For this new lace season, the Fashion & Lace Museum and the Art & History Museum are highlighting one particular genre: war lace.
During the First World War, a group of women lace makers came together and founded the Lace Committee. The Committee managed to turn cotton thread, essential for lace production into a commodity that England and Germany negotiated over. This allowed all Belgian lace-making centers to continue producing lace during the war, which was ordered by patrons, primarily from the United States. Hundreds of new motifs emerged during this period.
The new lace season tells the complex story and challenges associated with this war lace. Items that represent the war effort of anonymous lace makers are exhibited, alongside works by famous artists. An example of such a renowned artist is Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921), whose cotton bedspread motif is exhibited.. This Belgian painter took an interest in lace and its motifs. He also published an article on the importance of Belgian lace in the English magazine The Studio.
Discover these incredible pieces in lace, that testify to a relatively unknown and unique piece of our country’s history.
