National furniture, actor in the revival of art trades

With the economic and health crisis, local supply is encouraged, especially when you are a public institution. Le Mobilier national, vient ainsi de s'engager dans la renaissance de production française de laine aux côtés d'un 'Collectif Tricolor' de professionnels tels LVMH (propriétaire des « Echos »), Saint James, Le Slip Français ou encore de salons comme Première Vision et Maison & Objet.

Objective: to increase the woolen share produced from 4 % to 24 % transformed into France by 2024, while nearly 7 million sheep are raised in the territory."Reconstitating the wool treatment sector can generate thousands of jobs and we want to contribute.And if French wool is found on a tapestry produced by a great artist, it is symbolically strong, "observes the director of national furniture, Hervé Lemoine, who ultimately wishes to obtain 100 % by this sector.

The former wreath of the Crown is a high place of textile creation since the foundation of royal factories by Colbert in the 17th century.Its centers for manufacturing goblins and Beauvais are doomed to the tapestry, that of the Savonnerie de Lodève at the carpet, those of Puy- en Velay and Alençon in lace.Not to mention seven wood, metal and textile restoration workshops."A French specificity: all the other royal furnishings have stopped making and museums when we have never stopped creating," said its director.

With the SMEs of Aubusson

Hence the desire to be a recovery tool for art crafts and French design, deprived of their salons this year (revelations, PAD, Milan furniture fair, etc.)."For a long time the national furniture was not concerned with its ecosystem.But with the crisis, we identified 500 partners, SMEs, workshops, craftsmen, publishers, designers, interior architects ... Supporting them appeared essential, ”explains Hervé Lemoine.

In the first containment, he launched a restoration campaign of 150.000 euros for pieces from the 1930s to 1950s from the collection, to help subcontractors in need of private and international customers."Some know-how are rare and risked disappearing such as bronzers, lacquers, dores, markers," continues the manager.

Read also:

Confinement: art craftsmen deprived of their best windows

At the Heritage Fair, the crafts display their creativity

The latter also set up an unprecedented partnership with the SMEs of Aubusson, world famous, in order to preserve 120 jobs in this territory of the Massif Central.Finally, he decided to place another exceptional order of 250.000 euros of furniture with this time of contemporary designers, publishers and French galleries."We have targeted young creators as a priority in this context which weakened their professional integration at the end of schools," notes Hervé Lemoine.

With Roset line

This operation, the director of national furniture wants to reiterate it in 2021 and 2022 for a hundred other pieces in order to reach the symbolic figure of one million euros within the framework of the recovery plan of the Ministry of Culture, awareFrom the influence of crafts, "one of the wealth of our country", which will benefit from an exceptional showcase next April at the Hôtel de la Marine, Place de la Concorde in Paris.

A substantial plan for this institution, the annual budget of which amounts to only 5 million euros, excluding wage bill of its 350 craftsmen.

In the future, national furniture plans to open more to designers and furniture publishers for its research and creation workshop (ARC).For 60 years, he has produced prototypes of excellence for the state to meet the new needs of hospitals, culture houses, housing, vacation centers, prisons ... "I want us to work both onunique and multiple parts.We started with Roset line for a series of small sofas, ”says Hervé Lemoine.Private actors thus have access to design offices and high -flying technicians, and national furniture ... to new revenues.