Maison Lesage: Haute Couture Embroidery, Patrick Mauriès

Maison Lesage: Haute Couture Embroidery is the definitive monograph on the world’s most celebrated couture embroidery house, whose artisans have draped haute couture gowns in shimmering motifs for nearly a century. Founded in 1924, Lesage has woven its magic into creations by Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Dior, Saint Laurent—and most iconically Chanel, which acquired the atelier into its Paraffection collective in 2002. This sumptuous tome, laced with specially commissioned photography, reveals the labyrinthine mastery of beadwork, sequins, tweed and Lunéville hook techniques underpinning its earliest innovations.

Part coffee-table spectacle, it traces Lesage’s evolution—from the bubbled voiles of Vionnet’s bias-cuts to François Lesage’s avant-garde collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent—each stitch a testament to skill, ornament and ambition. It’s a tactile celebration, conjuring the tactile resonance of couture embroidery and the atelier’s enduring sway over fashion’s visual language.

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About the Author
Patrick Mauriès is an acclaimed writer and publisher at Thames & Hudson, celebrated for his discerning studies of fashion and design luminaries—from Chanel’s jewellery to Fornasetti’s dreamscapes. With Maison Lesage he brings both curatorial rigor and a poetic eye to the art of embellishment, illuminating how threads and beads can articulate the soul of haute couture.

Publication date: 2020
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9780500021538