The image of Epinal that comes to mind when we mention the French textile industry varies depending on the generation. For our parents or grandparents, these are the workshops of the North, the East, the Basque Country, or even Lyon.
More recently, Made in France has established itself as an essential trend, between awareness for the preservation and promotion of our know-how, a growing ecological awareness pushing to shorten consumption circuits, and pure and simple fashion effect. , a small victory for local chauvinism, with little labels in the colors of the tricolor flag, growing on our clothes like poppies.
But what is it really?
To do this, we went to meet Catherine Dauriac and Thomas Ebélé.
Catherine Daurias is a climate activist. She is today an independent journalist and president of Fashion Revolution France.
A whistleblower, Catherine wants positive but radical change in the fashion industry. For this, she notably wrote a book entitled "Fashion, fake or not", which deciphers the fashion sector, and more particularly fast fashion, raw materials, working conditions...
Thomas Ebélé is convinced that we must act to preserve the environment and ensure the rights of textile employees.
He joined forces with Eloïse to launch SloWeAre in 2016. He wants to demonstrate that we can have a double positive impact on sincerely committed brands and on consumers by ensuring ethics, transparency and quality in the value chain .
THE STATE OF THE FRENCH MARKET
The French textile industry is experiencing the inexorable decline that characterizes all developed post-industrial countries. From 1995 to 2015, according to INSEE, it lost two thirds of its workers and more than half of its production. According to Thomas Ebélé: “only 5% of the textiles marketed on French territory are produced on our soil”.
Source: INSEE, national accounts
Catherine Dauriac explains this deindustrialization to us: "I think there are two main elements which explain the decline of our industry. First of all, in the 1970s, France's policy was to relocate textile factories , to replace these professions by service professions Subsequently, this time in the 90s, we witnessed a new economic system: fast fashion.
A backpedal of this policy seems difficult: " we decided to send machines to Eastern Europe and even to Asia , with the objective, obviously, of producing for less money", specifies Thomas Ebélé. The main consequence of this action is the loss of know-how. Moreover, the founder of the SloWeAre label continues by indicating "that the relocation of linen production is complicated, since it is necessary to repatriate the machines from Poland and rehabilitate the know-how".
Thomas Huriez, founder of the 1083 brand, is himself confronted with the reality of the market. Specializing in the manufacture of denim, the brand unfortunately cannot rely on French know-how, because for several years, this has no longer been exploited. He was therefore forced to rely on the know-how of foreigners, such as Iranians or Libyans, in order to ensure the quality of his jeans production.
And to better understand this increase in the relocation phenomenon, we must go back to 2005. January 1 marked the end
We can then speak of a snowball effect, a succession of events which have the consequence of having a strong impact on the French market. And for Catherine Dauriac, on this ground, the French authorities "show total indifference, that is to say me first and after me the flood".
A quick aside to tell you that we did a topic on what BonneGueule does in terms of ethics and the environment, which you can find right here.
This specialization in luxury and technical textiles shows the abandonment of mass textiles, with French production costs being incapable of competing with the textile locomotives of China, India, Bangladesh or Eastern Europe. East, regions that we will discuss below.
Credit: Gettyimages
WAGES OF A TEXTILE WORKER
In France, according to
For the president of Fashion Revolution France, "we must be careful with the interpretation of this salary. Is it a living wage? The answer in general is no, since we must take into reality the personal situation of the worker . Is he an owner or a tenant? Does he have children?
For comparison, the average salary of a French textile worker is almost five times higher than the salary of Romanian textile workers (€380 according to LPG Romania in 2019) or 22 times higher than that of a Bangladeshi worker.
Catherine Dauriac tempers: "Everything is obviously not to be thrown away in terms of salaries in France, our situation is not to be pitied vis-à-vis other countries." “France offers one of the best standards of living in the world”, she adds, “but it would be a question of bringing nuance, we must continue to increase these salaries” .
In addition to a salary increase, working conditions should be reviewed for certain companies: "we must not lie to ourselves, the Sentier district in Paris, there are still some cellars and attics which are not clean, even if a a large part has disappeared” confides Thomas Ebélé.
THE PENSION SYSTEM
On the Labor Law side, the pay-as-you-go pension system; based on intergenerational solidarity between all active workers; guarantees an income averaging €1,338 net in 2020 according to INSEE, for a legal starting age of 62.
Source: Drees, EACR, EIR, ANCETRE model; Insee, 2017 demographic report.
In addition, social security guarantees compensation in the event of an accident at work as well as recurring checks of working conditions by the Labor Inspectorate.
On this point, “France has more protective social laws than other countries, particularly European ones.” explains Catherine Dauriac. And remember that it is difficult to compare countries, “since they each have their own system”.
Despite the long decline of the industry, France and its textile companies seem to provide, for the most part, a salary, social protection, and a pension, above the international average. These working conditions therefore partially reflect the price of Made In France clothing.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS MADE IN FRANCE?
According to the Ministry of the Economy, in order to be able to stamp the words "Made in France" or "Fabriqué in France" on a product, at least 45% of its added value must have been produced on national soil or have undergone France its last “substantial transformation”.
This “substantial transformation” means that the product is no longer the same as before this step. In the textile industry, the benchmark stage is that of manufacturing, which must have been entirely or largely carried out in France.
Reading this, you must ask yourself, just like us during our research: " why 45 and not 50%? And how can we check if the garment complies with this standard?
For “substantial transformation” it is quantifiable, because the customs code changes depending on the manufacturing stages. For the 45%... nothing at all. We found no explanation regarding the reason for this percentage , nor how this measure was applied.
Let's reason through the absurd, and follow us for a moment for this example: let's say we have a shirt produced for €1 in India. Without buttons.
We bring it back to France and I pay €9 to put on buttons with a hand finish. In which case, "technically", 90% of the added value of our shirt would therefore be French...? This is, once again, an absurd example (and the fictitious figures), but if we stick to the strict reading of the law, it is Made in France!
For our specialist, Thomas Ebélé, this theory is "an urban legend" since in fact, "Made in France products must make an IMF (Information on Made in France) request, in order to obtain the famous marking."
However, it is not uncommon for products to slip through the cracks: "verification of compliance with standards is carried out by customs, except that, unfortunately, the controls are insufficient, only one cargo in a million is subject to to controls" specifies the founder of the SloWeAre label.
To find out more about Made in France, we went to meet several entrepreneurs who give their opinions on the subject.
In short, to summarize, Made in France seems vague both in its definition and its supervision. However, some labels fill this legal gap by giving you stricter guarantees, such as Protected Geographical Indications or IGP, Geographical Indications, or GI, and the “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” Label, or EPV . But be careful, as Catherine Dauriac says: “to obtain certification for a label, you have to pay, and therefore not all companies are able to buy them”. Moreover, we are also preparing a guide on these labels.
Logo of the Protected Geographical Indications label.
Be careful, however , because some brands will try to pass themselves off as Made In France, when their products do not meet the required criteria, however vague they may be. Here are the two slightly ambivalent labels, not to be confused with the real certification:
“Designed in France” . The product was imagined, designed and designed in France. It was not made in France. As with Apple and its products, you will see "Designed in California", but their products are indeed made in China.
“Packaged in France” concerns the packaging of finished products manufactured abroad.
If such practices exist, it is because the idea of buying French products is attractive, as much for foreign customers as for our own citizens. For quality Made in France brands, David had written an article on the subject.
However, even though 58% of French people say they place “Made In France” as one of
So, what has changed among the French? Would they have reduced their clothing consumption? No: a French person buys on average 60% more clothes than 15 years ago , despite the decline in “Made in France” consumption.
Credit: Gettyimages
Each year, 624,000 tonnes of TLC (clothing textiles, household linens, shoes) are placed on the market in France. That's around 2.4 billion coins.
“Yes, but what about these clothes? People may simply have more of them, that doesn’t necessarily create more waste, right?”, one might naively ask. The reality is that we buy 60% more clothes, but we keep them for half as long.
We are therefore increasing our volume AND our rate of consumption. Since 2018, around 239,000 tonnes of TLC waste have been collected each year in France, or around 3.2kg per person. Not only is it 1/3 of what is put on the market each year, but it is 119,000 tonnes more than in 2009, almost twice as much.
And we don't count those who are simply thrown away with household waste or abandoned +, who end up in landfill or incinerated. It is also the tragic end of life of 2/3 of all clothes purchased in France each year.
So not only do we consume 60% more than 15 years ago, but we throw away twice as much.
For those that are not thrown away however, what happens to these collected textiles?
TEXTILE WASTE MANAGEMENT
Of the 239,000 tonnes collected, 187,000 tonnes are sorted in special sorting centers, in partnership with
Of these 187,000 tonnes:
- 58.6% was reused
- 32.6% were recycled
- 8.4% were used for energy (burning them to produce electricity and/or heat)
- 0.4% were eliminated.
Photo taken at Le Relais in Chanteloup-les-Vignes.
“France is one of the countries that is most interested in the management of textile waste, but there is still a lot of progress to be made at this level.” believes the independent journalist.
As we have explained, we consume more, and two thirds of the clothes purchased still end up in landfills or incinerated, while being worn for half as long. According to the NGO WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Program), wearing an item of clothing for just nine more months would reduce its environmental impact by between 20 and 30%.
To understand the phenomenon of our waste management, we went to the Le Relais site in Chanteloup-les-Vignes in Yvelines.
Specializing in the recycling of textiles, the company collects used clothing from the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Val d'Oise and Yvelines. Last year, the center collected 6,200 tonnes of clothing, the equivalent of 5,166 Smart, of which 4,900
According to Thibault, communications agent at Le Relais, "the recycling and second-hand market will be the cornerstone of the textile industry of tomorrow."
To be able to increase its capacities, the center is planning an expansion to achieve the objective of collecting and sorting 8,000 tonnes of clothing per year by 2023.
To find out more on the subject of recycling, we already have a complete file on the subject.
Since January 2022, an anti-waste law has come into force in France. Companies will be prohibited from destroying unsold textiles. Unfortunately, as our expert explains, "the laws are not binding, therefore, companies will be able to move unsold goods to other countries that have not adopted this law to burn them, such as in China for example."
And what is the situation in China ? What are the working conditions of a worker? Is consuming Chinese necessarily harmful to the planet?
