Custom-made fabrics
To meet the specific needs of numerous special orders, Pierre Frey places the finely honed expertise of its textile engineers at your disposal.
Virginie and Noémie—who are both graduates of ITECH Lyon—have cutting-edge knowledge of the industry and master all techniques for the development of special fabrics. These genuine experts participate in all projects using a detailed commercial approach and great professionalism in defining the project specifications. They provide solutions to all criteria, whether concerning a deadline, technical specifications, compliance with a standard or the budget.
The 25,000 documents from the House’s heritage archives—drawing boards, fabrics and clothing from the 16th century to the present—open up all possibilities. A piece of chiseled velvet may inspire a new Toile de Tours fabric, the backing of a brocaded lampas may inspire a semi-plain silk, a chinoiserie on velvet may inspire a tone-on-tone jacquard, etc.
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Custom-made furniture
Aware of the stringent requirements and complexity of custom-made orders and contracts, Pierre Frey is committed to guaranteeing the best know-how and controlling all project development phases through the required service level.
Having acquired one of France’s oldest furniture manufacturing workshop (since 1928), located in Villers-Cotterêts in the north of France, Pierre Frey boasts a team of genuine experts. For its staffing requirements—from site manager to designers, carpenters, couturiers and upholsterers—the House recruits skilled craftsmen from trade guilds, as well as graduates from prominent schools of art and design.
Patrick Frey’s grandfather René Prou—an interior decorator of the inter-war period—designed numerous pieces of furniture in classic and bold styles. His drawings are carefully preserved in the House’s archives. These documents provide a rich source or elegant and timeless inspiration.
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CUSTOM-MADE RUGS & CARPETS
On the strength of the extraordinary heritage of the Braquenié design archives, Pierre Frey is well qualified to create exceptional rugs, offering support and a unique source of inspiration for each project.
Our experienced, specialized staff hold diplomas in textile design and architecture. Their training, creativity and talent go hand-in-hand with perfect mastery of the various production techniques, types of finish (textures, shearing, sculpture, etc.) and material renderings (wool, silk, linen, cotton and mixes). Through their proposals, they take part in all projects with professionalism and state-of-the arts tools.
With a legacy of extraordinary heritage built on the Braquenié, Le Manach, Fadini Borghi and Boussac archives, Maison Pierre Frey is authentic in the creation of exceptional rugs and offers each project a unique support and source of inspiration.
Pierre Frey heritage collection includes more than 25,000 documents - drawing boards, fabrics, samples and carpet models - from the 16th century to the present day. Rich in the eclecticism of the archives, it is a formidable source of inspiration.
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Customized wallpaper
With a diversified offering in terms of style and production techniques, Pierre Frey brings expert service to numerous special orders.
Since wallpaper involves different techniques and constraints to those of fabric, Pierre Frey offers a specialized service team for the creation of exceptional wall coverings. Two designers holding degrees from prominent Art schools use cutting-edge tools to put technical excellence at the service of their creativity. They are involved in all parts of the projects, from the composition of the drawing (panoramic, straight match, offset match, etc.) to the choice of the backing (non-woven, vinyl, etc.) and the printing process (cylinder, digital, etc.), in line with the highest standards.
The 25,000 documents of the House’s heritage archives—drawing boards, fabrics and clothing from the 16th century to the present—are a source of inspiration for the collections and feed the imagination for numerous projects.
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The heritage department
Particularly committed to the preservation of this exceptional heritage, the Department is the custodian of the Braquenié, Le Manach, Fadini-Borghi, Boussac and Pierre Frey archives. As a place of reflection on the decorative practices of the past, it is a place of inspiration for the Studio and is open to interior designer clients from the world over.
Art historian Sophie Rouart, co-author of a book on Toile de Jouy fabrics and member of CIETA, has been in charge of the House’s holdings since 2003. On the strength of her experience in various textile museums, she inventories each piece and puts the archives to good use through temporary exhibitions. Convinced that they play a significant role in outlining the contours of a changing society, she supports the social dimension of this unique collection and constantly enhances it with new acquisitions.
The printed, embroidered and woven fabrics held offer a cross-section of all the techniques used to produce fabrics from the 16th century to the present. Essentially composed of Western fabrics, this collection also presents a few beautiful samples from India and Asia which underscore the influence of these distant lands in the development of fabric-making in Europe.
Around 400 samples of wallpaper from the 18th and 19th centuries are preserved in the archives alongside a few ‘dominos’ (the ancestors of wallpaper). As most of them were printed with wood blocks, they represent a stimulating technical challenge for the House’s designers who want to reproduce their charm.
Le département Archives conserve 1200 gouaches tapis, plus de 1500 échantillons moquettes et 200 échantillons de tapis au point plat (type Aubusson) ou au point noué (type Savonnerie). Ces documents constituent un témoignage précieux de l’excellence de Braquenié au 19e et 20e siècle pour ce genre de produits. Cette collection est exceptionnelle par sa qualité de réalisation et sa diversité de styles.
The House’s collection of drawings, gouaches and old photos are a source of inspiration for the furniture team who, with their know-how, are able to reinterpret a 18th century sketch or a photo from the 1930s showing a particular piece of furniture, such as that of René Prou.
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THORP OF LONDON
Committed to the preservation of specialist knowledge, Pierre Frey has acquired the artisan creator of made-to-order fabrics and wallpapers THORP OF LONDON (BERNARD THORP). Maison Pierre Frey completes its circle of expertise in fabric and furniture manufacturing with the addition of the craft of screen-printing on fabrics and wallpapers in the eternal quest to enhance the value of luxury craftsmanship.
Originally founded by Bernard Thorp in 1971, the London-based company quickly established itself as an expert in traditional hand screen-printing. Highly passionate and strengthened by his extended experience at Warner Textiles, Bernard Thorp is an avant-garde creative. He has created a unique concept that sets him apart from all other editors by offering his clients a hand-crafted, made-to-order service. He targets a discerning international clientele of aesthetes and connoisseurs in search of authentic exclusive luxury.
All the prints are made in a workshop in Norfolk in England, and have been printed there since the founding of the company in 1971. Each design is made-to-order and has the possibility to be customised. This incredible option can be used to create completely unique colourways for small minimum orders. Once after the other, the colours of the designs are applied to the printing screen, this screen acts as a stencil. The craftsmen pour the paint onto the screen and then pass a squeegee to each other accross the face of the screen, this presses the paint through the design and onto the desired cloth or paper. The same screen is moves manually along the length of the printing table and the operation is repeated, screen by screen, the number of screens depending on the number of colours in the design.
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Boussac, a certain idea of modernity
The Boussac brand has remained faithful to the fundamentals laid down by its founder, Marcel Boussac - innovation and keeping up with the times. Geometrical motifs and interplay between materials in bright, colorful contemporary harmonies are the very essence of the Boussac collections. A resolutely contemporary style.
A respected captain of industry, Marcel Boussac was a bigger-than-life personality who found glory and finished his life broke. He built a textile empire based on the complete fabric production process. In 1934, he bought the printing sector of the Wesserling factory in Alsace and made it famous thanks to his iconic prints. In 1978, the Boussac group collapsed. Thankfully it returned to stability after being acquired by Pierre Frey in 2004.
The latest collections highlight a new approach to decoration focusing on the world of design and art. Wools and jacquards with subtle mixes of natural fibers, plain modern fabrics with the desired material effects and artsy prints make up the basics of this brand in the spirit of the times.
The Maison Pierre Frey's heritage collection holds over 1,500 documents and archives from Boussac dating from the 20th century. This collection, mainly comprising printed cottons, is a reference for everyone interested in textile prints from a technical or stylistic point of view.
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Pierre Frey, an eclectic French House
Maison Pierre Frey is inventive and deeply eclectic. Drawing inspiration from the past as well as from around the world, creating daring, contemporary collections whose materials, motifs and colors take one back into history and off on a unique voyage.
A family-run House for three generations, it was founded in Paris in 1935 and named after its creator, Pierre Frey, specialized in upholstery fabrics. In 1937, the company moved to 47 rue des Petits-Champs, where Patrick Frey took over as artistic director in 1969. Today he runs the company with his three sons, Pierre, Vincent and Matthieu, to whom he has transmitted his passion and his quest for excellence.
Creation and excellence in production are the guiding principles behind the House's strategy today, with a desire to offer a real signature extended to wallpapers, rugs, carpets and furniture. The French art de vivre nourished by culture and mixtures.
The Pierre Frey heritage collection brings together thousands of documents and reveals the creative process of a fabric maker: from the sources of inspiration to the fabrics, as well as technical developments in design and prints. It is constantly being enriched with new acquisitions, keeping it alive at the heart of the creative approach.
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Le Manach, a French treasure
The House of Le Manach is the very quintessence of French style, a subtle mix of French tradition and exoticism. It takes its inspiration from the silks of the Far East and Central Asia, in the printed cottons of the 18th century, but also in the Art Deco period and ethnic motifs.
A silk fabric factory founded in 1829 by Eugène Fey and Charles Martin, it was run by various associates during the 19th century. Georges Le Manach, whose name is still attached to the brand today, joined the House in 1906 and played an active role in its growth and reputation. After being managed by the same family for five generations, Le Manach was acquired by Pierre Frey in 2014.
Unknown to the general public, Le Manach is adored by aesthetes. The tower canvases are reinvented in made-to-measure or via new colorations, the hand-woven leopard velvet is always a huge success and the archives are available in sumptuous wallpapers made according to the rules of art.
The heritage collection of the Pierre Frey House includes more than 6,500 Le Manach documents and archives, from the 16th century to today. This collection, composed of textiles, maps, drawings, testifies to the quality of the achievements of this illustrious House and offers an unlimited source of inspiration for the design studio and our decorator clients.
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Fadini-Borghi, timeless Italian luxury
Like an ode to this sublime material, Fadini-Borghi has perpetuated a tradition of luxury unique to Italy, which introduced silk weaving to Europe starting in the 13th century. Often modern and sometimes classical, the collections play with the conventional codes to define interiors with the sophistication and refinement of plain silks and spectacular jacquards.
In 1947, Osvaldo Fadini founded an upholstery fabric company specialized in luxury fabrics under his name in Turin. His nephew succeeded him and, in 1975, acquired Borghi, famous for its Genoa velvets. Fadini-Borghi became a reference in the Italian textile industry and joined the French group Boussac in 1995 in order to expand internationally, then the House of Pierre Frey in 2004.
Fadini Borghi has remained faithful to their initial vocation - using sublime silk to make their fabrics indispensable to all lovers of the magic thread. And yet, without turning their backs on their history and the demand for quality that have earned them their reputation, today they dare to move into new, more contemporary graphic fields. The effects of the materials, sophistication, incursions into contemporary art combined with a few classic fabrics - all this has given rise to the new codes of this iconic brand.
The House of Pierre Frey's heritage collection holds over 3,000 documents and archives from Fadini-Borghi from the 16th century to the present. This collection mainly contains silks and weave diagrams bearing witness to the quality of the House's productions, providing a rich source of inspiration.
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Braquenié, French classicism
Celebrated for its printed cottons, silks and hand-woven rugs, Braquenié has a rich, fascinating style in which the opulence, luxuriance and exoticism of France's Second Empire go hand-in-hand with the undulations, Japonism and organic curves of Art Nouveau and then with the geometrical influence of the decorative arts.
The story began in 1824 when Pierre Antoine Demy and his wife set up shop as merchants of "laine-fer en meubles" in Paris. The couple joined up with the two Braquenié brothers in 1842 and 1845. Henri-Charles, the elder, married their daughter and the two families became associates, giving the company the name "Braquenié et Cie" in 1875.
Tastefully revisiting the styles of the 18th and 19th centuries, the House offers a refreshing re-reading of the past, highlighting the particular charm of the French art of living and defending a certain idea of decoration for discerning connoisseurs around the world.
The heritage collection of the Pierre Frey House gathers 5000 documents and Braquenié archives classified from the Renaissance to today. More than 500 years of creations constitute a source of inspiration for all interiors.
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About the Maison
As the main French company in the home textiles sector, Pierre Frey is also a family business with a history of passion for interior decoration that has been handed down for three generations. Honoring the past and turned toward the future, Patrick Frey relied successively on his three sons—Pierre, Vincent and Matthieu—to lead and to expand the scope of the company on the basis of a shared appreciation of love for work well done, careful attention to detail and inspired creation.
A member of the Colbert Committee since 1976, Pierre Frey is one of 81 French luxury goods companies that have joined together to promote, in France and internationally, their commitment to combining tradition and modernity, know-how and creative skill, history and innovation.
For several years, Pierre Frey has been expanding its product offer and opening its creativity to new areas of expression, including wallpaper and wall coverings, made-to-measure rugs and carpeting, and furniture.
Building the future is based on understanding the past. Created in 2003, the archives department conserves, inventories and promotes an exceptional collection of over 25,000 documents, dating from the sixteenth century to the present. Based on the Pierre Frey archives, the collection now includes the archives of Braquenié, Boussac, Fadini Borghi and Le Manach. These archives are living and continue to be enriched with regular acquisitions. They can be used by anyone to find a source of inspiration or a sales argument based on historical reality or to round out knowledge. For the studio, the goal is not necessarily to make an identical reproduction of a document, but to use it as an inspiration that feeds contemporary creation.
In direct contact with the sector of activity, Maison Pierre Frey works to reconcile its presence in France with the ability to meet the needs of local customers. Aware of the rise of international interior decoration projects, the company adjusts its level of service to the cultural dimension of its contacts and has built a network of numerous subsidiaries, representative offices and showrooms in France and abroad.
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The Studio
Step-by-step, in a warm, intimate atmosphere, the collections are drawn, take form and come to life with a single purpose: creating, astonishing and seducing.
"CREATING MEANS BEING BOLD!" Chairman and Artistic Director Patrick Frey is an experienced orchestra conductor who surrounds himself with strong personalities who share the same values. With his insatiable curiosity, he owes his success to his impressive capacity to multiply creative proposals, and constantly renew his style while respecting a strong DNA, that of the motif and color.
The 8 designers of Maison Pierre Frey have a common objective to imagine and create all the collections, each with their own hands, eyes and sensitivity. Together, they tell the same story and convey the enthusiasm of a passionate Artistic Director.
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Commitments
Passionate about their business, Patrick, Pierre, Vincent and Matthieu Frey have strong convictions and stand together in committing to company culture.
Inspired creation Creation is the company keyword. It is venerated, esteemed and sought-after. How can this be explained? By the intimate link that Patrick Frey and his sons maintain with art. Educated in painting, architecture and music, they are also tireless travelers, who are curious about the world and immersed in its cultures. This shared artistic sensitivity and the conviction that creation feeds creation have also enabled Maison Pierre Frey to work on collaborations with artists from a broader environment.
Made in France. Known as an editor, the company is also very committed as a French manufacturer. In 1989, Maison Pierre Frey acquired a weaving studio in the north of France, where weavers, knotters, warpers and gluers produce 30% of the company’s textiles. More recently, the company took over one of the oldest French furniture manufacturers. It is located at Villers-Cotterêts in the Hauts de France region and has a team of 20 cabinetmakers, joiners, varnishers and upholsterers. In this way, Pierre Frey participates in safeguarding the employment of men and women with precious know-how.
Weave, embroider, emboss, flatbed-print and hand knot or carefully trace, shape, dye and upholster: each skill is based on the transmission of a living tradition that is still an inspiration. Maison Pierre Frey is committed to safeguarding these ancestral processes and rare know-how. The company’s weaving workshops have the “Living Heritage Company” label, its hand-weaver is a recognized expert and partners are always selected on the basis of cutting-edge artisanal expertise.
Objects are strongly connected to the society that produces them. A motif, a weave or the form of a chair give us valuable insights about the way our ancestors lived. During its history, Maison Pierre Frey has acquired several emblematic French brands, and these acquisitions have enabled avoiding the dispersion of fabulous heritage collections. In their way, these collections testify to the evolution of taste and lifestyle over the decades. To safeguard, inventory and enhance these little-known collections, the company created an archives department in 2003, since Maison Pierre Frey feels that luxury goods companies have the responsibility of fitting into history and transmitting it.
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