OIDFA HISTORY

A first meeting of lace lovers was held in Bruges, Belgium in September, 1981. In early 1982, the French lace centre of Le Puy-en-Velay proposed an international lace meeting and a work group was formed to study the possibility of an international lace organisation. The initiative taken in Bruges became a reality in Le Puy-en-Velay.

A draft constitution was drawn up and studied by twenty-four representatives from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The precise text of the constitution of the "Organisation International de la Dentelle au Fuseau et à l’Aiguille " OIDFA was signed by the participants of the work group. On that occasion, the founding members chose an Executive Committee which was asked to lead the organisation until the election of a Council.

In the following months, news of the establishment of OIDFA was published in all important lace magazines. The first OIDFA Bulletin appeared in 1983. The first General Assembly was held in Bruges in September, 1984, when over 600 participants chose a Council representing fourteen countries from all over the world. The General Assembly ratified the Constitution and from the council members an Executive Committee was formed. The first president was Sally Johanson from Sweden who served until her untimely death at the end of 1984. Today, OIDFA has over 2100 members from 33 countries all over the world.