Feather and flower jewelry from the House of Lemarie

House Lemarie was founded in 1880. Then the Parisian hat clearly looked unfinished due to the lack of feather or flower decorations. Therefore, the enterprising Madame Lemarier decided to start making these necessary jewelry, without which not only the hat, but also any woman's outfit would not be complete. The workshop was opened in Madame's own apartment. She invited two of her relatives and several friends - craftswomen, who happily got down to business. All handicraft masterpieces were created in a warm and friendly family atmosphere. And then the grown-up son began to help. He turned out to be even more entrepreneurial in the business - orders increased, special tools were purchased, allowing him to do the job faster and create beautiful decorations from feathers and flowers. After some time, the grandson of Madame Lemerier, André Lemarier, also joined this business. Feathers came from different continents of the world. At first they were dyed on their own, but then it was forbidden, since the atelier was located in a residential building, and dyeing with chemicals is prohibited by law. There is nothing to be done - the law must be followed.

Feather and Flower Jewelry by Lemarie

Now the studio has passed into the legacy of "Chanel", and Andre Lemarier is glad that the family business is in good hands, and there is always work for craftswomen, such a rare kind of occupation. Each haute couture collection always has outfits with feather or flower decorations. The atelier still has a “gold reserve” of bird feathers acquired earlier, and even those birds that are now prohibited by law. But the flowers come out of the hands of the craftswomen every half hour. For example, Chanel's favorite flower - camellia - a flower of innocence and purity, takes from half an hour to an hour and a half. It all depends on the size of the flower and the fabric from which the beautiful flower is created. Flowers are made from cotton, silk, velvet, taffeta, leather, satin, fur, tweed and even plastic and cardboard. Only for at home Chanel craftswomen make from 35,000 to 40,000 flowers a year. Craftswomen are proud of their products. For example, in 2005-2006 a haute couture wedding dress was made, in which there were 2000 tulle camellias. Or a custom-made ballet tutu Karl Lagerfeld, from a thousand swan feathers. One can only wonder and admire the skill with which it is possible to combine the amazing beauty and color of feathers with the glitter of sequins.
The atmosphere is warm and friendly, in which the workshop was created, and is now preserved among the craftswomen.

Yves Saint Laurent greatly appreciated the work of this workshop, and his last farewell collection was with bird feather ornaments.