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Modernism and Fabric: Art and the Tirocchi Textiles |
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Rodier, long a household word in France for its textile production, was another source of modern fabric designs for the Tirocchis. Rodier came into being in 1810 with the development of a French version of the fashionable imported Kashmir shawl. Known for its woolens through the years, but especially for its brand-name cashmere fabric "Kasha," Rodier continued to have its woolen cloth woven on handlooms in villages surrounding its mechanized factory at Bohain in the north of France. Although the area was occupied during the First World War - Lyon was not - and the firm's production halted, Paul Rodier was able to save his designs and records and to make a swift recovery afterward. By February 1924, when Anna Tirocchi visited its Paris shop, Rodier had become a leader in the production of woolens with modernist geometric patterns and of couture silk fabrics and scarves that Gabrielle Colette, always interested in textiles, described as "gaie, délicate, éclatante." Colette, however, reserved her highest praise for Rodier's woolens: Despite the bold, modern design, meticulously prepared raw material, and complicated dye chemistry of such fabrics; inspired by the landscape, impregnated with an agrarian poetry, they seem to me like old friends...More than that, a touch both humble and divine remains upon them: the touch of the hand.(22) In the 1920s, Anna Tirocchi purchased woolens embellished with metal threads, wool plaids and tweeds, and printed silks from Rodier, in addition to Rodier's "Kasha" cloth bought from B. Altman &Company. The latter was a favorite of her customers for winter suits and afternoon dresses. A suit made of heavier tweed attributed to Rodier, found in the shop and now in RISD's collection, represents the earthier, landscape-inspired woolens that impressed Colette [fig. 163]. The Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, sponsored by the French government in 1925, gave worldwide publicity to the "moderne" style. In the exhibition, the categories of textiles and wallpaper were combined because of their similar graphic qualities and printing techniques. More than a thousand exhibitors showed their work. The published summary of the exposition credited the high quality of French contributions not only to the fact that French artists were at last being sought out by manufacturers, but also to the production of textiles by many small ateliers, in contrast to the very large mechanized factories in German cities such as Krefeld. In addition, the exigencies of the couture and interior-decoration industries in Paris meant that French products were always changing as the textile industry renewed itself each year.(23) |
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