Our atelier
Lyon, silk as a heritage
Maison STOFË was born in Lyon, and not by chance. Few cities in the world have lived so much from silk, and none has kept the gestures that work it so alive.
Five centuries of silk
A city woven from thread
It all begins in 1536, when Francis I grants Lyon the privilege of weaving silk. By the end of the sixteenth century, the guild of workers in gold, silver and silk cloth already employs ten thousand Lyonnais, and in 1667 Colbert organises the Grande Fabrique, which brings together every silk trade.
In the eighteenth century, more than fourteen thousand looms are at work in the city. In the early nineteenth century, the weavers settle on the hill of the Croix-Rousse, in buildings with ceilings over four metres high, designed for Jacquard looms. Around 1830, half of Lyon lives from silk. These workers are called the canuts.
The twentieth century saw the industry decline, but the know-how did not die. It was in Lyon that screen printing of silk squares was developed from the 1920s, and it is still on the outskirts of the city that the squares of the greatest houses are printed today.
Why here
Working with local ateliers
Working in Lyon means leaning on that memory and holding ourselves to its standards. Our squares are drawn on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse and entrusted to ateliers in the Lyon region, a few kilometres from our drawing table. This closeness lets us follow every step, approve every colour on a prototype and know the hands that make our pieces.
The house
A house between two shores
Maison STOFË was born from a conviction: the signs of Albanian art deserve the same rigour as the finest objects of European fashion. The sun of the Illyrians or the filigree of Prizren are not souvenirs to display behind glass, but a living material that can be worn every day.
Each sign is studied at length before being redrawn by hand down to its essence. It is then entrusted to the finest materials and to ateliers we know. Nothing is produced in advance: each series is made to the measure of pre-orders, and every piece is numbered.
Tomorrow
Beyond the square
The silk square is our first piece, not the only one. The house is already preparing other garments and accessories, from scarves to jackets, with the same idea: to bring Albanian heritage and European craftsmanship into conversation, without folklore and without compromise on material.
The making of a square
From the first line to the box
01
The drawing
Every square begins by hand, in Lyon, on the slopes of the Croix-Rousse. The Albanian signs are studied, redrawn and pared down to their essence before being prepared for print.
02
The silk
A mulberry silk twill, dense and supple, chosen for how well it holds a knot and for the depth it gives to colour.
03
The print
The design is digitally printed in a workshop in the Lyon region, then steam-fixed, washed and finished. Each shade is approved on a prototype before the series.
04
The rolled hem
The edges are rolled and stitched down. This rolled hem gives the square its drape and its finish.
05
The box
Each square is numbered by hand on its card, then placed in its box with tissue paper.