The Fine Art
of Bedding
- Words
- Laura Lovett
For most of us, there is simply nothing more luxurious than getting into crisp, fresh sheets, resting our heads into marshmallow-like fluffy pillows and melting into slumber with soothing, butter-soft sheets.
One only has to caress a Frette bedsheet to appreciate the superior feel of the fabric, created by using the finest threads at luxuriously high densities and, once you’ve felt the difference, it’s impossible to go back to anything else. This is bedding at a couture level.
Founded in the 1860s, Frette supplied linens to luxury hotels around the world from the very beginning. Its sheets grace the bedrooms and dining rooms of historical establishments like the Danieli in Venice to the Ritz in Paris, Claridge's in London to the Peninsula in Hong Kong. Then when the company revolutionised a way to weave a family’s crest into the sheets in the 1880s, it was appointed as the official supplier of bed linen to the Italian royal family.
Frette’s brand director, Andrea Warden, admits: “The first night I slept in Frette sateen, I said the next morning that I never want to sleep in anything else.” And Warden is not the only person addicted to what is arguably the world’s finest bedding. “We have customers who have Frette in their numerous homes globally, some who travel only with Frette sheets and other loyal customers who order our Limited Edition pieces every year even before we have woven them,” she explains.
What is it that drives this passion for bedding? The difference lies in the detail. An important part of Frette’s success is its focus on handcraftsmanship and across Italy, in some of the oldest and most reputable mills, weavers have spun, weaved, sewn and embroidered the linen for generations.
Most people look at thread count when they are choosing sheets, but this is irrelevant if the raw materials aren’t right. “It is only one of the considerations, and not the most important,” says Warden. “The quality of the yarns, weaving and finishing, all create the best sheets, and these are factors overlooked by many brands.”
The real thing that matters, above all, is how it feels against your skin, and that comes down to raw materials, something that sets Frette leagues apart. Long fibres make for a more uniform, resistant and smoother thread, and that undefinable “feel” quality is determined by the finishing process. Moving through traditional looms that will have been used hundreds of years ago, the fabric is gassed, washed, ironed and mercerised - a process that involves plumping the fibres to make them stronger and more luxurious - and the results speak for themselves.
The company, like a couture house, has its own in-house design department where, according to Warden, “Artists develop the pattern idea and sketch it in a free-hand design.” This in turn is then translated into a pattern for the jacquard loom, a fabric that is at the very heart of Frette.
The brand’s inimitable jacquard brings material alive. In Frette’s hands, “the finest details and shadings are woven into the fabric like a painting,” says Warden, and “colouring the yarn before weaving adds wonderful chromatic effects as well.”
There is no denying that quality linens enhance our sleep experience, and Warden reveals the lengths that the company goes to in order to ensure that the experience is beyond compare, every night at home as it is in the worlds best hotels. “We photograph every bed linen set that customers buy dressed upon the bed and then we visit to train their home keeper on how to make up the bed in Frette style.”
In a busy, crowded world, the ultimate luxury is a place where you can relax and recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life, your own private sanctuary. Your bed, as the ultimate nest of rest, calm and love, is at its heart. The only problem with Frette might be in wanting to actually get out of bed.
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一世“寝”缘
- 撰文
- Laura Lovett
结束忙碌的一天,回家躺在干爽清新的床单上,把头埋进如棉花糖般松软的枕头里,再盖上丝滑、软糯的被子香甜入睡…… 对于绝大多数人来说,相信没有什么能比这更加奢侈的了。
只要触及 Frette 寝具,您就能感受到它那种以精选纱线高密度纺织而成的面料所赋予肌肤的上乘感受。 一旦您意识到其中的区别,便很难再对其他寝具动心,这便是这个被视为高级定制级别的寝具品牌所散发的独特魅力。
成立于 1860 年代的 Frette 从品牌创立之初便开始为世界各地的奢华酒店提供寝具织物。 从威尼斯的 Danieli 酒店、巴黎的丽思卡尔顿酒店、伦敦的 Claridge's 酒店到香港的半岛酒店,Frette 出品的织物为这些具有悠久历史的酒店增添了雍容气派。1880 年代,Frette 革命性地将家族徽标织入床品,并从此被委任为意大利皇室的官方寝具供应商。
Frette 品牌总监 Andrea Warden 坦言:“我第一次在 Frette 棉缎上睡了一晚后,便再也不想睡在其它床品上了。” 显然,Warden 不是唯一一个为此着迷的人。“世界各地都有我们的顾客,有些人旅行时只带 Frette 寝具,而另一些忠实的顾客每年甚至在我们投入生产之前就已经预订了我们最新的限量版设计,”她说道。
人们为何对 Frette 寝具钟爱有加? 答案都藏在细节里。Frette 成功的一个重要因素便是它专注于手工艺。 在意大利一些最古老也是最享有盛名的纺织厂里,纺织工匠们世代为 Frette 进行着纺纱、织布、缝纫和刺绣的工作。
大部分人在挑选寝具时会紧盯着织数这一指标,但如果没有选好原材料,这个数值也会变得毫无参考价。“织数只是挑选寝具的考量之一,但不是最重要的因素,”Warden 说。“纱线的品质、纺织和加工,都是织造优质寝具的因素,而很多品牌都忽略了这些因素。”
此外,真正比这些还要重要的是织物接触肌肤时所带来的顶级触感,这部分则取决于优质的原材料,而这也是让 Frette 脱颖而出的关键因素。 长纤维可以造就更为均匀、耐用和光滑的纱线,而难以用数值来界定的“触感”品质则由加工工艺决定。 以长纤维纺出的纱线经过早已沿用数百年的传统织布机后,面料还经过了熏蒸、水洗、熨烫和丝光处理(这道工序能让织物变得更加丰盈、坚韧,倍添奢华感),而最终的成品就是高品质的最好证明。
这个品牌就如同一家高级定制工作坊,拥有自己的设计部门。“在这里设计师们构思图案、纹样,并徒手将草图画出来,”Warden 说。 草图其后将会做进一步修改,最后再以提花织机制造出来。
作为 Frette 的核心面料之一,提花面料以及面料上独特的图案、纹样无疑也赋予了寝具别样的生命力。“在 Frette 手中,“最微小的细节和色泽差异都如同作画一般被织入了面料中,”Warden 说,“而在纺织前就染好的纱线也会为面料增添奇妙的色彩效果。”
优质的寝具可以提升睡眠体验,而 Frette 更将提供无与伦比的体验作为品牌不懈追求的目标,使在家安睡的每个夜晚都如同睡在世界顶级酒店之中。“我们会拍下顾客买下的每套寝具,然后派专人登门拜访,教他们的管家如何将床铺成 Frette 风格,” Warden 说道。
在人潮忙碌的世界中,终极的奢华莫过于拥有一个可以让您休养生息、从日常生活的压力和紧绷中解脱出来的地方 —— 一个私人庇护所。 您的床,就如同倦鸟回归的鸟巢,充满宁静和爱。 Frette 无疑将为您带来您所希望拥有的所有体验,而您需要面对的唯一难题,是如何从这一极致舒适的睡眠体验中挣脱出来。