Weaving in France

Silk Trade of Lyon

The birth of the silk factory

François 1er

XVth - Louis XI chooses Lyon to create a silk factory

1536 - official birth of the Lyon silk era with François 1er

Until C19th a large community of weavers

called CANUTS in the CROIX ROUSSE area

WORKSHOPS in their own flats

Hard working conditions – 18 hours a day for example

1805 The JACQUARD loom

A mechanical loom with punched card

Weaving more complex patterns

Peak period of the Lyon silk industry

1831 The revolt of the “Canuts”

Hard work conditions deteriorate.

Silk workers think that the Jacquard loom is one of their difficulties.

After The revolts

The silk manufacturers want to produce far from the city.

Boarding house mill - in Saint Siméon de Bressieux between Lyon and Grenoble

Girls came here from countryside to work :Boarding in the place of workMore practical and convenient

1889 – 1000 workers1934 – factory closure

Little by little, the Croix Rousse family workshops disappeared…

But today we can still eat brains of Canuts…

Cheese with chopped chives

Traditional food

In the middle of the 20th century, a sweet was created

in memory of the Canuts

What does the shape of this sweet remind you of?

A silkworm cocoon of course !

Nowadays This expertise continues today in mastering new materials

Composite textiles : Glass cloth

for printed circuit boardfor building trade

Weaving techniques in Isère, France

Technical textiles : Polyamid cloth

for airbags for paragliders

for sailing

Nowadays

Nowadays Lyon’s know-how is still supplying the fashion design

SIEGL, Le Grand Lemps, France, printing industry for Hermès

The « Carré Hermès » silk scarf

One sold each 30 min all over the word