Alençon lace, or point d’Alençon, is a needle lace from Alençon, France, about 100 miles west of Paris. From the end of the 17th century, it is characterized by predominant floral patterns (often rose), gimp threads added to the ground net for more opacity, and lack of transparency. At the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851, it was named the "Queen of Lace". Most recently, UNESCO recognized the unusual craftsmanship of this lace and added it to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.