Care Guide
A Lucie Brochard.võ piece is made to be worn for years. Silk, wool and fine construction ask for a little attention, and very little effort. Here is how to keep each material at its best.
The essentials
Dry clean, gently
Silk, wool and tailored pieces are dry clean only. Ask for a gentle or delicate process and point out any stain before it is treated.
Iron low, on the reverse
Always iron inside out, at the lowest setting, ideally through a cloth. Never let a hot plate touch silk directly.
Steam pleats, never press them
Pleats are set into the fabric. Steam revives them. A hot iron flattens them permanently.
Air rather than wash
Most pieces need airing, not cleaning. Hang your piece overnight in a ventilated room and it will often be ready to wear again.
Before the first wear
Silk marks easily. Let perfume, deodorant and body lotion dry completely before dressing, and put jewellery on last. Most damage we see on silk comes from alcohol and oils, not from wear.
Care by material
Silk is a protein fibre. It behaves more like hair than like cotton: it dislikes heat, alcohol, chlorine and prolonged sunlight, and it recovers beautifully from creasing.
Cleaning
Dry clean only, on a gentle process. Do not machine wash, even on a silk programme, and never tumble dry.
Ironing
Inside out, at the lowest setting, on a dry iron. Steam left on a cold plate can leave water marks. If your iron drips, work through a cotton cloth.
Drying and airing
Away from direct sunlight, which fades saturated colours faster than washing does. A padded or wide hanger prevents shoulder marks.
Crepe holds its drape and hides creases. Satin shows every mark on its face, so handle it by the seams. Chiffon and organza catch on rings and rough nails. Jacquard can snag on the reverse where the pattern floats.
Pleats are set by heat and time. They are part of the construction, not a finish that can be redone at home.
Steam, do not press. Hold a steamer a few centimetres away and let the pleats fall under their own weight. They will retract and settle.
Store hanging or loosely rolled. Folding a pleated piece across the pleats creates a second crease that competes with the first.
Tell your dry cleaner. A pleated silk piece must be handled as such. A standard press will flatten it, and the pleat cannot be recovered.
Wool cleans itself remarkably well. Airing removes most odours, and a soft brush lifts dust and restores the surface.
Cleaning
Dry clean only, and as rarely as possible. Over-cleaning tires a tailored piece faster than wearing it.
Between wears
Hang on a shaped hanger, ideally overnight before returning it to the wardrobe. Empty the pockets, a full pocket deforms a jacket permanently.
Pilling
Normal on soft lambswool at friction points. Remove with a comb or a fabric shaver, always in one direction, never by pulling.
Creases
Steam rather than iron. Wool relaxes with moisture and its own weight.
Linen creases. It is the nature of the fibre and part of how the piece looks. Trying to keep it flat all day is a losing battle.
Cleaning
Follow the care label on your piece. Where a piece is dry clean only, it is because of its construction or lining, not the linen itself.
Ironing
Linen takes a hotter iron than silk, but always work on the reverse, and slightly damp for a crisper result.
Storage
Hanging rather than folded, so the creases stay soft rather than sharp.
Cotton is the most forgiving material in the wardrobe, but our cotton pieces are often constructed with silk linings or details that set the rule for the whole garment.
Always follow the care label, which reflects the piece as a whole rather than its main fabric.
Seersucker must never be pressed flat. Its puckered surface is woven in, and ironing it out removes both the texture and the lightness it gives.
White cotton yellows with heat. Wash and dry away from direct sun, and avoid chlorine, which weakens the fibre while brightening it briefly.
Raw denim is undyed on the reverse and heavily dyed on the face. It will transfer colour, particularly when new and particularly when damp.
Wear it apart from pale pieces for the first few wears, and be careful with light silk and ivory upholstery.
Wash rarely, inside out, cold. Every wash takes indigo with it. Airing between wears does most of the work.
Do not tumble dry. Heat shrinks and hardens the weave.
Technical fabrics protect through their coating and their weave. Both are damaged by heat and by aggressive detergents.
Never iron directly. A hot plate melts or glazes the surface, and the mark is permanent.
No fabric softener, which coats the fibre and reduces water repellency.
Wipe rather than wash where possible. A damp cloth removes most city dirt.
Faux fur is a knitted base with a synthetic pile. The base dislikes heat, and the pile flattens under pressure.
Specialist cleaning only. Mention that the piece is faux fur, the process differs from real fur.
Never iron, never tumble dry. Heat melts the pile and it does not recover.
Shake and brush gently with a wide-tooth comb to reopen the pile after storage or rain.
Give it room in the wardrobe. Compressed against other pieces, the pile takes the shape of its neighbours.
Day to day
Act quickly, and gently. Blot with a clean white cloth, from the outside of the mark towards its centre. Never rub silk, it lifts the weave and leaves a dull halo that no cleaner can remove.
Water is not neutral on silk. A drop of water can leave a ring. If a piece is splashed, dampen a wider area evenly rather than treating the spot alone, and let it dry flat.
Do not use stain remover, bleach or alcohol on silk or wool.
Go to your dry cleaner while the stain is fresh and say what caused it. Wine, oil, make-up and perfume each require a different treatment, and a stain treated blind often sets for good.
Clean before storing. Invisible traces of food, perspiration and perfume attract moths and oxidise into yellow marks over a season.
Breathable covers only. Cotton, never plastic. A plastic cover traps humidity and yellows silk and white cotton.
Wide or padded hangers for jackets, coats and structured pieces. Wire hangers leave points in the shoulders.
Fold knitwear rather than hanging it, so the shoulders do not stretch under the weight.
Away from light. Saturated colours, and reds in particular, fade in a sunlit wardrobe.
Roll rather than fold. Silk creases along a fold and recovers from a curve.
Keep pleats rolled loosely in their own direction, never folded across.
Hang on arrival in a bathroom while you run a hot shower. Ten minutes of steam removes most travel creases without an iron.
Tailoring travels best inside out, with the shoulders supported by softer pieces.
A snag is not a hole. Never cut a pulled thread. Ease it back through to the reverse with a fine needle, and the weave closes again.
Buttons and seams are worth repairing early. A seam caught at the first sign of strain is invisible; the same seam left open changes the line of the piece.
Alterations should be entrusted to someone who has seen the construction. Our pieces are often cut with linings, facings and pleats that a simple hem can disturb.
Write to us if you are unsure. We would rather advise you before an alteration than after.
The care label comes first
This guide covers our materials in general. The label sewn into your piece reflects its exact construction, including linings and details, and takes precedence over anything written here.