Velours de Lyon, a company that works to “manufacture softness”
“Few people know it, but the silk thread is very rough by nature: the material has to pass through here to reveal itself! », confides Jean-François Renaud, director of Velours de Lyon, whom he considers a “factory of sweetness”. Established on two sites, between Décines-Charpieu (Rhône) and Saint-Just-en-Chevalet (Loire), the company receives, every day, hundreds of meters of yarn – silk, viscose or even Lurex – that about fifty employees work to weave, dye and finish to create velvet, in all its forms.
The company produces 80,000 meters of fabric each year which are used to cover the seats of major theaters and fashion houses such as Gucci, Lanvin or Armani, whose creations are proudly displayed in the four rooms of the Décines-Charpieu factory. .
A subject always coveted
As in the time of the canuts, in the 19the century, daily life there is punctuated by the banging of looms, the pace of which does not slow down in this month of December 2022. At the time of the pandemic, the company experienced a period of crisis, with 80% of turnover less business. She came close to filing for bankruptcy. But, since then, the orders have gone back “more beautiful”so much so that it has to impose very long deadlines on its customers…
The turnover is around 5 million euros for 2022. It comes for 90% from luxury ready-to-wear and haute couture, the remaining 10% coming from furniture. One might think that velvet is out of fashion. “He has in fact never ceased to be sought”, assures the leader. For its noble reputation, its dazzling appearance, but above all for its unique feel. “It’s the only 3D fabric: you notice it right away in the middle of a collection! »
Local production as an asset
The production is sold between 70 and 200 € per linear meter for clothing and 30 €, on average, for the rest. The high price is justified by a manufacturing process “complex and delicate”. Everything is done on site: once woven and shaved, the pieces of fabric are passed through the hands of the dyers, before being subjected to the reams of primer, which work the hair. For Clémence, in charge of the test laboratory, mastering the different production phases is ” a chance “ : guarantee of quality, it also allows a great reactivity.
The story of Velours de Lyon began during the Great War, when François Renaud, the grandfather, made friends in the trenches with an agent working in ready-to-wear. The two friends created the company together. It took shape gradually, through takeovers and moves. At the time of globalization, in the 1990s, the market became more difficult: suppliers fled, manufacturers disappeared. Velours de Lyon has found a way to resist by focusing on the high end.
The threat of labor shortage
Today, the company led by the three Renaud brothers – Gilles in sales management and Patrick in finishing, and Jean-François as managing director – continues to develop new skills: in the small workshop next to the weaving, “We even started making the wooden spools needed to prepare the thread! », we slip. But to respond to increasingly precise requests – a more or less straight hair, a color never before requested, a “crunchy” we “crumple” –, the company must equip itself with a workforce with specific know-how that it struggles to find, even upon leaving fashion schools.
Habiba, who has been hand-painting fabric details since 1997, says it with a hint of trepidation: “Those who work here entered the profession a long time ago or came to be trained on the job! » To cope with the “rush” of the moment, it is Maryline, a former retired employee, who joined her. For Jean-François Renaud, the destiny of the company, “that none of the children are preparing to resume”he says, is becoming a topic of prime importance.
A future marked by diversification
In the near future, however, nothing prevents the number one national velvet, which is not afraid of competition, to diversify. The Décines-Charpieu factory has just welcomed two impressive “Jacquard 2.0” looms which allow the company’s know-how to be pushed even further, and to open up to a whole new market: that of fabric techniques. .
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A fabric from India
Velvet appeared in the Middle Ages in India, in the Kashmir region. It arrives in Europe thanks to Italian merchants. It is then considered a precious fabric reserved for the nobility.
Velvet production developed in the Lyon region from the 17th century, in particular thanks to the invention of a dedicated loom. This was then perfected in 1801 by Joseph Marie Jacquard, inventor from Lyon of the famous loom that bears his name.
Velvet can be produced from different fibers which vary its price: cotton, polyester, viscose, silk.