Hauts-de-France: from thread by needle, the textile industry is redrawing

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– Hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry – Hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new

This morning in May, in a making workshop in Saint-André-lez-Lille, in the Hauts-de-France, around fifty workers handle sewing machines, overjection and stingy, in a studious working atmosphere. Moreover, One assembles the two pieces of a white cotton tank top. Moreover, while another coud the hem of a green pants in Tencel. In addition, All make mesh clothes from the Lemahieu brand. Nevertheless,

The French company. Furthermore. Similarly, founded in 1947 by Henri Lemahieu, ensures their making on site and much more: it makes each stage of the textile production chain locally, from the design of the models to shipping, including knitting, cut and embroidery. Furthermore, A know-how hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new which has been transmitted from generation to generation for 80 years. Therefore, and which has earned it the “Living Heritage Company” label. Moreover, “” With us. Similarly. In addition, hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry a t-shirt is 19 minutes of production time on French soil, which creates economic wealth on the territory, and limits our carbon footprint. It is also a room whose raw materials – especially linen. Furthermore. In addition, organic or recycled cotton – are less impactful vegetable fibers at the environmental level, and whose production mobilizes farmers, spinners and local dyers. Consequently, So that our t-shirt emits 2 to 3 times less co₂ than a similar product imported. In this model. Consequently. Nevertheless, everything is beneficial, at the economic, social, and environmental levels “, Presents Martin Breuvart, partner and director of development of the company who now employs nearly 130 people.

In 2024, she was a laureate of the circular fashion trophies as a linen t-shirts guaranteed for 5 years. Moreover, A fiber of which France is the world’s leading producer. Therefore, but whose overwhelming majority is exported to China, then sold once made on European soil. Furthermore, “” Admittedly, our linen t-shirt is sold for € 65, but linen fiber costs 10 times more than cotton. Similarly, We do not work on children. However. In addition, nor any other employee in deplorable social conditions, we comply with strict health standards to avoid adding to our clothes of toxic to health, we work all the actors of the textile production chain in France, and we incit our customers to consume-and therefore to spend-less thanks to the repairability of our linen hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new t-shirts during the five years after their purchase. Moreover. Furthermore, We are also trying to hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry extend it to all of our products », Adds the manager 100 % made in France.

Hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new

Hauts-de-france: thread needle. Moreover. textile industry

Face the giants of the fast fashion

In this former bastion of the textile industry in France, the Lemahieu company surprises with its longevity. In the early 1990s. the textile sector, hitherto flourishing in the country, experienced a powerful and irremediable decline, with the massive relocation of production. Today, 97 % of the textiles consumed in France is imported. The Chinese mastodon Shein is the fashion brand for which the French spent the most last year. The brand is betting on an offensive model based on broken prices. an unusual offer, with more than 470,000 models available, and 1,000 to 2,000 new references hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new offered each day. These figures are symptomatic of textile overconsumption at work in the world, including in France. About 7 million new clothes are. in hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry fact, bought every day in France¹ in total contradiction with our climatic objectives. Not to mention that the environmental regulations that govern their manufacture in the southern countries are less strict than. in Europe. which amplifies their carbon footprint. Consequently. the European consumption of textiles represents the 4^e source of impact on the environment. climate change of the European Union, after food, housing and transport². In economic terms. since the 2000s. the French textile manufacturing industry has lost two thirds of its workforce, and more than half of its production.

A new generation of textile engineers

Faced with this massacre. new entrepreneurial adventures are developing. in Hauts-de-France, alongside surviving companies, determined to produce in an ethical and responsible manner hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new with the support of committed territory actors. “” The region has three major assets: bold entrepreneurs. a workforce with a high level of technical know-how. the presence of hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry all links in the textile production chain. But the sector is full of SMEs which do not have much cash. The role of the region is to create an environment favorable to their development and their survival. If one of them needs a machine to robot your process, you help it. We also accompany them to make their ecological revolution, in a logic of decarbonation. All, thanks to European funds, and using the State via Bpifrance and Ademe. It is the conjunction of all supports that produces effects “. Details Frédéric Motte, regional advisor delegated to the transformation of the regional economy.

Upstream. a large school forms a new generation of textile engineers. capable of meeting the hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new challenges of today and tomorrow, the ENSAU (National School of Arts and Textile Industries). Located in Roubaix. it specializes in the fields of textiles. advanced materials and industrial innovation, alone trains more than hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry 70 % of French textile engineers, and actively participates in the renewal of made in France. « Of our 130 graduates. five years ago. only one to two worked at the end of the school in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. Today, they are between ten and fifteen. In 2010. we named a “sustainable development” referent person within the school, and educational activities around the life cycle of textiles developed. Students are increasingly requesting. Some even come to our school. attracted by the research potential. the concrete applications offered by textiles in terms of ecological issues, even if they do not constitute the majority of our students “Explains Éric Devaux, director hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new of the school.

A few hundred meters away. three textile engineers graduated from the ENSAUT. Alexandre Bianchi, Victor Legrain and Sacha Motta, created a workshop-bar where customers attend the manufacture of their sweater (60 minutes) or their hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry socks (15 minutes), in a coffee atmosphere. Created in 2021, the three knitters offer there, and on its website, articles to the order, customizable. “” For us, any act of purchase is reflected. We are against ultra-fast delivery.. production on demand avoids waste and inventory management fees “Explains Julie Guillerm, communications manager in the company at twenty employees.

We are against ultra-fast delivery, and production on demand avoids mess.

Julie Guillerm, Responsible for communication The three knitters

Clothes hauts-de-france: thread needle. textile industry are made by automated machines that use 3D integral knitting technology, which limits raw material falls. An example which means that the relocation of textile production is possible. “” And it works! Our double turnover each year since 2023 “, Specifies the young woman, enthusiastic about working in an innovative and local company. “” France also has a card to play on technical textiles. intended for the medical sector. the industry, with more added value », Specifies Frédéric Motte, an elected representative of a region in full renewal

François Humbert, Circular economy engineer in hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry Ademe

Hauts-de-France are among the first three textile regions of France. Here. companies have actively engaged in a circular “fashion” dynamic. through cooperation between actors in the region: network heads, public, economic, academic actors and research world. The region. ADEME support the structuring and animation of the sector through eco -design, reuse, recycling, research and innovation projects. It is in this context that ADEME supports the European Metropolis of Lille. the European Trophies of Circular Fashion since 2020, which generate a strong enthusiasm with more than 200 applications received at each edition. The three knitters are one of the first to have obtained a trophy. due to the innovative nature of their sales model. Lemahieu was awarded in 2024 for the exemplary dimension of his approach. hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry new The next trophies will take place in 2026.. the regional dynamics continue with a “Circular Fashion Week”, Planned in Lille in hauts-de-france: thread needle, textile industry December 2025, also associating the technical textile industry which represents almost 75 % of the activity of the textile sector in Hauts-de-France.

¹ Source: estimate according to the barometer Refashion on sales 2022.
² Source : EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles.