Fabric are a mindful connection of threads, composed in almost infinite combinations. Warp and weft can be woven in an almost infinite combinations, with the only exception that at least once, threads must pick. The ability to weave and to connect fabrics, and therefore people and situations, characterized the fascinating history of Bianchini-Férier.

The first pick in a list of woven connections is that of Charles Bianchini, François Atuyer and François Férier. The three, respectively a designer, a technician and a financier, founded the silk factory Bianchini-Férier in Lyon in 1888. The velvets and brocades produced by the Maison obtained immediate recognition and received a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.

Silk scarf, design by René Lalique on Atuyer, Bianchini, Férier et Cie fabric, ca. 1907. Courtesy Les Arts Décoratifs, all rights reserved.

Although working with the forefront fashion creators, for whom the mills produced, in addition to velvets and brocades, charmeuse georgette and crêpe Romaine, its creative exchanges with artists are however what better describes the prestigious quality of these fabrics.

In 1912 in fact, Bianchini-Férier hired the Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy to design the prints for silks and toiles de Tournon. The artists one year earlier started in a wooden-block printing factory, ‘La Petite usine’, that developed from his collaboration with the couturier Paul Poiret; he continued his activity at Bianchini-Férier through 1932, designing a wide range of patterns, from colourful florals to elaborate scene inhabited by dancers. This experiment, that bound together Paul Poiret, Raoul Dufy and Bianchini-Férier, was one of the first successful collaborations between a designer, an artist and fabric producer.

'Troïka', housecoat designed by Paul Poiret with Bianchini-Férier fabric with print designed by Raoul Dufy. Courtesy Gemeentemuseum Den Haag via ModeMuze, all rights reserved.

Along with Dufy, the silk factory also hired Georges Barbier, Paul Iribe, Sonia Delaunay, Robert Bonfils, Jacques-Henri Lartigue, and later Daniel Buren, among others, to design the prints for its fabrics. This collaborative nature accompanied the Maison in its expansion overseas, when in 1921 the firm opened an office in New York that prevented its recession during wartime.

Silk fabric, print designed by Georges Barbier for Bianchini-Férier, ca. 1920. Courtesy Les Arts Décoratifs, all rights reserved.

Although under another name, the maison continued its activity through the twenty-first century. In the Europeana Fashion collection, it is possible to trace the history of Bianchini-Férier through the creations couturiers realized with these fabrics, ranging from the early twentieth-century designs by Paul Poiret, to a 1960s long dress by Pierre Cardin and a later design by Frank Govers.