The year 2019 marks the first century of Tissage Moutet's, a company that has been settled in Orthez en Béarn since 1919, deploying its knowledge of the arts on the Jacquard loom.  All of its products are produced in France.  The Jacquard loom is a complex weaving process that has given its name to the weaving profession:  The patterns are woven with different warp threads and are not printed, which makes textured surfaces possible.

At its centenary celebration, Tissage Moutet gave designer matali crasset a blank check to design ten products.

Delving into the company’s archives, matali reinterpreted the famous seven-stripe basque linen (of bovine cattle back throws) to propose a personal, contemporary version.  “I love this graphic way of catching the eye with vertical lines,” she says.  “So, I wanted to amplify these vibrations by associating a horizontal rhythm with them.  This is what gave birth to this ‘endless column’ fabric that is produced in tablecloths, napkins, and so forth.”  The design has colour shades that exude an overall dynamism and vivacity for discussions at table all in colour.…

Since the heart of Tissage Moutet’s profession and activity is the dishrag, matali has proposed four models of them.  One has the rhythm of the endless column of changing scales.  The other three reinterpret items from archives and symbols of the basque provinces, using warp-and-woof interlacing patterns taken from the company’s rich library of such patterns.  Two other “Flag" rag models offer a type of engaged dishrag that can also be hung like a flag, whence its characteristic shape. 

The designer has also designed a tea ceremony table liner:  A small stick of wood with a simplified endless column so the cloth can be kept rolled up.  Once removed, it becomes a utensile ceremony. 

"Being contemporary is not developing an aesthetic that will please for the present, but rather creating meanings, matali says with emphasis.  By proning timelessness, the fabric I’m proposing refers to traditional fabrics.  I start out with our common values, working on a human scale from the beginning to the end of the fabrication process, and propose updates conceived around uses in the home that bring out the singular interlacing, around domestic uses that enhance the value of singular weaves and endow the fabrics with a new place in the home.”