For travelers looking beyond the usual tourist tour, taking part in a craft workshop in Lyon offers another way to discover the city: through materials, gestures and the people who continue to practise these skills every day.

Discover Lyon Through Its Artisan Workshops

Lyon has a particularly rich textile heritage. For centuries, the silk industry played a major role in the city’s history, with generations of weavers, designers, printers and manufacturers developing exceptional techniques and know-how.

Today, this tradition continues alongside a lively contemporary craft scene. A hands-on workshop offers an introduction to this world of creation, while visits to local artisans reveal how tradition and modernity continue to inspire each other.

For food enthusiasts, Lyon Food Tour offers another perspective on Lyonnais know-how, combining a tour of the city with encounters and tastings. Craft, textile and gastronomy all provide different ways to experience Lyon through those who make and create here.

A Silk-Printing Workshop at Maison Brochier Soieries

At Maison Brochier Soieries, silk is not simply part of Lyon’s heritage: it is a living craft.

Founded in Lyon in 1890, Brochier Soieries continues to design, weave and print exceptional textiles today. Its printing workshop offers visitors the opportunity to step inside a working silk house and experience a traditional process for themselves.

During a 2-hour silk-painting workshop, participants create and personalize their own silk square, accompanied by members of the Brochier Soieries team. It is a hands-on introduction to colour, textile and silk printing, combining creativity with years of experience.

The workshop also provides an opportunity to observe techniques still practised by the Maison, including frame printing in the Lyon tradition, woodblock printing and hand-painting on silk panne velvet.

Once the creation is complete, the silk square remains in the workshop for the final stages of production before being sent to the participant’s home. More than a DIY souvenir, it becomes a personal connection to Lyon’s living silk heritage — and a piece genuinely Made in Lyon.

Guided Tours: From Silk Weaving to Silk Printing

To understand the story behind the fabric, visitors can also discover the Musée Soieries Brochier, where more than 130 years of textile creation are presented through the history of the Maison.

During guided tours, visitors can see a restored Jacquard loom in operation and discover how silk weaving transforms threads into fabric. The demonstration helps explain the close relationship between the loom, the weave and the designers, artists and fashion houses with whom Brochier Soieries has worked.

The experience continues in the Maison’s printing workshops, offering another perspective on the techniques behind Lyon’s soierie vivante — a silk tradition that continues to evolve today.

More Artisan Know-How to Discover in Lyon

After a silk-painting workshop, continue exploring the neighborhood and meet other artisans working just a short walk away.

Discover jewellery and contemporary creation at Madame des Feuillants, the art of gilding at Arbore Dorure, whose work ranges from heritage restoration to contemporary creation, or the world of artisanal printing at Diable Petite Manufacture, a Lyon workshop dedicated to graphic creation and small-edition printing.

You can also head towards the Croix-Rousse, historically associated with Lyon’s silk weavers, and discover its streets and famous murals along the way.

Practical Information and Booking

Brochier Soieries welcomes visitors in the heart of Lyon, France, for silk-painting workshops, guided tours and introductions to Lyon’s textile know-how.

The silk-painting workshop lasts approximately 2 hours. Booking in advance is recommended.

Whether you are an artisan enthusiast, a curious traveler or simply looking for an original workshop in France, it is an opportunity to discover one of Lyon’s best-kept secrets: its silk heritage is not only something to admire in a museum — it is still being created today.

L’article Craft Workshops in Lyon: Discover the City Through Its Artisan Know-How est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

From 9 to 11 October, Brochier Soieries will be taking part in the Lyon Braderie Festival, organised by My Presqu’île. This year, at our stand on Place des Jacobins, we will be offering a selection of silk squares and scarves, silk fabrics by the metre and small accessories from previous collections and end-of-line pieces, at special prices.

Taking part in this event is above all a way to support initiatives that bring Lyon city centre to life. Awarded the Fabriqué à Lyon (“Made in Lyon”) label, Brochier Soieries creates and produces its collections in the heart of the city, in our workshops just a few steps from Place des Terreaux. We are deeply attached to this central location, which allows us to keep our craftsmanship alive and share our expertise in the heart of Lyon.

→ Join us on Place des Jacobins on 9, 10 and 11 October

L’article Brochier Soieries at the Lyon Braderie Festival est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

Nature is ever-present in Renoir’s work. Gardens, bouquets, foliage and flowers surround his figures, their colours and light contributing to the vibrant and joyful vision of the world that characterises his paintings.

Following the exhibition Renoir and Love. Modernity in Joy (1865–1885) at the Musée d’Orsay this year, Brochier Soieries chose to focus on one detail that runs throughout the artist’s work: flowers.

Rather than reproducing the paintings in their entirety, we focused on selected details, isolating flowers, foliage and touches of colour before transposing them onto silk. Five scarves were created from five works: Chrysanthemums, Garden in the rue Cortot, Young Girl with a Fan, Bouquet of Flowers and A Box at the Theatre (At the Concert).

The five scarves in this new Renoir collection will be available for the Christmas season in Brochier Soieries boutiques and from our online store.

L’article collection Renoir Brochier Soieries est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

Through a distinctive visual language of networks, branching structures and complex systems, Perrine Ferrat explores the connections between humans, machines and the living world. Her works reveal flows, connections and territories in which organic forms and human constructions seem to follow the same underlying logic. This exploration continues today with One Territory, Multiple Intelligences.

For this exhibition, Brochier Soieries is transposing one of Perrine Ferrat’s works onto silk for the first time. Carte Mère has been transformed into a limited-edition 90 × 90 cm silk square, created especially for the exhibition at BS1 Gallery from 16 October to 28 November 2026.

One Territory, Multiple Intelligences

Fascinated by the diversity of nature and its mechanisms, I observe how complexity and precision connect with their environment. Humans, meanwhile, build their networks in the image of a machine: their roads and pipelines echo the roots and arteries of the living world. All these branching structures seek a way through, forming an intricate and prolific network within a shared territory.

I draw this unique map, shared by a multitude of different intelligences. Fascinated by these branching interactions, I study how they work and examine their methods: testing different routes, abandoning some and reinforcing those that prove effective. Living systems optimise their movements and adapt to constraints. They do not necessarily seek the shortest path, but the one that offers the best balance. Let us observe and learn from nature’s techniques.

Perrine Ferrat

Carte Mère, an artwork transposed onto silk

For this exhibition, Perrine Ferrat’s drawing meets the textile expertise of Brochier Soieries. Transposed onto a 90 × 90 cm silk square, Carte Mère has given rise to a limited edition created especially for the occasion.

This exclusive edition will be available only at BS1 Gallery for the duration of the exhibition.

Practical information

Perrine Ferrat — One Territory, Multiple Intelligences
16 October – 28 November 2026
BS1 Gallery
1 rue Jangot, Lyon 7
Opening reception: Friday, 16 October 2026 – 6 pm
Visits by appointment only  +33 (0)6 83 59 49 47

L’article Perrine Ferrat at BS1: One Territory, Multiple Intelligences est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

Silk is one of them.

So is gold.

For 130 years, Brochier Soieries has woven gold and silver threads. One might imagine this expertise to belong solely to the realm of heritage, haute couture dresses or the creations of the great 20th-century couturiers. Yet it continues to inspire contemporary artists and designers today.

Sometimes, almost naturally.

Thomas Henriot: giving gold thread a contemporary expression

When Thomas Henriot set out to translate his drawings of Indian palaces into textiles, the idea of using gold thread seemed an obvious choice. More than a colour, it evokes light, architecture, the memory of places and the stories they carry.

The monumental works born from this collaboration do not look to the past;they give gold thread a decidedly contemporary expression.

Thomas Henriot – Basubati Palace, Calcutta, 2026

Rick Owens: a material that evolves over time

A few months later, another encounter confirmed this intuition.

Invited to discover a selection of the house’s fabrics, Rick Owens was instinctively drawn to the lamés. Beyond their shimmer, it was perhaps the very life of the material that captured his interest. Metallic threads reflect the light, but they also evolve over time. They develop a patina, oxidise and subtly change in appearance. Like wood, leather or bronze, they bear the traces of time.

This sense of temporality fascinates many artists.

A work of art is not always intended to remain unchanged. Some materials continue to live after their creation. They age, transform and enter into a dialogue with light and the passing years. Gold and silver threads belong to this family of living materials.

A heritage that continues to inspire creation

This is undoubtedly one of the reasons why they continue to inspire today’s creators.

Techniques evolve. Uses change. Silhouettes are transformed. Yet certain materials retain their evocative power. They offer artists a language that each generation reinvents in its own way.

The exhibition Brochier Soieries, 130 Years of Silk, Gold and Silver tells the story of this continuity. It shows that heritage is not simply a memory to be preserved. It is also a source of inspiration for the creations of today and tomorrow.

Julie Dodet, Exhibition Curator

BROCHIER SOIERIES, 130 YEARS OF SILK, GOLD AND SILVER
Exhibition from October 1, 2026
Musée Soieries Brochier
18 quai Jules Courmont, 69002 Lyon

L’article Silk, Gold and Silver: The Art of Reinvention est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

The couturier and the silk maker, however, look first at the fabric.

A fabric is never simply a medium. It shapes the creative process. Its weight, fluidity, drape and suppleness open up possibilities… or impose limitations.

Lamé du Poète, a textile innovation

Strapless sheath dress Christian Dior — circa 1983

Brochier Soieries’ Lamé du Poète perfectly illustrates this idea.

Lamé fabric owes its shimmer to fine metallised strips that reflect the light. But on their own, these strips have neither the suppleness nor the fluidity of natural silk thread. They can also make the fabric uncomfortable against the skin.

Brochier’s expertise lay in overcoming this contradiction.

By combining metallic threads with a double silk warp, the house succeeded in creating a unique fabric. On the outside, it retains all the brilliance of gold. On the inside, only silk comes into contact with the skin. The garment can therefore be worn unlined, directly against the body, while remaining exceptionally soft.

When fabric transforms the silhouette

This innovation profoundly changes the couturier’s work.

Without a lining, the silhouette becomes lighter. Nothing interrupts the continuity of the fabric or weighs down its lines. The garment moves naturally with the body, with the distinctive drape that gives Lamé du Poète its elegance: a subtle balance between the weight needed to create a beautiful drape and the fluidity essential to graceful movement.

For Yves Saint Laurent, this quality was essential. In his quest to make seams disappear and create the impression that his dresses were simply draped around the body, these fabrics offered him exceptional creative freedom. The fabric no longer simply clothed the silhouette: it became an integral part of its design.

The invisible role of the silk maker

This is perhaps where the role of a great silk maker truly lies.

Their work often remains invisible. Yet behind an iconic dress, there is sometimes a textile innovation that enabled the couturier to take their imagination further.

Before it becomes a great fashion creation, a great dress begins with a great fabric.

Julie Dodet, Exhibition Curator

BROCHIER SOIERIES, 130 YEARS OF SILK, GOLD AND SILVER
Exhibition from October 1, 2026
Musée Soieries Brochier
18 quai Jules Courmont, 69002 Lyon

L’article It All Begins with the Fabric est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

At first glance, there may be nothing to distinguish one dress from hundreds of others. And yet, certain fabrics catch the eye.

After spending so much time working with the archives, patterns gradually become familiar. A flower, a geometric design, a particular way of making gold shimmer or working with velvet can suddenly trigger a memory. There are also old photographs, samples preserved by the house and the recollections of those who worked there. Little by little, a visual and tactile memory takes shape, made up of images, materials, couturiers’ names and technical details.

And sometimes, an intuition emerges: this dress might have been made from a Brochier Soieries fabric.

The eye and memory of a silk maker

To find out, I turn to Paul Bergeron.

Paul Bergeron spent his entire career with the house as Brochier Soieries’ workshop and production manager. He purchased the raw materials, silk, gold threads and Lurex. He determined how the fabrics would be woven, worked with the manufacturers and placed the orders. He knows these fabrics from the inside out, from the choice of thread to the moment they came off the loom.

Now in his nineties, he remains a living memory of this production.

I send him a photograph of a dress discovered among so many others. His answer is often unequivocal: “No, that’s not ours.” But sometimes comes the answer I have been hoping for: “Ah yes, this one, without a doubt, it’s ours. I remember it, I made it!”

Sometimes, he even remembers the reference number assigned to the fabric by the house several decades earlier: “93-254, 19-444, 3082…”

These moments give the research a very special dimension. The dress is no longer simply an object glimpsed on a screen. It recovers an origin, a workshop, the gestures involved in making it and sometimes even the voice of the person who helped create it.

Some discoveries feel almost miraculous

Dress by James Galanos in jacquard silk velvet and gold thread

When I was working on the creation of the museum, I kept a Bianchini-Férier sample that I particularly loved beside my computer. It combined gold threads and velvet. I did not yet know how I would incorporate it into the story, but there was something about the pattern that held my attention, so I kept it close at hand.

One day, while searching online, a dress by the great American couturier James Galanos appeared on my screen.

It featured exactly the same pattern as the sample lying beside my computer.

Returning to the archives, I found a photograph from a Paco Rabanne fashion show in which a model is wearing a monumental cape made from the same fabric, along with samples showing the different colourways. Everything matched. The fabric that had been quietly sitting beside me for months had suddenly found its dress.

Identifying a piece is only the beginning of the adventure

The next step is to contact its owner or seller, sometimes negotiate its acquisition, and then arrange its transport. Many of the dresses now held in the museum’s collection have travelled a very long way, particularly from the United States and Australia. Anything can happen in transit, take it from me. One of them even had to be rescued from a dog’s mouth…

Once the dress arrives in Lyon, the investigation continues. Its date of creation must be established, the couturier precisely identified, sources compared and its history documented. Finally, the piece must be inventoried, photographed, carefully packed and preserved under appropriate conditions until it can be presented to the public.

Each dress we rediscover adds another page to the history of the house.

It bears witness to an encounter between a couturier and a silk maker, between a silhouette and a material. It also reminds us that behind the great names of fashion are workshops, technicians, designers, weavers and an entire chain of expertise that has often remained invisible.

Julie Dodet, Exhibition Curator

BROCHIER SOIERIES, 130 YEARS OF SILK, GOLD AND SILVER
Exhibition from October 1, 2026
Musée Soieries Brochier
18 quai Jules Courmont, 69002 Lyon

L’article In Search of Brochier Soieries Dresses est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

Tracking down the dresses made from Brochier Soieries fabrics would prove to be a true investigation.

Evening dress for Madame de Bligny by Paul Poiret, pleated silver lamé and silk

Once woven, the fabrics were sent to couture houses in Paris and Milan, as well as in the United States and Australia. After being transformed into garments in some of the finest ateliers, they appeared on the runway before finding their way into private collections and museums, sometimes on the other side of the world.

Each new identification feels almost miraculous and brings a genuine sense of emotion: the thrill of seeing a creation reappear whose story had been lost to us. Little by little, the discoveries multiplied, and one conviction emerged: these fabrics woven from silk, gold and silver deserved an exhibition of their own.

As the exhibition project took shape, the story itself continued to unfold.

While our research was uncovering new dresses made from Brochier Soieries fabrics, the house was simultaneously developing new projects using gold and silver threads. A collaboration with artist Thomas Henriot gave rise to a series of monumental works woven with gold, while new textile research was undertaken for Rick Owens. Meanwhile, Brochier Technologies continued to develop innovative textiles incorporating metallic threads.

The exhibition then took on its full meaning: it was no longer simply telling a story, but revealing a creative process that is still very much alive.

Brochier Soieries, 130 Years of Silk, Gold and Silver invites visitors to see things from a different perspective.

Where the eye might first be drawn to the silhouette, a silk maker’s gaze turns first and foremost to the fabric. Behind every dress lie months of research, experimentation and dialogue between textile designers, weavers, metallic-thread manufacturers, finishers and couturiers.

Because a fabric is not only meant to be looked at, the exhibition also offers a tactile experience. Visitors are invited to touch some of the materials and discover their suppleness, texture and lustre –  another way of understanding what makes a silk house unique.

From the gold lamés created for Paul Poiret and Yves Saint Laurent to the most contemporary textiles, the exhibition reveals how the same fascination with material has continued, for more than 130 years, to fuel the imagination of artists, couturiers and the teams at Brochier Soieries.

Julie Dodet, Exhibition Curator

BROCHIER SOIERIES, 130 YEARS OF SILK, GOLD AND SILVER
Exhibition from October 1, 2026
Musée Soieries Brochier
18 quai Jules Courmont, 69002 Lyon

L’article The Story Behind an Exhibition est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

While Europe now imports most of the silk it processes, an ambitious project is taking shape in Romania: to revive a sericulture sector that has all but disappeared and establish a leading research centre dedicated to silkworms and mulberry cultivation in Băneasa, near Bucharest.

Led by the Băneasa Sericulture Research Station and supported by the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the project aims to gradually rebuild an entire silk production chain, from mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing to the production and processing of silk thread.

Brochier Soieries is contributing to this ambitious initiative through the involvement of Eliza Ploia, a member of the International Sericultural Commission. From Lyon, she is helping to build connections between Romanian and French teams and facilitating the transfer of knowledge and expertise needed to support this revival.

Romania, a Historic Land of Silk

Silk has a long history in Europe. Introduced via Greece as early as the 6th century, sericulture gradually spread across the continent from the Middle Ages onwards. In Romania, it became firmly established in Wallachia during the 18th century before developing extensively in the 19th century, particularly across the Danube Plain. Silk, known in Romanian as “borangic”, became part of domestic textile production in rural households.

As in France and much of Europe, the industry subsequently went into gradual decline. Silkworm diseases, the emergence of man-made fibres and increasing competition from Asian countries progressively weakened European production. In Romania, sericulture survived for longer, particularly during the Communist period, before declining rapidly from the 1990s onwards.

Today, only a small number of Romanian producers remain and the sector is still in its infancy. Yet the many mulberry trees found throughout the country continue to bear witness to the importance sericulture once held there.

It is upon this heritage that Romania now hopes to rebuild.

Băneasa: A New Research Centre for the Future of Sericulture

At the heart of this revival is the Băneasa-Bucharest Sericulture Research Station.

Established in its current form in 2023 as a public institution under the authority of the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it is the heir to a long tradition of sericultural research. Among its most valuable resources is an exceptional genetic heritage comprising 84 pure lines of Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm.

Under the direction of Teodor Mihalcea, the station is now undergoing a major programme of development: the construction of a modern research centre, the creation of a team of researchers and technicians, the preservation and improvement of silkworm strains, research into mulberry varieties and the development of improved rearing techniques.

Together with two additional development sites in Cislău and Dolj, the new Băneasa centre is expected to be fully operational from 2027. With its new facilities and remarkable genetic resources, its ambition is to become a European reference centre for sericultural research.

But the objective extends far beyond scientific research alone. In the longer term, the revival plan envisages rebuilding the entire production chain: increasing the area planted with mulberry trees, training silkworm breeders, expanding cocoon production, developing new silk-reeling facilities, and ultimately rebuilding silk throwing and weaving capabilities.

The ambition is therefore to revive a genuine silk production sector in Romania.

Eliza Ploia: Building a Bridge Between Lyon and Romania

Eliza Ploia

It was in 2024 that Eliza Ploia first learned about the project to revive the Băneasa Research Station.

Born in Romania and based in Lyon since 2004, Eliza has worked with Brochier Soieries since 2005. Since 2014, she has also maintained an educational silkworm (Bombyx mori) breeding programme at Brochier Soieries Vieux Lyon, giving visitors the opportunity to discover the different stages of the silkworm’s life cycle through to the production of its precious thread.

Each year, she also provides silkworm eggs to nearly 200 schools in France and across Europe for educational breeding projects. Her interest in sericulture also led her to become a member of the International Sericultural Commission.

When she learned in 2024 that Romania had reactivated its sericulture research station, she contacted its director, Teodor Mihalcea. A first meeting took place in Lyon in May 2025 during a visit by a delegation from the International Sericultural Commission, followed by a visit to Băneasa in July of the same year.

Eliza then proposed establishing an exchange of expertise between the Romanian team and French sericulture specialists.

An initiative that soon began to take very concrete form.

From Lyon to Băneasa: Sharing and Passing On Expertise

On 16 and 17 March 2026, Eliza Ploia and Signorino Leonardi travelled to Băneasa for a new working visit. As members of the International Sericultural Commission, they helped establish a technical and scientific collaboration aimed at preserving Romania’s genetic resources and supporting the redevelopment of silkworm rearing.

The visit also provided an opportunity to assess the existing facilities and identify the technical, scientific and economic requirements involved in rebuilding Romanian silk production.

A further step was taken from 24 to 28 May 2026. Under the auspices of Brochier Soieries – Vieux Lyon, Michel Costa, an agronomist and sericulture specialist, and Alexandra Gaidos, an economist and co-president of Cévennes en Soie, travelled to Romania. Their mission directly continued the work initiated by Eliza Ploia and Signorino Leonardi two months earlier.

Michel Costa brings particularly valuable expertise to the project. Based in Monoblet, in the Cévennes region of southern France, he has extensive knowledge of the entire sericultural process, from mulberry cultivation and propagation to silkworm rearing and cocoon reeling. He has also taken part in several international technical-assistance missions dedicated to silk production.

The collaboration initiated by Eliza is therefore helping to connect Băneasa’s scientific and genetic resources with sericultural expertise that remains alive in France.

30,000 Mulberry Seeds and New Training Projects

This cooperation is now beginning to translate into concrete action.

Michel Costa has donated 30,000 mulberry seeds to the Băneasa Research Station. The Romanian team plans to begin its first sowing trials in 2027, with the aim of studying the propagation and selection of varieties suited to local conditions.

Mulberry cultivation is a fundamental part of any sericulture revival: the quality and quantity of leaves available directly determine the successful rearing of silkworms and, ultimately, cocoon production.

A practical training programme in the Cévennes is also being discussed for spring 2027. Members of the Băneasa team could join Michel Costa in Monoblet when he begins his annual silkworm rearing cycle, allowing them to receive hands-on training in both sericulture and mulberry cultivation.

The transfer of expertise has emerged as one of the central issues identified during the various missions. After several decades during which European sericulture virtually disappeared, some of its knowledge and skills now need to be recovered, shared and passed on to a new generation of researchers and producers. The May report therefore highlights the importance of training those who will manage future pilot farms and of developing a genuine European and international network around Băneasa.

A Movement Extending Beyond Romania

This revival is now attracting interest well beyond Romania itself.

In October 2026, the International Sericultural Commission will meet in Romania, with the programme including visits to silk-reeling facilities that remain in operation. The meeting reflects the growing momentum in the region and the desire to reconnect researchers, producers and silk-processing specialists.

Behind the Romanian project lies a broader question: what future is there for silk production in Europe?

Both France and Romania once mastered the entire production chain, from mulberry cultivation to silk reeling. Today, Europe is highly dependent on Asia for its supply of silk thread. Rebuilding European production will take time and require investment, research and, above all, the transmission of skills that have become increasingly rare.

With its sericultural heritage, favourable environmental conditions and textile expertise, Romania nevertheless has significant assets that could enable it to play a pioneering role in this European revival.

Visit of the International Sericultural Commission to Brochier Soieries Vieux Lyon on 19 May 2025, with delegations from Romania, India, Bangladesh, Japan, Thailand, Uganda, Ghana and Mozambique

Brochier Soieries: Committed to the Future of Silk

For Brochier Soieries, supporting this initiative is a natural extension of the history of a House that has worked with and transformed silk in Lyon since 1890.

For more than a century, the House has preserved and passed on expertise associated with this exceptional material. But preserving silk does not simply mean preserving the skills required to weave, print or transform it. It also means looking to the very origins of the material, its production, and the women and men who still hold the knowledge required to produce it.

Through Eliza Ploia’s involvement, the connections established between Băneasa, Lyon and the Cévennes, and the exchange of expertise now taking shape, Brochier Soieries hopes, in its own way, to contribute to passing on sericultural knowledge and to the revival of silk production in Europe.

L’article Reviving Silk Production in Europe: Brochier Soieries Supports Romania’s Sericulture Revival est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.

Prototype silk square based on a work by Marc Chagall, printed by Brochier Soieries (1958)

For the exhibition Sublimer l’étoffe. Artistes et créateurs de mode face au sacré (Sublimating Fabric: Artists and Fashion Designers in Dialogue with the Sacred), the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs and the Musée de Fourvière are presenting two works produced by Brochier Soieries for Galerie Maeght, based on works by Joan Miró and Marc Chagall.

On display at the Musée de Fourvière from 17 September 2026 to 3 January 2027, these two pieces bear witness to an extraordinary history shared by the Lyon-based silk house, Galerie Maeght and some of the greatest artists of the 20th century — a story that began in 1953 with Joan Miró.

Joan Miró’s Constellations: an exceptional work printed on silk

For the exhibition, Brochier Soieries is lending one of the emblematic pieces from its collections: Joan Miró’s Constellations, a 120 × 120 cm silk square printed on precious silk gazar.

The first edition was produced in 1964 by Joseph Brochier for Galerie Maeght, followed thirty years later by a second edition, produced in 1994 by Cédric Brochier, once again for Galerie Maeght.

The creation of this piece illustrates the encounter between artistic creation and Lyon’s silk-making expertise: through textile printing, Miró’s work moves beyond paper or canvas to embrace the transparency and lightness of silk.

That same year, the collaboration with Galerie Maeght continued when Brochier Soieries produced two further silk prints based on works by Raoul Ubac.

Brochier, Miró and Maeght: a story that began in 1953

The collaboration between Brochier Soieries and Galerie Maeght actually dates back even further. It began in 1953, once again with a work by Joan Miró.

At the request of Aimé Maeght, Joseph Brochier took on an extraordinary technical challenge: transposing a work by Miró onto a makemono almost 11 metres long, printed on wild silk canvas.

This spectacular achievement marked the beginning of a long series of collaborations between the House and artists represented by Galerie Maeght. It also reflects a particularly fertile period during which artists, gallerists and Lyon silk makers experimented together with new ways of bringing art into the realm of textiles.

Seventy-three years later, this makemono is preserved and on display at the Musée Soieries Brochier in Lyon.

Marc Chagall: a second Brochier work in the exhibition

Sublimer l’étoffe also presents a second piece from this remarkable history: a prototype silk scarf printed from a drawing by Marc Chagall, published by Galerie Maeght and produced by Brochier Soieries on silk organza.

The first edition was produced by Joseph Brochier in 1958. The work presented in the exhibition is now part of the collections of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs de Lyon.

A new edition was produced in 2014 by Cédric Brochier to mark the 50th anniversary of the Fondation Maeght, continuing this historic collaboration between Brochier Soieries and Galerie Maeght more than half a century after the first printing.

When art meets silk

Through Miró and Chagall, as well as Braque, Tàpies and Ubac, the collaborations initiated with Galerie Maeght enabled Brochier Soieries to explore textiles as a genuine artistic medium from an early stage.

It is precisely this dialogue that Sublimer l’étoffe brings to light today. Silk squares, furnishing fabrics and liturgical vestments reveal how textiles allowed artists to experiment with new materials, dimensions and ways of giving form to their work.

The two pieces presented in the exhibition thus highlight an essential aspect of Brochier Soieries’ history: for more than seventy years, the House has placed the expertise of Lyon’s silk-making tradition at the service of artistic creation.

Practical information

Sublimer l’étoffe. Artistes et créateurs de mode face au sacré
17 September 2026 – 3 January 2027
Musée de Fourvière
7–8 place de Fourvière – Lyon 5th arrondissement
Open from 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Admission: €8 / €6

Exhibition poster © Sandrine Ziegler-Munck

L’article Exhibition Sublimer l’étoffe: Two Brochier Soieries Works Brought Together by the Musée des Tissus and the Musée de Fourvière est apparu en premier sur Brochier Soieries.