This expertise from Ateliers Lognon, a pleater since 1853, has been incorporated into Lemarié in 2013. The pleater sculpts the fabrics, in volumes and hollows, in shadow and light.

It was during the Second Empire, at a time when women’s fashion followed the Empress Eugenie’s infatuation with voluminous pleats, that Émilie Lognon, a linen keeper, devised the idea of using her irons to create permanent relief on fabrics.

This technique rapidly evolved with the creation of cardboard moulds, known as métiers, into which the fabric is delicately inserted thanks to the rhythmic movements of the artisans. This meticulous work is still carried out, as it was in the beginning, in a four-handed ballet, requiring a perfect symbiosis between the two artisan pleaters.

The steam oven process then fixes the shape in the material. These skills are handed down in secret within the walls of the atelier, as there is no official training for this rare savoir-faire.

Today, the atelier boasts a heritage of more than 3,000 pleating moulds, some of which date back to the early 20th century. Accordion, flat or boat pleats, sunray, crushed, Watteau, diamond, nun, cocotte, autumn, pic pic, ribbon, origami… An endless array of variations are crafted by the atelier to enhance the most exceptional creations.