After remaining for some time at the Palazzo Labia, the Luigi Bevilacqua Fabric House  moved into the current building in the Santa Croce district of Venice, where the old looms have finally found a home. The Venetian premises now host part of the production facilities with 25 hand-operated antique and still working looms as well as the warehouse and showroom. The company which is completely owned by the Bevilacqua family enjoys access and inspiration from a vast archive of original patterns, experience and knowledge to offer curtain, wallcovering and upholstery fabrics with an unsurpassed exclusivity. The Luigi Bevilacqua fabrics are still handwoven on the original looms of the 18th-19th century. The whole process is manual which results in true works of art in refined, truly luxurious, exceptional fabrics for interior decoration: upholstery, curtains, wallcoverings.

One of Bevilacqua’s specialities and exceptional craftsmanship is the soprarizzo velvet which is the most complex of the textured velvets as it is made up of the cut velvet at the top that defines the design and the curly velvet at the bottom that forms the velvet background. Every millimeter of the first level is cut by hand by the weavers. This precious woven fabric has a long process, given that the preparation of the looms alone can take months and when they are finally set up, the weavers produce about thirty centimeters of fabric a day. Every millimeter of fabric must be cut manually and the weaver must remove and thread by hand the bars that create the cut velvet and the curly one, the former have a square section and the latter round. The bars of the second type are only removed by the weaver and create the curly or uncut velvet. The former have a groove in the center, in which the weaver inserts a blade to cut the pile warp and thus produce the cut velvet. The result of this slow and precise work is a unique fabric, with a soft and iridescent pile since this process allows the light to reflect on the two types of velvet in a different way, creating extraordinary chromatic effects of chiaroscuro and depth: cut velvet appears darker, while the curly one appears lighter.