As part of the release of our new costumes , I wanted to tell you the story of the unique fabric we chose for the Bellagio . Its very marked "grain of powder" appearance comes from a collaboration between two agents passionate about clothing and the know-how of Estéthia, a century-old high-end Italian weaver appreciated by many luxury houses.
An almost century-old fabric
It all began more than two centuries ago, in 1757 in Italy, with the Conte family who created the GB Conte house in Schio, specializing in coat weight fabric.
But 17 years ago, the large Italian group Marzotto bought GB Conte and integrated it into Estethia, founded in 2007.
The purpose of this acquisition? Make Estéthia – GB Conte a high-end house , and take advantage of its human scale to create and explore, while benefiting from the significant resources of Marzotto and especially from the past and archives of GB Conte.
Marzotto was looking for a rough diamond to polish in order to have an offer that better corresponds to the expectations of luxury houses: impeccable quality of course, but also with creativity with more textures and heather.
The logo of the Estéthia – GB Conte house, belonging to the Marzotto group.
The revival of Estethia
Marzotto will therefore invest in Estéthia's R&D : while its offering was mainly composed of plain and dark suit fabrics, they will explore textures, colors and mixtures of materials.
Two examples of textured and creative fabrics: on the left, a range of speckled chevrons and on the right, soft wools with a three-dimensional appearance with a honeycomb texture.
And 17 years ago, Estéthia crossed paths with the Gestri agents (Eugenio and Xavier) , in Paris. Eugenio and Xavier run a showroom where they present several suppliers of very high-end Italian fabrics, who mainly work with the biggest luxury houses.
They were seduced by Estéthia, because it was the best of both worlds:
- the means, the industrial tool, the quality and traceability of what we can expect from a large group like Marzotto,
- and the creativity and exploration of a weaver on a human scale.
They are also great fabric enthusiasts , the likes of which I have rarely encountered.
Precisely, because they love it, they regularly hold fashion exhibitions.
In search of the forgotten fabric
It was during an exhibition at the Petit Palais dedicated to the work of Yves Saint Laurent, in 2010, that Eugenio and Xavier were struck by a piece of “grain de powder” fabric mainly used for tuxedos.
Poster for the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition at the Petit Palais, in 2010
They like this subtle texture and this drape which gives structure. This choice of fabric was far from trivial: Saint Laurent was known for using masculine fabrics for its women's clothing , it was his way of promoting female emancipation at a time when women's ready-to-wear was confined to very fluid and light fabrics.
This creative vision, totally innovative at the time, gave birth to its famous tuxedo jackets for women which made it famous.
Smoking jackets visible during the exhibition. Photo source: YSL Paris Museum
When they left this exhibition, they said to themselves that they would like to offer such a fabric to their customers. They then bought a vintage Yves Saint Laurent piece and investigated to find out who was the weaver behind it.
They quickly learned that it was the Dormeuil house which sold this fabric to the Yves Saint Laurent house. The Dormeuil house itself purchased this fabric in Italy but there is a problem: despite all its research, it is impossible to go back any further, and the mystery of the weaver behind this grain of powder remains unsolved.
But they don't give up, stick to their idea, and think about who could make their project a reality. They need to have a flexible, creative, willing little weaver, with high-end sensitivity…
Their vintage Yves Saint Laurent jacket under their arms, the Gestri agents therefore turned to Estéthia , who accepted the project to develop this fabric.
This is the creation of the E7011 fabric, a reference that has become famous in the design studios of luxury houses. And it's a huge success, all luxury people start buying Estéthia fabrics.
Estethia's flight
There is one designer who loves E7011 more than all the others, it is the legendary Phoebe Philo , at the helm of the Céline house collections at that time.
But she wants to push the masculine side of the fabric even further, with something thicker and structured. Estéthia therefore developed for her the reference E7031 , which is a more marked grain of powder, and which will become Estéthia's gateway to women's fashion, at a time when women bought smoking jackets at Dior Homme.
Phoebe Philo, during the Celine fall-winter 2013-2014 campaign shoot, with star model Daria Werbowy. Source: Le Monde, all rights reserved
Today, all luxury houses buy from Estéthia, and I am very proud that BonneGueule is one of the brands that works with these beautiful fabrics.
But then why such enthusiasm for these two fabrics?
As Xavier says: “you always have a perfect drape with this fabric”. In fact, it is almost wrinkle-free and gives structure. This roundness and this “haute couture” side specific to Estéthia also really appealed to me.
But I wanted an even more textured fabric, with a more pronounced grain, while retaining the hand so characteristic of Estéthia's E7011 and 37031...
We therefore chose this other fabric, “very relief”, with this unique drape . I fell in love with this old-fashioned hand and the way it catches the light.
The impeccable fall of the Estéthia fabric, highlighted by (the very stylish) Kévis Manzi.
