10 May Friday Files by: BOYAC – Olivier Nourry of Le Crin
This Friday we interviewed the founder, Olivier Nourry, of leading French Horse Hair Textile company Le Crin. Olivier enlightened us on the history of the brand and the production techniques behind this amazing product.
Since 1814, in the small village of Challes located 200 kilometres from Paris, Le Crin have been hand weaving fabrics using horse hair on looms which are centuries old.
Horse hair fabrics were originally used in the 19th century to upholster horse-drawn carriages, to line ladies petticoats and later on cover dining room chairs. Nowadays Le Crin fabrics can be used for anything from upholstery to drapery.
The hair of a horse’s tail is used to weave these fabrics, as such the width of the fabric is affected and is a maximum of 27 inches as the length of a horses tail is around 24 to 30inches.
The warp of the Le Crin textiles is generally a natural fibre like wool, linen or cotton and the weft is natural horse hair. Horse hair is available in blonde, black, beige or chestnut and can be dyed to any colour to achieve the desired look.
Before weaving all the horse hair under goes quality control where any imperfect strands are removed leaving only beautiful, long, strong strands to weave with.
At the Le Crin mill some of the weavers have been there for 15-20 years and have all learnt this hand weaving technique by watching the weaver before them. Because this is such a handmade and artisanal product it is not possible for the weaver to create more than 3.5 metres a day.
Le Crin fabrics can be found in some of the most exclusive places in the world, from Musée de Louvre, Palais Royale, Buckingham Palace to Ladurée and Cartier boutiques.