Palais Galliera Exhibition Celebrates Crafts as Fashion's Hidden Stars

CRAFTS IN FULL BLOOM: Have you ever heard of Nicole Lefort, Maison Planès or Ganeshi Lall & Son?

Few are familiar with these specialists but it’s through their hands and workshops that pieces for the likes of Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, Schiaparelli and even Van Cleef & Arpels have come to life.

Lefort, for example, was at the head of an atelier producing hand-painted silks that Karl Lagerfeld used for dresses in his fall 1974 collection at Chloé.

She is among the unsung yet indispensable hands that take center stage in “Weaving, Embroidering, Embellishing, The Crafts and Trades of Fashion,” the first in an exhibition triptych at Palais Galliera that will look at the crafts and know-how that underpin the industry.

Open from Saturday and running through Oct. 18 in the museum’s underg