The French sock cheers itself up

There were five hundred of them in France fifty years ago. One hundred thirty years ago. They can now be counted on the fingers of one hand, but they are not giving up. Tricotage des Vosges, the largest of them, has been manufacturing Bleu Forêt socks in Vagney since 1994. With a turnover of 15 million euros, the family business of Jacques Marie and his son, Vincent, is growing in exports and diversifying into fine tights. It is concentrating on its own brands. But it is the only one in this case. The others are opening their factories to an increasing number of brands, high-end, accessible or technical, the only viable niches in a French market where 95% of socks sold are imported.

The industrialist Perrin, a hosier in Montceau-les-Mines, in Burgundy, since 1924, labeled Entreprise du patrimoine Vivant (EPV), has thus developed his own brands: Perrin 1924 , Dagobert à l'envers , la Chaussette française . He produces as a subcontractor and thus reaches 4500 pairs per day. He has the capacity to climb to 6000. Perrin thus works for Dior, Saint Laurent, Rykiel or Jacadi, as well as the new supporters of a "made in France" brought up to date like le Slip Français or Berthe aux Grands Pieds , a brand that Régis Gautreau launched in 1999. At the beginning, he sold it on the markets.

When the Vendée company that made it disappeared, he called on Perrin. A win-win bet.

Berthe aux Grands Pieds represents 40% of Perrin's turnover.

Régis Gautreau has even become a shareholder in the industrialist, participating in a smooth business transfer. The descendants of Perrin's founders, Martine Couturier and her husband, remain in the company but are preparing to sell their shares. At Perrin for several years, Damien Schneider, CEO, will become CEO by July and will increase the capital to 65%, Régis Gautreau will own 10% and Constance Nicaise, with 25% will be CEO after having piloted the network.

Ensuring the succession

Perrin's turnover, which had fallen to 7 million, rebounded by 6% in 2017 and is expected to increase by 10% this year. Still present in 1,500 points of sale, the company is launching e-commerce sites for its brands. With Berthe aux Grands Pieds , the company has also deployed around ten boutiques under the La Manufacture brand. The challenge for Perrin or brands like Le Slip français is to recruit and train technicians to operate increasingly sophisticated machines. Seventy-five people currently work in production at Perrin. Five are in training. As many will follow, "Beyond Perrin, Berthe aux Grands Pieds designs other products and thus ensures the maintenance of 250 people in production, in various sock, slipper, umbrella and sweater factories," explains Régis Gautreau.

Near Limoges, in Haute-Vienne, since 1938, it is Broussaud who has been solicited, like his competitor Perrin, by Le Slip français, Archiduchesse, Royalties or newcomers like Label Chaussette. The Belgian singer Stromae also has the socks for his fashion brand Mosaert made there. Enough to increase the visibility of a know-how passed down for three generations in the Broussaud family.

Broussaud's hundred machines knit from Monday to Saturday, day and night, to produce a million pairs each year. Turnover increased from 1.9 million in 2011 to 5.5 million in 2017, for a profit of 100,000 euros. Production is now 60% carried out in France. The company had relocated for a time to resist the flood of cheap Asian products with the end of quotas in the early 2000s.

The SME has come a long way. Before Aymeric Broussaud, the founders' grandson, and his wife recently took control of it, it would have disappeared without the support of Alain Bérest and his investment fund Patrium. The latter focuses on investing in regional companies. In 2006, Aymeric Broussaud's father was unable to prevent the compulsory liquidation of his company. Thanks to Patrium, a few months later, the machines were able to be taken back and 40 employees were rehired. "We went through very difficult times... Today, we have so many orders that we have to rehire, but we receive few applications," regrets Aymeric Broussaud. In five years, I have recruited around thirty young people in turn, while only one remains in their position."

The neighboring Périgord attracts many English people, some of whom work at Broussaud. As well as a Senegalese migrant he met through an association that helped him regularize his situation.

Original patterns

Not all of these manufacturers and brands are diehards of " made in France ". Pragmatic, Bonne Maison, with its 36 models per season, with original patterns, is moving forward on two feet: France and Portugal. "What appeals is the mix of quality and creativity in our products," explains Jean-Gabriel Huez, who launched the brand in 2012 with a designer, Béatrice de Crécy. They had worked together when he was marketing director, from 1985 to 2000, of Doré Doré, which then came under the Italian flag. "The fact that everything is not produced in France, but also elsewhere in Europe, is not a problem," he believes. Bonne Maison generated more than a million euros in turnover in 2017, of which more than 80% was exported.

An expert in socks for sportsmen, but also present on more urban lines, Tismail, based in Troyes, straddles France and Turkey. It reserves technical and high-end products for France, and mass distribution orders for Turkey. It was by joining forces, eight years ago, with the son of the founder of this company, Alain Laumone, that Benoît Seguin, a graduate of ESC Amiens, developed a passion for a profession in peril. Tismail has equipped itself with modern machines, capable of producing socks with fine loops, a promise of comfort and hygiene, and without reducing the share of natural materials. Tismail distributes its products to 500 retailers in France and 200 in Europe. His French factory runs seven days a week, 24 hours a day. He sold 3 million pairs in 2016 for a turnover of 5.5 million euros and 100,000 euros in profits. He is aiming for a turnover of 6 million this year. "I am proud to remain independent and to have kept around fifty jobs in Troyes," says the manager.

Prudent, he has multiplied the markets in case one slows down: 30% of his activity is based on calls for tenders (military high schools, police, gendarmeries, La Poste). He is thus the leading supplier to the army and to brands such as La Compagnie des Petits, Cyrillus, Arthur, Fusalp, which also opt for his "made in France" label. He already exports to ten European countries, but dreams of launching his premium label, La Chaussette de France, even further afield.