Jules, Pimkie, Bizzbee the Mulliez group will soon produce their own jeans in the North

It is a drop of water which is destined to become a great river. In France, in 2019, 53 million jeans were sold, on the men's and women's market.

In Neuville-en-Ferrain, in a factory that will be in service by the end of the year, FashionCube plans to manufacture 410,000 each year. It's not much, of course: 0.8% of what is consumed in the country and 6% of what the brands that make up this “ecosystem” sell (Jules, Pimkie, Grain de Malice, RougeGorge, Orsay, Bizzbee).

But this larger wave that this "Denim Center" must feed is that of the reindustrialization of textiles. "It is a demonstrator of the fact that we can manufacture in France a product that the general public can buy easily compared to Asian products", develops Christian Kinner, in charge of the project.

Easily, this means that the pants that will be marketed in early 2022 will be available in stores at prices ranging from 40 to 60 euros. “The price difference compared to Asian production is 20%. And for the equation to be possible to solve, there are two factors to play on.

The first is the one that was underpinned from the first work of FashionCube (emanation for textiles from the Mulliez Galaxy): to automate the production of t-shirts as much as possible. But on this product with too low margins, “the technology was not mature”; she was more on jeans, “which are an iconic product, which everyone also has in their wardrobe”.

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It allows, beyond the already semi-automated cutting of the fabric, to have a contribution from the machine in a certain number of manufacturing operations such as the decorative stitching of the pocket, the belt loops, the fly. “We are far from 100% semi-automated,” explains Christian Kinnen. The cost of labor still plays a role. But if we add the other economic factor that weighs on the margin (unsold items, sales), this quasi-on-demand production makes it possible to find a point of equilibrium.

Towards 100% recycled

Virtuous on the environment (with laser washing, ozone and a process that consumes 40 times less water than traditional technology), this local production is destined to be even more so in the future. Because the raw material, Asian, should come closer to term.

In any case, this is what FashionCube aspires to, whose brands include 20 to 35% recycled textiles in their jeans. 100%, in the circular economy, by collecting used textiles and retransforming them into yarn and fabric, this is an objective that is already mobilizing the textile sector in the region. So that these jeans and other products that will be made here are even more virtuous.

When it starts up at the end of the year, the FashionCube factory, located in the Neuville-en-Ferrain business area, on the border with Tourcoing, will employ 65 people. When it runs at cruising speed, 105 jobs are expected (including 20 to 30% of employees from the priority neighborhoods of the city policy). In addition to recreating an industrial tool in a textile cradle, the challenge is also on employment, but not on those that relocation has destroyed, but on positions that will be more technical, such as piloting machines.

In a recent study, the Union of Textile Industries and the UITH in the North explained that 1% relocation of textiles could generate 4,000 jobs. No one in the profession imagines being able to reproduce all or half of the textiles consumed on national soil. But “imagine earning a few percent each year: there is a real challenge! », recalls Olivier Ducatillon, linen industrialist and president of UITH Nord. This jeans factory obviously contributes to this.