workshop

At Cotélac, craftsmanship has been omnipresent from the outset. Anchored in Ambérieu-en-Bugey, where you'll find the confection workshop, the stock of fabrics with a mini washing center to determine their degree of resistance, the workshop acts as an experimental laboratory for all models.

To understand Cotélac is to penetrate to the very heart of its unique creative methods, implemented since 1993. Raphaëlle Cavalli knows all about the infinite possibilities of a fabric, but she remains an artist.” I let my hand go and look at the result. Drawing is like automatic writing,” she explains in front of this detailed sketch, ready to become a delightful floral dress. “Patterns are always small at Cotélac. They twist well and are never intrusive.

Exploring to create exclusive effects and surprises is the house's other credo. Raphaëlle Cavalli, under her textile designer's hat, tirelessly pushes forward her research: skilful matches between fabrics, creative dyes, original harmonies, specific coatings, two-in-one garments. Today, at its Ambérieu-en-Bugey site, Cotélac has the technical and human resources for innovative French production.

Cotélac's relentless pursuit of research: skilful fabric matching, creative dyes, specific coatings... Cotélac recovers and rescues four unique antique pleating machines. These machines can transform fabrics into sunbursts, tight, fine, rounded or micro-bubbled pleats, eternally retaining their shape memory. Now that they've been refurbished, new possibilities are being discovered. The play of folds is constantly reinvented, enriched and enhanced by the overprinting of exclusive Cotélac prints.