A plain-woven fabric with slight, flat ribs running across its width.
Faille is a plain weave with slight, flat ribs running across the cloth, in the weft. The Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus notes that it was originally silk and is now also made of wool, cotton and synthetic fibers, and names its uses: women’s suits and dresses, hats, trimmings and interior furnishings.
The rib separates it from its neighbors. Taffeta is plain-woven too, but crisp, with at most a fine crosswise rib and a smooth, lustrous surface; ottoman is heavy and corded. Examples in the V&A include a 1957 Christian Dior evening dress in red silk faille, woven by Coudurier-Fructus-Descher, with a molded bodice, integral boning and a full bell-shaped skirt; a 1961 Cristóbal Balenciaga coat in pink faille embroidered by Lesage; and a 1987 Givenchy evening dress with a bouffant silk faille overskirt.
In job listings
Faille rarely appears in listing titles. It is handled by couture product developers, whose listings ask for technical knowledge of luxury fabrics and who take garments from design handover to sample approval with the atelier and specialist suppliers, and by the seamstresses who sew them. See current couture product roles.
