How This 140-Year-Old Lace Factory Created Leavers Lace for Dior, Burberry and More

Leavers lace is prized by dressmakers and designers as the world’s highest quality machine-made lace, so refined it takes a magnifying glass to distinguish it from handmade material. High-end fashion houses like Christian Dior, Gucci and Burberry have used the lace, and Kate Middleton’s wedding dress featured the lace for the Royal Wedding. But only a few factories still make it, and they’re facing increasingly strong headwinds to get by.

WSJ visited the Cluny Lace factory in England to see the meticulous process that could soon disappear.

Chapters:

0:00 Leavers Lace
1:11 The Jacquard cards
3:28 Operating the machines
6:21 The battle for survival