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Calais lace originated in England. In the late 18th century, the country underwent remarkable economic growth, as one technological invention after another saw the light of day. In the field of textiles, the Nottingham region became a major centre for production of machine-made tulle, largely thanks to Lindley, Heathcoat and Leavers, who all had a hand in developing tulle-loom technology.

In the early 19th century, England was therefore the only country capable of producing cotton tulle with a regular hexagonal mesh. This light fabric was the height of fashion in France, but could not be purchased there except as contraband! War between France and England, and above all the years of blockade and prohibition, gradually weakened English industry. Lack of outlets and an overabundance of tulle manufacturers led to an overproduction crisis as early as 1813, when workers formed gangs to break the looms they deemed responsible for their lack of employment – what became known as the Luddite Revolt.

Confronted with such economic and social troubles, and with protectionism rife in the French market (law of April 1816), numbers of tulle manufacturers decided to try their luck on the continent. By leaving England, they also escaped having to pay royalties on techniques patented in England. Their tools of trade were smuggled out to Douai, Lille, Saint Quentin and Rouen, all towns with a long textile tradition. But Calais’ geographical proximity to England also attracted their interest.

In 1816, they began setting up small tulle production workshops in inner city Calais. However, lack of space and noise pollution from night-time work soon forced manufacturers to set up shop in the market-garden suburb of Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais. Adaptation of the Jacquard system to the tulle loom and the arrival of steam power between 1835 and 1840 resulted in machine-made lace production on an industrial scale. In less than fifty years, Saint-Pierre became a prosperous cosmopolitan town, with more inhabitants than Calais itself – to such an extent that the two towns officially merged in 1885.