SKILLS & EXPERTISE
MARISA GUTMACHER, executive design director, Samuel & Sons
“Passementerie: the very sound of the word evokes grandeur. What we have also come to know as trimmings, is a term whose medieval etymology in European languages is from the words for ‘hand-work’. Indeed, the most beautiful masterpieces in the world of trimmings, from antiquity through to now, are pieces that have incorporated a great amount of careful handcrafting, from the initial design through to the finished work.
Whilst tassels and tie-backs may be the most iconic and best-known passementerie, the use of various types of gimps, braids, borders, cords, fringes, rosettes, bullions, tufts and frogs represents a broader variety of ornamental applications, both at the window and for upholstery.
There are many facets involved in producing trimmings. Most…
