P.LACE.S - Looking Through Antwerp Lace, Frieda Sorber Wim Mertens Marguerite Coppens Kaat Debo Romy Cockx

In Lace: P.LACE.S – Looking Through Antwerp Lace, the delicate loops and intricate motifs of lace are treated as both artefact and narrative — cloth as culture, thread as testimony. Rather than simply celebrating lace as ornament, the book situates it within the social and mercantile life of Flanders, especially Antwerp, where for centuries lace was crafted, traded and worn as signifier of wealth, taste and regional identity. Drawing together historical laces, fashion portraits, archival documents and contemporary reinterpretations, the volume shows how lace — from bobbin-made floral guipure to the sheerest Chantilly — carried intention and meaning across centuries. It traces how artisans interlaced fibres with a precision that rivals the natural world, placing textile not just in the wardrobe but in religion, interior design and artistic discourse.

Visually generous and rich with detail, the book illustrates the dialogue between past and present: historic pieces from museum collections sit alongside high-tech contemporary fashion that references lace in form and concept, demonstrating that this fragile material still exerts a powerful semantic force. For readers inclined to slow-see — to feel with their eyes the tension of a bobbin-twist or the rhythm of a repeating motif — the volume functions as both beautifully designed object and cultural atlas. Its pages make tactile the history of lace’s production, exchange, transformation and continued allure.

About the Author
A collaborative effort edited by Frieda Sorber, Kaat Debo, Tessy Schoenholzer, Ina Berghe and others. Frieda Sorber is a curator of historical costume and textiles with extensive experience in museum collections and exhibitions. Kaat Debo is Director of the Antwerp Fashion Museum (MoMu) and an expert in Belgian fashion history. Tessy Schoenholzer and Ina Berghe contribute additional scholarly context and archival research, bringing multidisciplinary perspectives — curatorial, art-historical and technical — to the subject of lace and its cultural life.

Publication date: 2021
Publisher: Lannoo Publishers
Pages: 256
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN: 9789401474337