The Cleopatra Dress – Yves Saint Laurent. Behind the Scenes of Haute Couture in Lyon

Yves Saint Laurent had very precise ideas about what he wanted and how he wanted to define his future fabrics. From these privileged exchanges was born a Brochier Soieries gold lamé, known as the “poet’s lamé,” whose incredible brilliance recalls the dresses paying homage to Hollywood cinema.

The metal-plastic threads in the form of gold lamellae are woven double-faced on a base of black satin. The drape is fluid and catches the light in a fantastic way. Yves Saint Laurent never ceased to use this fabric, brought to prominence by his iconic dress known as “Cleopatra” in 1990.

In the years following, Brochier Soieries’ gold lamés were present in all collections of major French and foreign couturiers.

We would like to extend special thanks to the Yves Saint Laurent Museum for their enlightened assistance during the creation of the Musée Soieries Brochier, the sharing of their archives, and the special attention given to Lyon’s savoir-faire, which Mr. Saint Laurent so greatly appreciated.

The Musée Soieries Brochier presents the exhibition “A Collection of Patterned Velvets: Brochier Soieries and Bianchini Férier,” starting November 10, 2023.

On this occasion, we invite you to discover the career of American fashion designer Michael Casey, whose two couture dresses will be featured during the exhibition.

In 2002, Cédric Brochier, grandson of Joseph Brochier, acquired the silk house Bianchini Férier. In 2022, he was contacted by Liliane Gaubin to create a silk scarf for the 125th anniversary of the Alliance Française of Chicago.

During their first meeting, Mrs. Gaubin inquired about the origin of some fabric samples she noticed on the office’s large wall covered with rebracks. She believed she recognized fabrics that her mother, Catherine Gaubin, purchased in Buenos Aires from 1971 for haute couture dresses made by her dressmaker, Mrs. Pilar Peña. Liliane Gaubin possesses a collection of over 1,000 dresses that belonged to her mother. She invited Mr. Brochier to Chicago to identify pieces that might have been made from the house’s fabrics.

During their meeting, five dresses in patterned velvet from Bianchini Férier were authenticated, including one dress by the American couturier Michael Casey. Upon returning to France, Cédric Brochier attempted to contact the designer to confirm the origin of the fabrics used in his collections.

An initial response quickly arrived, definitively confirming the close relationship between the couturier and the Brochier Soieries and Bianchini Férier houses. During his presence at the inauguration of the exhibition “A Collection of Patterned Velvets: Brochier Soieries and Bianchini Férier,” Michael Casey explained that during the presentations of his collections at New York Fashion Week, he systematically and primarily visited the showrooms of the Brochier and Bianchini Férier silk houses. He thus chose his noblest fabrics to lay the foundation for his future collections.

Thanks to Mrs. Gaubin’s donation and the invaluable assistance of Michael Casey at the Musée Soieries Brochier, we are fortunate to present today two dresses by the great American couturier: an evening dress with a bare back effect in black lace, patterned silk velvet, viscose, and black lurex lamé, as well as a two-piece evening ensemble, bare back dress, and jacket adorned with stones and pearls, hand-painted patterned velvet, silk viscose, and black lurex lamé.