Atelier Tuffery, in Florac, and the Ateliers de Nîmes are bringing back to life an old regional tradition, that of denim fabric, which made the famous jean pants famous.
It feels like a return to the past. Exactly in the 16th century, when the history of jeans was born in Nîmes, with denim canvas, made locally. A canvas whose name comes from the city where it is made, Nîmes, and its factory, “Nim”.
At the time, said canvas “was made with twill weaving”, and “composed of wool and silk”, as recalled by Guillaume Sagot, co-founder, in 2014, of the Ateliers de Nîmes. It is thanks to him, as well as Myriam and Julien Tuffery, in Florac, that this old Gard tradition is regaining color.
The letters of nobility of Made in France
Between them, these young entrepreneurs have put the Cévennes back on the jeans map. The first with its Ateliers de Nîmes brand, the second with their Atelier Tuffery brand. Their main motivation is the desire to restore the nobility of Made in France. And the old regional tradition.
“Relaunching the family factory, investing massively in transmission, maintaining its presence in Lozère, producing 100% made in France, selling only directly and above all committing to strong ecological responsibility”: this is the framework of the Tuffery couple’s project, when they decided to relaunch the family factory founded in 1892.
“Redo weaving in Nîmes”
Coming from the communications sector and then living in Paris, Guillaume Sagot decided one day to leave everything behind to return to his land in Gard. “The main objective in creating Ateliers de Nîmes was to redo weaving in Nîmes, reinstall it in twill (diagonal weaving) as was done at the time and bring Nîmes know-how up to date “, he confides.
Guillaume Sagot created Les Ateliers de Nîmes a few years ago, taking up, with his jeans, a long Gard history.
Today, the Atelier Tuffery factory imports its canvases mainly from the Vosges, from which all the items in the collection are made. Two and a half years ago, it bought a weaver in Tarn, Tissage d’Autan, which supplies 30% of the fabrics. At Ateliers de Nîmes, whose ambition is to “reestablish denim in Nîmes”, the canvas is manufactured on site. Only assembly is carried out in Portugal.
A success that meets consumer expectations
The result (and success) of this relaunch corresponds to a change in consumer expectations. “People are increasingly concerned about the origin of the product, the transparency and the quality of the pants,” notes Guillaume Sagot.
“The company is an example of resilience in the face of the challenges of the fashion industry and globalization. Thanks to its artisanal know-how, the place of humans in manufacturing, the quality of its stamped products “made in France”, and its attachment to sustainability”, adds Julien Tuffery.
Ateliers de Nîmes present at Printemps and La Samaritaine
Result: the commercial bet lives up to the ambitions. Ateliers de Nîmes has two looms with a production potential of 3,500 pairs of pants.
“We are a company that makes profits, we have amortized our investments.” Sales are carried out via the Nîmes store and a network of around fifteen resellers in France, including the Parisian stores of Printemps and La Samaritaine.
Atelier Tuffery increases its production
It’s a completely different strategy that Myriam and Julien Tuffery decided to practice: direct sales, either in the Florac Lozère store or via their website. “We sell around 41,000 pieces per year, including 30 to 32,000 jeans,” specifies the young entrepreneur.
Production should increase thanks to the new factory, inaugurated in mid-September. It should ultimately reach 110,000 pieces. Always with the same leitmotif: “the hands that make are the hands that sell”.
Atelier de Nîmes returns to wool and silk canvas
If Atelier Tuffery made a (sure) bet on the future, by investing 2.8 million euros to bring the new factory to fruition, Ateliers de Nîmes sees the future with the same prism of optimism .
“We are launching, next November, a new canvas produced with wool and silk,” explains Guillaume Sagot, who is considering a crowdfunding operation to raise the sum necessary for the investment. To do this, he would have to expand his workshop with new surfaces.
The continuity of family history
But more than that, it is a real return to the sources of the know-how of Gard weaving of the time that the latter aims for. “Today, canvas is produced 100% with cotton thread. Here, we return to what was done in the 17th century.”
As for the Tuffery couple, it is the continuity of the family history that takes precedence. “In all humility, what makes us shine today are exactly the same things that made my father and uncles look like outsiders 15 years ago, when the last pairs of hands were making jeans in France” , says Julien. Before adding: “things turn around quickly”.
What is denim canvas?
Why are jeans closely associated with a Gard specialty, more precisely from Nîmes, Denim? If jeans were created between Genoa and Marseille, the word Denim comes from the contraction of “from Nîmes”, which designates a cotton fabric with a twill weave, whose design is oblique and is used for making jeans. Denim in English also means “jeans fabric”.
“The history of jeans was born in the 16th century, in Nîmes, with Denim canvas, which was made locally,” explains Guillaume Sagot, co-founder of Ateliers de Nîmes. A canvas whose name comes from the city where it is made, Nîmes, and its factory, “Nim”. At the time, said canvas “was made with twill weaving”, and “composed of wool and silk”.
The famous blue of denim fabric, called Genoa blue, is originally obtained by two natural plants: indigo or dyers’ pastel (or woad). Nowadays, denim is dyed with multiple colors.
#factories #created #Florac #Nîmes #jeans #return #Languedoc #origins
