Fondazione Lisio Silk Weaving Florence

The high art of jacquard weaving is the profession of the Fondazione Lisio silk weaving mill in Florence. An institution of more than 100 years for the production of brocade, velvet and other hand-woven jacquard fabrics. A production and training center with international exchanges.

Located in the hills on the southern outskirts of Florence, the Fondazione Lisio has classrooms with hand jacquard looms equipped with silk warps for damask, double weave, lampas and velvet. Classroom facilities include three card-beating machines, a computer lab with pointcarrée software for preparing weaves, and a yarn store with silk yarns. The program includes courses on introduction to jacquard weaving, historical fabrics and digital jacquard design. There are collaborations with some universities in Europe and the United States. The range of commissions includes costumes for theater and film, furnishings for castles and museums, private clients, royal and noble houses and ecclesiastical institutions, and the reconstruction, reproduction and restoration of historical fabrics. For this purpose, the Fondazione has an archive of historical fabrics.

The history of the Fondazione dates back to 1906 to the company founder Guiseppe Lisio and his daughter Fidalma, the founder of the training company. Clients in the company's history have included Liz Taylor, Sofia Loren, Catherine Deneuve, Warner Brothers Film Studios, Hèrmes, Versace, Armani and film costumes for Part 3 of The Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp. Twice a year, the Fondazione Lisio publishes the trade magazine "Jacquard".

The group was international and inspiring with participants from New York, India, London, Scotland and Germany. Eva Basile gave an introduction to theory with gutting patterns and details of samples. Then it was on to discussing designs, revising, beating cards, making card runs and weaving on the five handjaquard looms fitted with silk warps for the course. On the last day to the Pitti Filati with trend show and yarn research in the area of knitting yarns, which are also considered for weaving. Especially in the area of cashmere, merino and some Japanese suppliers with special yarns. Some international textile universities in a special area. Also quite a few exhibitors in the field of textile literature and trends.