Keep your clothes on for this one.…
This yarn about French entrepreneur Thomas Huriez offers material lessons for SMEs that are aiming to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts of their production, by bringing production closer to the consumer. His company, “1083” has sold 50,000 pairs of jeans, created over 250 jobs in France (including 100 direct jobs) and generated €12 million in revenue during 2022. But how has his company made its mark on local employment and the environment?
Fashioning the production of jeans
Thomas started producing jeans on the back of a successful online crowdfunding campaign. He marketed his jeans as ethical products, cultivating the interest of thousands of consumers in environmentally friendly products.
He also promoted the fact that his jeans were produced locally, weaving in better working conditions for his staff. The first production was possible by Thomas establishing a lasting partnership with a Marseille textile factory, where two employees preserved the know-how for making authentic jeans. More recently, he launched a Jean-making School in Romans, Drôme, with the aim of preserving and passing on this know-how in France. He also worked with public entities like the Drôme Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which set him up with a local SME that was manufacturing winter tire studs. Together, they managed to adapt this expertise in stud making to create metal buttons for jeans, a craft that had been discontinued in France fifteen years before.
The factory as a place of production and emotion
With shorter supply chains than many competitors, Thomas was able to cut out the middleman between the manufacturing plant and the consumer. This not only freed up funds to ensure product quality while keeping prices affordable, but also strengthened the bond between consumers and producers. Tours of his workshop and factory further solidified this relationship and boosted employees’ pride in their work.
When an industry and its workers meet the culture of a territory and a tradition is revived, it becomes easier to become a full part of the community. In the Vosges department, the textile industry employed about 30,000 people in the 1970s and Thomas understandably got a good welcome when started his sewing workshop in 2022.
©️ Thomas Huriez
“Made in France” doesn’t mean single site
Thomas and his company have leveraged the assets of various French territories. His headquarters is in Romans-sur-Isère in Drôme, along with the Jeans School, launched in partnership with local employment agencies Pôle emploi and OPCALIA. Their two sewing sites are in Romans and Rupt sur Moselle in the Vosges with partners in Bobigny, Marseille, Paulhac and Montceau les Mines. His stores – which complement online selling – are located in Lyon, Nantes, Grenoble, and Paris and in Romans. By adopting this decentralised approach, 1083 boosts employment, enhances skills, and fosters economic growth throughout France, in particular in areas affected by deindustrialisation. This strategy positions the company as a national brand, with positive global and local impacts.
Sewing in public procurement to reduce France’s carbon footprint
Currently, only 0.1% of jeans sold in France are made in the country and more broadly, only 3% of clothing purchased in France is manufactured domestically. Public procurement can support and grow the industry. An experiment with school uniforms will take place in about a hundred schools, for 20 to 25,000 students. Thomas quickly leveraged his good relationships with fellow French textile companies to jointly create a durable and repairable made-in-France school uniform line, available for order by local authorities.
The fabric of the “perma-industry”
Thomas, along with fellow industrialists has created the concept of “perma-industry,” an approach to production that supports humanity and nature.. It’s a pragmatic approach that blends positive social and environmental impacts with economic objectives. To ensure that industrial activities align with the surrounding local ecosystems, the “perma-industry “concept promotes six principles: (i) initiating creation and production, (ii) fostering interconnection with others, (iii) adapting to local characteristics, (iv) embracing circularity, (v) cultivating diversity within value chains, and (vi) practicing sobriety. By adhering to these principles, industrial SMEs and the policymakers supporting them can establish a production model that is less carbon-intensive, more localised, more human-centric, and ultimately more resilient. This approach could underpin a new, more positive vision for the industry.
Read more: manifeste de la permaindustrie
