Where does Cloqué come from?

Cloqué comes from France, first documented in the 1900s.

Plate No. 147fabric

A finer, blistered relief raised by differential shrinkage.

First documented: 1900s
Origin: France, France
Fiber: silk, cotton
Weave: compound weave with a blistered surface
Family: pile

Plate No. 147 · fabric

Cloqué

Cloqué is a close cousin of matelassé: a compound fabric whose surface puckers into small irregular blisters, raised by weaving together yarns or layers that shrink at different rates so one buckles against the other. Where matelassé reads as a regular quilt, cloqué reads as a finer, more random blister, and a true cloqué's relief is often set by the differential shrinkage of the yarns rather than by binding points alone. It gives eveningwear and upholstery a lively, dimensional, almost embossed surface.

Illustration: a French silk weaving workshop in the early 1900s, a length of pale blistered silk catching raking light on the loom beam, spools and a jacquard head above, a weaver seen from behind — A French silk weaving workshop in the early 1900s, a length of pale blistered silk catching raking light on the loom beam, spools and a jacquard head above, a weaver seen from behind.

Named for

From the French cloqué, blistered, from cloque, a blister.

Also known as

blister cloth

Common questions

What is Cloqué made of?: Cloqué is a close cousin of matelassé: a compound fabric whose surface puckers into small irregular blisters, raised by weaving together yarns or layers that shrink at different rates so one buckles against the other. It is traditionally made of silk or cotton.
Where does Cloqué come from?: Cloqué comes from France, first documented in the 1900s.
What is Cloqué named after?: From the French cloqué, blistered, from cloque, a blister.