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At the end of a maze of corridors at the Hôtel Dieu in Lyon, a Brochiers workshop shop exhibits scarves and ties from silk and velvet. Behind a curtain, two large rooms give way to the scenography of the Brochier museum.
“We have a place that is emblematic, we have a story. It’s time to tell it, I still have uncles who are alive. By setting up the museum, I learned a lot of things that I did not know”explains Cédric Brochier, group leader Silk brooch.
The interactive exhibition at the Brochier evening museum
The curtain opens onto a cabinet of curiosities. Samples of silk fabric are spread out on the table, almost hiding yellowed designer sketches. Spool of thread, wooden stencils and dyes bear witness to a story that continues to be written.
Each step of making a silk fabric is detailed. Here the visitor can touch, smell, and ask questions. “We didn’t want anything that was too complicated. The idea is that people can understand how a fabric is made. They can see, but also touch the samples”explains Cédric Brochier.
After Silk in Lyon, our selection of silk accessories
The second part of the museum contains a collection of dresses and creations made in collaboration with emblematic artists and couturiers. Christian Lacroix, Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent have designed pieces with these Lyon fabrics. Under the vaults, golden dresses sparkle. Result of a collaboration between Brochier and Yves Saint Laurentthis gold lamé fabric, “The poet’s lamé”, is emblematic of the silk workshop.
A desire to be part of modern innovations
The visit ends with curious luminous rooms. After the Second World War, the Brochiers began to diversify their activity towards fabrics intended for boats or even planes. The fiberglass and carbon are then added to the traditional silk threads woven by authentic Jacquard looms. “Here we have a real Concorde nose. The engineers needed a non-flammable fabric so they called on us”says the director of Brochiers silks, showing a cone protected by a fiberglass fabric.
Today, Cedric Brochier continues to write the story begun by his great-grandfather. If the workshop still manufactures silk, designing fiberglass allows them to be involved in research. Guiding the light, the latter is a material of choice for pharmacology research.
“All the people who come here, when they go out, tell us ‘my grandfather, my grandmother, was in the silk trade’. People who enter here also have a bit of history that they add to the museum”concludes Julie Dodet, scenographer of the Brochier silk museum.
Practical information
18 Quai Jules Courmont, Lyon 2nd.
The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Adult entry: €8.
Admission for 14-25 year olds: €6.