4 days
A luxurious long weekend of couture heritage, creative discovery, and French cultural elegance
Step into the heart of French craftsmanship with this exclusive three-night experience in Paris, designed for lovers of textiles, design, and artistic heritage. The Paris Textile Tour & Versailles Experience invites you to explore the finest fabric traditions and royal splendour the city has to offer—all thoughtfully curated to inspire, delight, and immerse you in the world of French creativity.
Your journey begins with a warm Parisian welcome and a magical evening aboard a Seine river dinner cruise—an elegant introduction to the City of Light. The next day, you’ll join textile specialist Rebecca Devaney, founder of Textile Tours of Paris, for a guided visit to some of the city’s most iconic haberdasheries. Enjoy rare behind-the-scenes access to the legendary Au Ver à Soie and discover hidden gems beloved by couturiers and artisans alike.
On day three, you’ll experience the grandeur of Versailles with a self-guided palace visit followed by a private talk at Maison Sajou, an iconic French brand dedicated to preserving traditional needlework tools and materials. Throughout the tour, you'll enjoy free time to explore at your own pace, shop for unique finds, and soak up the creative spirit of the city.
Rebecca Devaney
Rebecca Devaney is a textile artist, researcher, and teacher with a BA in Art and Design Education (2006) and an MFA in Textile Art and Artefact (2015) from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She received the prestigious Thomas Dammann Junior Memorial Trust Award (2015), to research hand embroidery in Mexico and the resulting exhibition, Bordados: Embroidered Textiles From Mexico, a collection of photographs, interviews, and textiles, has been presented internationally.
Rebecca’s Art practice is inspired by poetry and she explores women’s experience of the social constructs of beauty and femininity through embroidered and embellished textile sculptures. Her artwork has been exhibited in Ireland, France and the United States and she has completed artist residencies in India (2017), the United Arab Emirates (2017) and France (2020).
In 2018, following her graduation from the prestigious École Lesage, Paris, Rebecca worked as a professional haute couture embroiderer for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Dior, Valentino, Givenchy, and Louis Vuitton. Her research into the origins, history, and heritage of haute couture embroidery has been published in Surface Design Journal, Selvedge Magazine, The Stitcher's Journal, The Maker's Atelier and books including Embellishment and RÉBÉ and has featured in several episodes of the Haptic & Hue Tales of Textiles as well as the Dressed podcast series.
In 2019 Rebecca established Textile Tours of Paris to share her love of the rich heritage of craft, textiles and fashion woven into the fabric of Paris. She organises guided walking tours of the haberdasheries in Le Sentier, the historic centre of luxury fashion in Paris and also to the vintage textile specialists in the oldest flea market in Paris. Since 2020, Rebecca teaches online courses in embroidery and the history of luxury French textiles. Samplers of Seduction was launched in 2022, a collection of beautiful embroidery kits inspired by 18th century patterns and designs hidden in the libraries and museums of Paris. In 2023, Rebecca and Jo Andrews began publishing Textile Travels, a series of guides for the intrepid textile traveller that include Paris, London, Dublin, Lyon, with more to come. Rebecca will launch her first television series on the Joie de Vivre streaming network in 2024.