Savoir-Faire: the art of moiré libre

A fabric made of light and shadow, created by expert hands, exploring the dimension of maximum freedom of moiré: multi-faceted and unpredictable, like a large abstract painting. The resulting motif evokes the magic of nature and invokes different worlds: rays of light refracting off the sea, the veining of wood or alabaster. Moiré has marked the history of textile art. Already popular in the Middle Ages, it became the fabric of choice for the lavish courts of the 18th and 19th centuries, while in the second half of the 20th century, it was the material of choice for Parisian couture. Research guided Dedar away from the common cylinder technique, towards an encounter with a more ancient tradition of craftsmanship. Leaving behind the constraints of tracé-type and the uniformity of the moires musique and miroir patterns typical of the 19th and 20th centuries, through a handcrafted process Dedar gives life to a contemporary, free and ever-changing fabric, in which each metre is unique and unrepeatable. Two overlapping fabrics are paired and illuminated by a light source. Thus, the magic begins: a manual movement deforms warp and weft, to create an unrepeatable pattern. Through the subsequent pressure exerted by two hot cylinders, the moiré drawn by the craftsmen’s movement reveals itself. Like a wave rippling the surface of the water, the resulting pattern never quite repeats. Dedar’s collection of moiré fabrics and wallcoverings brings the expressive power, movement, vibrancy and vivid colours of the natural world to walls, curtains and seating. | Ph. Giulio Ghirardi