Our craftsmanship

Dare in Paris makes handmade silk ties, bow ties, silk squares and scarves from a drawing made in Paris, a silk twill woven in the Lake Como region of Italy and gestures that only the hand knows: tracing, cutting, assembling, rolling a hem. The three fold ties, the bow ties, the silk squares and the tube scarves are made by hand in Paris, in a workshop that holds the Fabriqué à Paris label, the official Made in Paris label. The seven fold ties are sewn by hand in Italy. Here, step by step, is what happens between the drawing and the box.

• The drawing: exclusive motifs, drawn in Paris
• The fabric: silk twill, Lake Como region
• The assembly: traced, cut and sewn by hand
• The guarantee: the Fabriqué à Paris label

01. The drawing: everything begins with a drawing

A barrel organ playing on the cobblestones, a carousel waiting for its first riders: the motifs of L’orgue du Boulevard and Rayures de carrousel are drawn from Paris scenes, as are La valse des colombes and L’envol des gourmandises.

Every motif is drawn in Paris, by hand, and exists only at Dare in Paris. It is then traced onto the silk, cut and assembled by hand.

02. The fabric: a silk twill from Lake Como

The shell of every piece is 100% silk, woven in the Lake Como region of Italy: printed twill for most pieces, woven silk and grenadine for the thickest three fold ties, printed madder silk for the seven fold. Light, fluid and soft, silk twill has a pleasant hand and a natural drape.

The fabric decides the drape. Everything else, the cut, the hem, the fringe, is adjusted to it. On a tie, thickness comes from the silk, woven or printed, not from the number of folds.

03. The hands: the gestures behind handmade silk ties

The edges are rolled entirely by hand, on the outside. The hems of a 90 cm silk square are rolled by hand in the Paris workshop, and so are the edges of the tube scarf, sewn as a closed tube lined with silk. On the long scarves, made in Naples, the fringes in silk thread are woven on a separate loom, then sewn onto the piece by hand. A bow tie is formed and sewn by hand once and for all, then fitted with an adjustable neckband that closes behind the shirt collar.

Rolling a hem is the longest gesture, and the only step no machine replaces.

04. Time: luxury is not speed

Luxury is the time given to making.

A piece passes through two or three pairs of hands before it is boxed. Assembling a three fold tie by hand takes several hours of work. No step is hurried to meet a deadline.

05. The living detail: proof that a hand passed through

No two pieces are ever perfectly identical. A hesitation, a stitch taken again, a tiny adjustment: this is not a flaw.

It is what separates a piece made by hand from a piece manufactured. On a tie, the dimple that forms under the knot is another sign: it appears only on a well made tie.

06. The tie: anatomy of a three fold tie

The tie is the only object of the house whose structure is invisible once it is worn. The three fold ties are nonetheless entirely assembled by hand, in Paris, on a wool based interlining that runs the whole length. The seven fold ties are sewn by hand in Italy, by a family workshop the house has worked with from the start, from a single large square of silk folded seven times on itself: no interlining, no lining, the folds alone give the body, and both ends are hand rolled. They are made in limited quantities.

Interlining, tipping, collar stitch, bar tack: each term matches a gesture and a minute of work.

Interlining

Wool based, along the whole length of the tie

Tipping

Both ends, the blade and the tail, tipped by hand

Collar stitch

Keeps the tie in place under the folded collar

Bar tack

The hand stitch in silk thread that holds the folds together

Length

About 147 cm (58 inches), blade about 8 cm (3.15 inches) wide

Assembly

Traced, cut and sewn by hand in Paris for the three fold; a single silk square folded seven times, in Italy, for the seven fold

07. The box: leaving the workshop

Your piece leaves the workshop in its box, sealed with the seal of the house. The wax is made in France, from a recipe unchanged since the reign of Louis XIV.

The note is written by hand before the box is closed.

08. Worn: and soon there will be you

Between the workshop and the street there is time, there are gestures, there is an intention. Ties, bow ties, squares and scarves are worn by men and women alike.

A piece is finished only on the day it is worn.

In the press

Dare in Paris has been featured by Madame Figaro, in 2021, and by Jamais Vulgaire and Borasification.

The pieces born from these gestures

Silk ties, three fold and seven fold, silk bow ties, silk squares and long scarves and tube scarves. For the gestures that come after the workshop, the guide to tying a bow tie and the guide to tying a silk scarf.

Frequently asked questions

How do you care for a silk piece?

Silk does not go in the washing machine and reacts badly to water: a drop leaves a ring as it dries. A stain is removed only by a professional dry cleaner. Store the piece flat or rolled, away from direct light. A crease is treated with a garment steamer held about ten centimeters (four inches) away, never with an iron placed directly on the silk.

How long does it take to make a piece?

Assembling a three fold tie by hand takes several hours of work. The fringes of a long scarf are woven on a separate loom before being sewn onto the piece by hand.

What does the Fabriqué à Paris label mean?

Fabriqué à Paris is the official label of the City of Paris for pieces made in a Paris workshop. The Dare in Paris workshop holds it for the pieces it makes: three fold ties, bow ties, silk squares and tube scarves. It does not cover the seven fold ties, sewn in Italy, or the long scarves, made in Naples.