Fabric with a raised, quilted-looking surface created by its construction rather than by a separate layer of padding.
Woven matelassé is a double cloth: two layers are woven at the same time, one above the other, and held together by the threads that form the figure. Thick, soft wadding wefts, usually cotton, run between the layers, hidden on both faces, and accentuate the quilted or puckered face. Nothing is stitched; the relief comes off the loom. The cloth appears in couture and in interiors: the V&A holds a 1962 Balenciaga evening coat in pink floral matelassé, with shoes of the same material by René Mancini, a Givenchy evening dress in green satin matelassé brocade, and a woven matelassé furnishing fabric.
The confusion is linguistic. In French, matelasser means to pad and hold the padding with stitching, as a mattress is made; the Académie française’s examples include a quilted lining and a garment stitched over a padded lining. A matelassé jacket or lining may therefore be quilted rather than woven.
In job listings
The word is rare in current listings. Woven matelassé is a mill’s work: weaving operators prepare and load looms and repair breaks in the cloth, while designers develop woven and jacquard materials with mills alongside print and embroidery. See current weaving roles.
