This article was originally published on August 29, 2012. It was republished on September 30, 2014 following the wedding of George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin, who wore an Oscar de le Renta gown made of Sophie Hallette lace.
The Sophie Hallette factory in France has been quietly going about its business providing lace for leading couturiers for years - but it's also responsible for some of the world's most famous wedding gowns, including those worn by Amal Alamuddin and the Duchess of Cambridge
Annie is hunched over her desk. She's poring over metres of lace, scanning for imperfections. She spots one among the oddly familiar shamrock, lily and rose design, a tear so tiny it would probably have escaped notice under anyone else's watch. She weaves her needle deftly through and in a few seconds, the rip vanishes.
She holds the fabric up. " Très bien ," she murmurs her approval. Annie is a mender at Sophie Hallette, one of the oldest lace factories in the world, and the lace she's working on is the same pattern that was used in the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress. Click link for full post from The Telegraph.