The Calais Lace Museum - Calais but with frills on

‘Non, non, zis is not morse code’, said Genevieve, my guide, squinting in the sunlight ‘ze holes that you see make up a pattern for making lace that you find on a Jacquard loom card.’

We were looking up at the soft convex and concave curves of the gleaming silver frontage of the new lace museum in Calais. It was so reflective that you could see the sky in its bends and its mirror image shimmering in the nearby canal.

‘… and anyone who knows how to weave can use zis pattern to produce their own’.

Impressive. But for a wino and gourmet guzzler like myself, Calais has always been my first port of call for an indulgent day or two away. For a commercial port there are a surprising number of sublime restaurants dotted all over town (my two favourites being Aqua’rail for seafood and Le Chanel for a more eclectic mix of cuisine). My routine includes, lunch, Cite Europe shopping mall, a spot of shopping at the hypermarket, a visit to Calais Vins or Eastenders for some bargain vino, a quick visit to the local market at Place D’armes for some freshly made fish soup and then a ferry home topped up with goodies and a little joie de vivre. Lace, until now, was not part of my shopping pattern.

But on this occasion I took a detour to the lace museum in St-Pierre, just ten minutes from both the port and the Flemish style town hall.
I followed Genevieve into this magnificently arranged space, aptly located in the former 19th century Boulart lace factory. Five floors are dedicated to the glory of Calais' often ignored lace-making heritage and shows off working historic looms, bobbins, threads, tools, samples and ends with a beautiful collection of fashion that ranges from the enfant terribles of 1930s Belle Epoque such as Chanel, Schiaparelli, to more recently Lacroix, Gaultier and Chantal Thomass.

Lace was once Calais' most sought after product, worn by royalty and used as a symbol of wealth and status. Initially it was the men who adorned themselves in this luxurious tulle, but as time went on it became fashionable for women to show off their silhouettes in more and more daring designs – a movement that increased in momentum when elastane was introduced.

Though Calais lace is world famous, it was actually smuggled here by Nottingham lace makers. According to French chronicles, the first Englishman to smuggle a lace machine into Calais was Robert Webster in 1816. In Blighty, Nottingham lace makers were plying their trade by hand. To them, modern technology meant unemployment so the lace making machines were smuggled to Calais where they were welcomed and an industry started in (and is still in) the district of St Pierre. The industry grew so much that practically every family was involved in lace-making one way or another.

These days, though overall production has reduced dramatically since its hey day (some 40,000 workers a 100 years ago to just 2000 today), 78% of the town’s lace production is exported to 140 countries and used mostly to make lingerie and wedding dresses but at the museum a sensational selection of lace samples are on display with narrative in English. Traditional lace is made with Leavers machine and trade marked.

Prepare to be dazzled by the haute couture garments and some very sexy examples of lingerie. Be sure to make a bee-line for the relief maps of old Calais showing how Calais looked when it was still walled town before the Second World War and end the tour with some fine dining in the museum’s restaurant.

And finally, for a truly authentic and world-famous Calaisien souvenir, go for a lacy item from Royal Dentelle (106 Boulevard Jacquard) or Noyon lace boutique (85 rue de Vic). Both these outlets are specialists in the noble artisanal craft of producing and selling Calais lace. Choose from place mats, table cloths, napkins, lingerie, lace pashminas and even loo roll holders.

And if you do weave a little lace into your shopping escapade, unlike the booze and the groceries, your lace won’t take up much space in your boot!

Cité internationale de la dentelle et de la mode de Calais
135 Quai du Commerce
62100 Calais
Tel: 00 33 (0)3 21 00 42 30
www.cite-dentelle.fr

Useful site: www.calais-guide.co.uk

Getting there:

Take a ferry from Dover to Calais with P&O , any duration for a car and up to 9 passengers, from only £30 each way.

Did you know...
The main customers for Calais lace today include Valentino, Triumph, Paul Gaultier, Christies, Chantelle, Calvin Klien, Chantal Thomass, Lacroix and Valéry Valentino.  So you’ll be in good company!

The museum in numbers
- 10,000 lace pieces
- 10,000 fashion magazines
- 3,200 costums and objects relating to the world of fashion
- 2,000 books
- 1,500 sample books
- 9 looms – 5 of them working

Timeline

1816 Looms smuggled into Calais from Nottingham
1824 40 manufacturers, in Saint-Pierre district, 55 looms
1825 First loom constructed in Calais
1827 170 looms now in operation
1834 1584 looms and 640 hand looms
1834 Ferguson and Martyn adapt the Jacquard process invented by Joseph Jacquard) for the tulle loom
1840 Steam engine technology introduced
1844 52 manufacturers, 210 looms
1855 135 manufacturers and 96 looms in St Pierre
1883 Amount of looms grows to 1920 and 10,0000 employees but in effect the entire quarter of St-Pierre depends on lace
1885 Crisis
1905 365 manufacturers
1932 1200 looms disappear due to the war
1940-1945 319 looms disappear but there follows a recovery
1950 6,600 workers emplyed in the lace industry and Calais becomes the principle lace centre in the world, 1,200 tons of lace are exported
1963 650 Leavers loom in activity

Presently there are  6 lace manufacturers, 300 Leavers and 2000 people employed in the Calais lace industry.

6 July 2009