In October 2011, François Lesage gave us a wonderful interview at his home in Chatou, before the stars he embroidered so much decided one morning to take him away from us... In it, he said: "Embroidery is life, it's a craft, a passion, a therapy." Cleverly, he added: "It's the second oldest craft in the world ... originally there was scarification and painting. Then embroidery was born, more sophisticated, like a reflection of the sun. After Persia, then Egypt, Greece and Rome, embroidery arrived in Europe and continued northwards, losing its lustre". François fascinated me with his youthful spirit, whose curiosity and creativity he sharpened at all hours of the day and sometimes night.
Since 1950, he has embodied the finest lineage of a House whose history began in 1858.
I also remember my close friend, the intrepid captain who organized our fishing aperitifs in Corsica with his family. He was an inventive and sometimes dangerous cook. To flambé and tenderize chicken, he invented a method: injecting whisky with a syringe into the chicken's thighs. He admitted to me many years later that he had been amused by my astonishment at such an original culinary practice. François Lesage was an embroidery maestro, a cherisher of traditional craftsmanship, a passion we shared.
