The epidermis was scraped off
Like a beach flotsam
Silent Book.

This is a French fabric sample book that was actively imported by Japanese clothing manufacturers during the heyday of DC brands in the 1980s.I haven't seen them much lately,In the 2010sMany timesIt is on the marketMany of the items were made in France between the 1900s and 1930s, and many still have the names of the companies that owned them. Many of the pasted-on cloth has been removed, which suggests that they were actually used when ordering weaving or dyeing, and were attached to style drawings.

I had the opportunity to talk to an Italian woolen fabric manufacturer who collects sample books. According to him, they were originally collected from fabric samples that were being sold by each manufacturer.The intermediaryApparently, a system was in place where fabrics were sold at retail to clothing stores, department stores, and other tailoring businesses based on sample books. Fabric manufacturers would entrust fabric samples to an intermediary, who would then create a sample book, and clothing manufacturers would order fabrics after looking at the intermediary's sample book.

I saw someone peeling off the fabric that was pasted on a sample book to use for patchwork, but I heard it was a lot of work because there were so many pieces in one book.

Overseas fabricsThe sample book isThe basic format is a large, thick book bound in hardcover. The pages are heavy because the main text is covered with a lot of fabric. As a result, the pages can no longer withstand the weight over time,The front and back coversPeeling off from the textThe book being exhibited at this exhibition has the black cloth used for the cover peeled off, but this shows us that the presence of a large, thick book that was once properly bound is not diminished even if the cover comes off, but rather becomes more impressive.

Incidentally, this book is a sample book of dress-shirt fabrics, and since there is a paste-up with the company name printed on the front page, it is believed to have been published by J. CLAUDE FRERES & CO., Paris.Claude Frères isThe company was founded in 1834 by Jean-Claude, a draftsman who moved to Paris in 1825.Across EuropeHe was an innovative businessman who invented and distributed the fabric swatch book, a medium aimed at textile designers of clothing and furniture.Claude Frères' fabric sample book,These works are kept in art museums across Europe as valuable archives of timeless creativity.

Text by Masago Sato