plain gold lace.

Now we have a gold cord on top of it.

Then we have a mix of sequins, beads, you know, that has been placed in a very specific way in order to emphasize the design, and obviously this is very red-carpet.

Peggy: What's done by machine versus hand?

Franois: The gold yarn is guided by machine, meaning like--let me show you.

So, here you have the lace, you have the machine, you have the gown, and then, you know, the person follow the design.

Then all the beads and sequins and bugle beads are done by hand.

Peggy: Everything after is added by hand, oh!

Franois: So, here we are talking $500 a yard.

So, this is haute couture.

I mean, this is what you see on the haute couture, you know, in Paris.

We are talking $20,000 dress.

So, here we have another type of-- from our haute couture.

Again, our design team is absolutely amazing, and I respect them so much.

So, here we are talking lace with velvet insert.

Peggy: That's just amazing.

I mean, you can tell that's expensive.

You can just look at it.

You don't have to know lace, and you can tell it's expensive.

Franois: And this is another type of lace, you know, which is this multicolored pastel embroidery on the lace.

Look at this work.

Peggy: Well, and the--you know, you can tell the depth.

The thickness changes from the plain lace as we came across to how thick the thread is in the stitches versus the background.

There's really almost a depth to it.

It's like a 3D effect.

Franois: I know.

Peggy: It's really beautiful.

Thank you so much.

Franois: Merci.

Peggy: Merci, merci.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

My goodness, the Europeans have influenced so many details of the way we dress.

And, at times, we've copied their looks from top to bottom.

Join me next time on "Fit 2 Stitch" as our guest Roxanne shows us how to duplicate those beautiful, distinctive details we all love.

It's European flair your way.

announcer: "Fit 2 Stitch" is made possible by Kai Scissors, Reliable Corporation, Bennos Buttons, Plano Sewing Center, Elliott Berman Textiles, and WAWAK Sewing Supplies.

announcer: To order a four-DVD set of "Fit 2 Stitch Series 14," please visit our website at fit2stitch.com.