
This unusual exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to discover some of the unique pieces which great designers have created for Moroso. What makes the exhibition even more special is the fact that the chairs and sofas on display have been ‘dressed’ in a rich brocade which has been specially produced by Rubelli for the occasion.
The fabric is a reproduction of an original pattern card which is held at the Museum and is attributed to Philippe de Lasalle, one of the leading figures in the 18th Century silk industry.

The pattern almost certainly dates back to the late 1700s and, perhaps as a tribute to Marie Antoinette’s bucolic passion for the countryside, has an elegant decorative motif featuring ears of wheat, a pair of doves and a straw hat as well as pretty ribbons and delicately blossoming boughs.
Rubelli has been able to create, thanks to the assistance of the design department both at the start of the project and during the weaving itself, a brocade which doesn’t just reproduce the “technical” colours of the pattern (which are different from those in the document) but, in highly original way, also the squares of the graph paper on which it was drawn.

The opulence of the fabric is emphasized by the number of colours used in the weft- 12 variations of which 11 are viscose and the other is a metallic yarn- and the number of weft threads per centimetre. A rich fabric normally has a count of 50/60 threads per centimetre, whereas this precious material has 180.
The fabric is made even more luxurious through the use of 9600 silk organza weave threads, the finest thread available. The result is a complex brocade which, with its three pattern sections and an overlapping vertical repeat, involves a lengthy production process: over an hour to weave just a single metre.

Savoir faire Rubelli and savoir faire Moroso: two leading Italian companies whose products communicate the very best of Italian design and skill, come together to celebrate the beauty of fabric and the beauty of the decorative arts.
Beauty and quality: two faces of the same coin.
Until 1st september
Lo Sguardo Laterale: Moroso, une recherche entre Arts décoratifs et Design
Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs de Lyon
Rue de la Charité 34, Lyon


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