1. 22/PLATINUM/SEPTEMBER2013 23/PLATINUM/SEPTEMBER2013
STITCHINTIME
THEBEECAPECREATEDFORTHEHYATT
REGENCYCHENNAIFEATURESBEESEXQUI-
SITELYEMBROIDEREDWITHGOLDTHREAD
ANDSOFTMETALWIRES
PHOTOCOURTESY:PRETIKAMENONANDVASTRAKALA
PalaceandChâteaudeVauxleVicomte
showoffyourwork,theabilityto“meltinto
theclient’smind”helps.
Lesage’slineageisimpeccable.He
belongstothefamousLesagefamilythat
hasbeenatthetopofFrenchsocietyfora
centuryandwhichisconsideredtheblue
bloodofembroideryinFrance.Hisgrandfa-
therboughttheembroiderystudioofAlbert
Michonet,theembroiderertoNapoleonIII,
inthe1920s.
Lesage’sfatherwasthelegendaryhaute
coutureembroiderer,FrançoisLesagewho
workedwiththecrèmedelacrèmeofFrench
labelslikeChanel,DiorandYvesSaintLau-
rent.Thefamilybusiness,LesageParis,was
boughtbyChanelin2002,thoughFrançois
continuedtorunittillhisdemisein2011.
ButitwasJean-Françoiswhopennedanew
chapter—embroideryforinteriors.
Andit’sembroiderythat’sexecutedin
Chennai,andnotinParis.“ThemomentI
landedinIndia,IgotthefeelingthatIwas
whereIshouldbe,”saysLesageabouthis
t’s pretty unusual to compare yourself to a
chameleon.ButJean-FrançoisLesage—theFrenchembroi-
dererbehindVastrakala,the‘hyper-specialised’embroidery
atelierinChennai—hasnosuchhesitation.It’saninherited
trait,hesays,thatallowshimtobetotallyinsyncwithhiscli-
ent.“Thefamilygeneofbeingchameleonsisingrainedinme
—sowhenweworkforAlbertoPinto,IhavetobeAlberto
PintoandwhenweworkforChristianLouboutin,I’vetobe
Louboutin.”
Also,whenyourclientlistincludesroyalty,interiordesign-
erslikeJacquesGarciaandRobertCouturier,andtheLouvre
loveaffairwiththecountrythatbeganon
hisfirsttripwaybackin1990.
In1993,heandthreeotherassociates,
PatrickSavouret,MalavikaShivakumar
andSandeepSuryanarayanaRao,setup
Vastrakalathathassincesuppliedembroi-
deredpiecestopalaces,museums,andex-
clusivehomesaroundtheworld.Hechose
Chennaiashisbasebecausehefoundthe
idealcommunityofkarigarsinthenearby
townofSriperumbudur.Theartisanswere
descendantsofcraftsmenwhosupplied
embroideredkalamkariandwoventextile
totheEastIndiaCompany.
“Ireceivedanurgentdemandlastnight
forsomeembroideryforHisMajesty,The
KingofMorocco,”saysLesage,explain-
ingwhyhe’sabitrushed.Heturnshis
attentiontohiscraftsmenwhotroopinto
hisVastrakalaofficewithsamplesforthe
project.Theselectionprocessconsistsof
monosyllables—‘yes’or‘no’—asexquisite
threadworkonsilkandnetsquaresembel-
lishedwithsequinsaredisplayedbefore
him.Hecommunicateswithhiskarigars
usingaspatteringofTamil,aswellashelp
fromhismanagersandassociateswho’re
fluentinthelanguage.“Workingwith
MrLesageislikehavinganencyclopedia
I
EYEOF
THE
NEEDLEEmbroidererJean-FrançoisLesageis
givinganintricatespintotheinteriorsof
palaces,museumsandexclusivehomes
aroundtheworld
P R O F I L E
PLATINUM
BYSHREYASHUKLA

2. 24/PLATINUM/SEPTEMBER2013 25/PLATINUM/SEPTEMBER2013
STITCHINTIME (FROMLEFT)VASTRAKALACRAFTSMENSHOWCASETHEIRSKILLSONEMBROIDERYPROJECTSRANGING
FROMONEOFNAPOLEON’STHRONESTOPIECESFORTHEFAMOUSINTERIORDECORATORJACQUESGARCIA,PANELSFORTHE
CHÂTEAUDEVAUXLEVICOMTEANDTHERASHTRAPATIBHAVAN
“Christian
(Louboutin)
askedme
ifIcould
embroider
tattooson
shoesandI
saidIcould!”
JEAN-FRANÇOISLESAGE
Embroiderer
ofembroidery,”smilesSupriyaKharat,a
manageratVastrakala.
Theatelier’sprojectshaveincludedthose
withrichhistoricalsignificance,likethe
restorationofoneofNapoleon’sthronesfor
aprivatecollectionorvalances(ornamen-
taldrapery)forthemagnificentOperade
MonteCarlo.Recently,Lesagesentanem-
broideredsampleforthewallsofaroomin
Germany’sMoritzburgCastle.Thecurators
werethrilledwiththepieceandinformed
Lesagethattheyhadbeenonaquestfor
threeyearsfortherightembroiderer.
“Ireallylikeitwhenaclientorderssome-
thingextremelycomplex,”grinsLesage.So
howabout8-metrecurtainsembroidered
withanabstractdesign,sayofthereflection
oflightontheHudsonRiver?
ThiswasajustfinishedprojectforaNew
Yorkapartmentthatisbeingdoneupbytop
FrenchinteriordesignerJeanLouisDeniot.
Andanupcomingprojectinvolvesem-
broideringwingsforauniqueegg-shaped
armchairthattheinteriordesignerHubert
deMalherbewillshowcaseinanexhibi-
tioninParis’Artcurialauctionhousethis
September.Thenthere’vealsobeenpanels
fortheTiffany’sshowroominDubaiand
cushionsforBarneysNewYorkthisyear.
We’reseatedinLesage’sfirst-flooroffice
inthequaintyellowbungalowhousing
Vastrakalaandthere’sembroideryall
around.Mostofonewallisoccupiedby
giantboardsdisplayingcolourfulsamples,
whilewell-thumbedvolumesontheart
cramabookshelf.Eventhe‘tigerskin’inan
adjoiningroomisanembroideredone.The
delicatefragranceofdozensofpinkliliums
addstotheappealoftheplace.Andneara
largewindowyoufindtheiconic,red-soled
ChristianLouboutinshoes,includingapair
fromhis‘MarieAntoinette’collection,rest-
ingatopsequinboxes.
TheMarieAntoinettedebutinthe
premiumfootwearmarketin2009marked
thefirstcollaborationbetweenLesageand
Anotheroutstandingprojectisthestun-
ningBeeCape,featuringhundredsofbees
embroideredwithgoldthreadandsoftmetal
wires,forHyattRegencyChennai.Recent
projectsforthehomesofIndianclientsLes-
ageprefersnottonameincludeembroidery
foraheritagehouseinChennaiwhoseown-
erswantedtorecreateits“oldglory”.
Vastrakala’sworkhasalsofounditswayto
aDelhihomewhoseinteriorsweredoneby
Deniot,aswellasthelivingroomofaChen-
naiindustrialistforwhichtheateliercreated
curtainsdepictingaforestofgoldenbamboo.
“Indianclientsaccountforjustaround15
percentofourbusiness,buttheirnumbers
havebeenswelling,”saysLesage.What’s
more,theagedemographicischanging,
withmanyIndianswhomaketheirwayto
Vastrakala,comingbetween18and35.
Lesagebelievestherehasalsobeena
radicalshiftintheperceptionofIndian
embroideryintheFrenchluxurymarket.
“We’veworkedhardforpeopleinFrance
torecognisethevalueandpotentialof
Indianembroidery,whichwasearlierjust
consideredaninexpensiveoptionforreduc-
ingproductioncosts,”hesays.Theworkhas
clearlypaidoff,forthenumberofcrafts-
meninVastrakalahasgrownfromjustone
Louboutin.Andtherehasbeenasteady
demandforembroideredLouboutinssince,
especiallymen’sshoes.Butoverthelast
year,ordershavebeenpouringinforaspe-
cialkindofLouboutins—tattooedones.“I
toldChristianthattattoosseemedtobethe
crazeofthe21stcentury.HeaskedmeifI
couldembroiderthemonshoesandIsaidI
could!”recallsLesage.
So,LouboutinstoresinLondonandParis
nowhaveatattoocorner,whereyoudon’t
getinked,butphotographed.Thetattoo
onyourbodyisclickedandtheimage
senttoVastrakala,whichrespondswitha
quotation.Andiftheclientagrees,his/her
tattooisreplicatedonafabriclikesuede
that’sthendesignedintoashoe.Theentire
processtakesjusttwo-and-a-halfweeks.
ThoughitmaybeawhilebeforeLoubou-
tin’sIndianstorescanboastoftattoocorners,
thenumberofVastrakala’sIndianclients
hasrisenovertheyears,includingsomevery
highprofileones.Acoupleofyearsago,the
atelierwonaprojecttoembroidersomewall
panels,curtains,blindsandevenpelmets
fortheRashtrapatiBhavan.Theprojecttook
almost100,000hoursofworkspreadoversix
months—recordtime,consideringitsscale.
Thework,saysLesage,amazedeven
hisfather,whoremarkedthatnoonein
Europe,notevenLesageParis,would’ve
beenabletocompleteitontime.
to200inthelasttwodecades.
IntheVastrakalabungalow,karigars
dressedinwhite,embroiderfabrics
stretchedonrectangularwoodenembroi-
deryframes.Infact,itwasasimilarsight
inBenarasthatinspiredLesagetostartan
embroideryunitinIndiatwodecadesback.
Duringhissecondvacationinthecountry
in1991,apowercutsnuffedoutevery
lightinthecity,exceptasinglebulbthatil-
luminatedanembroidererengrossedinhis
work.Intrigued,Lesageenteredtheshop
andrealisedthetoolsbeingusedwereex-
actlythesameasthosehehasalwaysseen
inhisfamilyatelierinParis.ForLesage,it
wasaturningpoint.Hedecidedtobuild
aunitwiththebestofIndianandFrench
embroideryandembroiderers.
Eachyear,Vastrakalacreatesoverahun-
dredsamplesshowcasingnewembroidery
techniquesanddesignsthataresentto
Vastrakala’sagentinNewYork.‘Hyper-
specialised’and‘hyper-flexible’arethekey
wordsinLesage’sdictionary—ifoneis
unusual,oneneedstobesuperflexibleto
survive,hebelieves.So,thenewsamples
rangefromanembroideredblackvinyl
pieceinspiredbyautorickshawstoappliqué
workinspiredbyAfricantattoos.
Lesagehasalsoopenedashowroomin
Paris,whereVastrakala’sworkisdisplayed.
AskhimabouthisconnectionswithLesage
Parisandherepliesthathedoesn’thavean
officialposition,thoughhedoesplayarole.
“IamabitofMrEmergencySolutionsas
wellasadescendantofthefoundersanda
goodembroiderer,”hesays.
Hisvisionforthefutureistobuilda
newworkshopinSriperumbudursothat
thecraftsmendon’thavetotraveldaily
toChennai.Doesheintendtoexpandto
othercitiesaswell?“Idon’tlikezapping,”
hereplies.“Wemightgoupto400craft
people,butthat’sit.”Buthedoeswantto
haveatechnicalschoolinthenewunit.
SaysLesage:“Ijustwanttocontinuethe
Lesagetradition—Iwanttocontinueto
manufacturerealluxury.” P
· Valances for the stage,
Prince’s and principal
balconies of the Opera
de Monte Carlo
· The Chambre de
Madame Lanvin, Musée
des Arts Décoratifs
(Museum of Decorative
Arts), Louvre Palace
· Panels for Madam
Fouquet’s chamber in
the Château de Vaux
le Vicomte. It involved
32,000 hours of
embroidery
· Recreation of the
embroidery for one of
Napoleon’s thrones
P R O F I L E
PLATINUM
R.PRASANA YANNICKCORMIER BHARATHRAMAMURTHAM MADHAVANPALANISWAMY;(BELOW)LOUBOUTIN
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