Départemental Textile Museum of Occitannia

Labastide-Rouairoux is one of the country towns historically important for woollen textiles in Occitannia in southern France. The textile museum of the département is in a nineteenth-century woollen factory. Visitors enter by a footbridge across the River Thoré from a park on Boulevard Carnot. It contains original looms as well as other artefacts brought to the museum. The whole process of woollen manufacture can be understood, from the preparation of raw wool through dyeing to weaving and finishing. Staff demonstrate techniques on working machinery and visitors handle samples of wool of different types and at different stages. Exhibitions include photographs, graphics and film to show the marketing and final use of textiles and the society associated with the industry. The displays consider the latest developments and the future of textiles and include the science of quality control for yarn, colour and finish. Leading French couturiers such as Chanel and Dior ordered cloth from Labastide-Rouairoux and examples of their clothes are on display. There are also temporary exhibitions.