The art of passementerie is steeped in history, but every so often, an artisan comes along who reshapes tradition with a fresh perspective. Enter Elizabeth Ashdown, the British passementerie artist behind Kaleidoscope, our latest collaboration, where her signature cretes take center stage in an unexpected explosion of color.

The names of passementerie are often arcane, mysterious, and difficult to decipher. Some are more literal than others, such as the crete, or crête, which translates from French as "ridge" — an apt description of the sculptural surface created by interwoven cords and gimps.

 Cretes belong to a distinguished lineage of passementerie, with origins tracing back to the grandeur of Louis XIV’s France. These elaborate trimmings, known for their classical aesthetic, adorned the grandest palaces and stately homes, including the boudoir of Marie Antoinette herself.

Yet tradition is meant to be challenged, and while classical cretes remain breathtakingly beautiful, the Kaleidoscope collection by Elizabeth Ashdown reimagines these storied designs, infusing them with a contemporary spirit.

 

"When designing the array of cretes for the Kaleidoscope collection, I was conscious to playfully reinvent the design of the crete in order to give a fresh perspective, whilst still keeping the sophisticated aesthetic that the design is known and loved for." - Elizabeth Ashdown

Ashdown's approach is one of both reverence and rebellion. She describes how "Thoughtfully changing the placement of materials, colour positions, and the scale of the overall design in the ‘Kaleidoscope Crete’ creates a fresh and visually interesting design that would work in so many different applications," understanding that to reinvent a craft, one must first master its intricacies. The ridges remain, but their beauty is amplified in ways the artisans of Louis XIV’s court could never have imagined.

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