Etincelles

A few thousand years before Christ, Roman, Chinese, Persian and Egyptian craftsmen used to cover in gold leaf the threads that they were going to weave for the rich and powerful. Later, weavers used gold and silver threads to embellish tapestries woven out of wool or silk. These threads were difficult to work and extended production times. They required particular skills, passed from generation to generation. From the XVIIth century onward, new techniques made it possible to create very fine metal threads able to go through fabric. Today, the metals used with textile fibres are silver, gold and copper, but also aluminium, iron or stainless steel, and come in every colour. In PINTON’s Couture collection, these fabulous threads are inserted alongside traditional wool or silk yarns, to create poetic and graphic pieces imagined in partnership with contemporary artists and designers.

Silk is a natural animal fibre derived from the cocoon spun by the caterpillar of the bombyx mori (worm of the mulberry tree), unsurprisingly called the “silkworm”. Invented in China in the IIIrd millennium before Christ, silk wasn’t produced in Europe, mainly in Italy, before the end of the Middle Ages. And it’s only under the reign of Henri IV that silk production developed in France with the planting of 4 million mulberry trees in the Ardèche, Dauphiné and Cévennes areas. Silk threads are very strong and quality weaving makes silk very resistant. It gives a particular shine to the woven pieces and combines easily with other materials such as wool or bamboo. In its Couture collection PINTON offers 100% silk rugs, incredibly soft. In tapestries silk is most often used in complement of one or more other materials like wool or even cotton.

Ulrika Liljedahl is a Swedish artist living and working in Paris. She frequently works in collaboration with couture and luxury ready-to-wear names such as Christian Lacroix, Alexander McQueen (Givenchy), John Galliano (Dior), Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton or Marc Jacobs. For them, Ulrika Liljedahl develops materials and original textiles. Some of her pieces have been exhibited in various museums around the world such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Bunkamura Museum in Tokyo, the Musée Galliera and the Musée de la Mode in Paris. Others are included in major collections, including those of the Centre National des Arts Plastique or the Musée Galliera.

The collaboration between Ulrika Liljedahl and PINTON is set to last. For the firm, the artist weaves a mysterious, organic and poetic world piece after piece, using original patterns and combinations of materials attracting the eye and inviting the touch.

The hand tufting technique is a process combining centuries-old skills and modern weaving tools. The canvas is perfectly stretched over an upright loom and the craftsperson transfers by hand the future design of the rug with the utmost precision. Threads are inserted manually, one by one, working with a gun on the back of the canvas, following the colours, the drawing and the different tuft heights. PINTON was one of the first manufactories to use the gun tufting technique to produce some of its rugs and carpets and is the only French workshop offering very high quality tufted rugs. With this technique, production times are reduced compared to the knotted stitch weave or point noué. Finally, hand tufting offers a large range of possible depths. Carving is the technique that consists in sculpting the wool and creating textures within the woven rug. Since the early 1990s, PINTON has been specialising in the production of hand tufted rugs for which it also collaborates with famous designers and artists.