3.1. Maison “Lemarié”

Founded in 1875, Maison Lemarié has enjoyed a kind of legendary reputation among plumassiers for both their exacting standards and their long-standing relationship with Chanel. It is now one of the last remaining establishments of its kind anywhere in the world. In what can only be described as highly concentrated and minutely detailed work, the plumassiers at Lemarie (many of them women) painstakingly treat, dye and apply the fragile feathers, which frequently embellish haute couture garments and stage costumes.

Mindful of preserving this rare art (in 1919 there were 425 plumassiers plying their trade in Paris, in 1939 there were 88, in 1980 there were 5 and today there are only 3 including Maison Lemarié), Chanel purchased a controlling interest in Maison Lemarié in 1997. As Marine Pacault’s photographic series “Lemarié, le dernier” attests this heritage consists of the archives, the memoand the skills of the artisans working there. Then there are the treasures lying dormant in large drawers:

“Stacks of time-warped wooden boxes and brown-paper parcels are exotically labeled “Paradise”, “Ara” or “Heron”, feathers from protected species today that have been sitting waiting to be worn, some for 100 years.”

Genevieve Renaud, director general of Lemarie, explains that Lemarie acquired many of these feathers by buying out companies that closed and that “today we tend to use ostrich, rooster, turkey, goose, guinea-fowl – all the birds of the farmyard.” Still, Lemarie is the go-to destination for designers who find farmyard feathers cannot recreate the effect of the more sought after endangered species. In 1987, for example, Lemarie used 5,000 bird of paradise feathers from their precious reserves for in a single dress.

5000 Birds of Paradise’s Feathers Dress