A new lease on life for the textile industry in Sud-Champagne: the 4.03 Knitwear Centre of Excellence!

A new wind is blowing through the textile industry in South Champagne: a collective, coordinated by the economic development agency Business Sud Champagne, aims to restore Troyes to its position as the global capital of knitwear. But not just any knitwear: connected, high-performing, agile, and eco-responsible, this Maille 4.03 must be ready to meet the societal and economic expectations of the post-COVID-19 era.

After the terrible years of outsourcing, driven by a logic of low costs and mass consumption, the textile industry has gradually begun a shift that gives hope to French manufacturers: 59% of French people consider the country of manufacture an important criterion when purchasing a product or service, according to a study conducted by ProFrance.

For French and foreign consumers alike, Made in France stands for quality and supports the local and responsible economy. Made in France is regaining interest; responsible textiles, more environmentally friendly, are becoming a reference for consumption.

This is an opportunity for the South Champagne textile industry to regain its place by strengthening its values. Fortunately, with more than 3,000 jobs in around a hundred companies, the local industry has retained almost all of its know-how, from knitting to logistics, including R&D and training, and thus constitutes a unique and complete ecosystem in France.

At the initiative of Petit Bateau, a collective was organized to rethink the local industry. Led by Business Sud Champagne, the local economic development agency created in November 2018, it includes the Union of Textile Industries (UIT), IFTH, ISIFT, UTT, the European Hemp Cluster, Troyes Champagne Métropole, the Grand Est Region, Y SCHOOLS, Grand E-nov, the Technopole de l’Aube, and the Troyes and Aube Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This is how the Pôle d’Excellence de la Maille 4.03 was born. Its objective is to address the following 5 challenges for the industry and the region:

• The first is to enhance the textile innovation capacity of South Champagne. The region already benefits from industrial skills, R&D, training, and support tools. It is necessary to organize them to create a true “textile open innovation campus,” a place for textile exchange, technology transfer, R&D project support, and incubation of startups, open to young brands, designers, and startups.
• The second challenge is to enhance the eco-responsibility of local companies by offering local natural resources such as hemp, exploring new natural dyeing processes, and product recycling.
• The third challenge for the Pole is to transform the textile industry into a true industry 4.0. Strengthening the industrial and commercial performance of the industry is the key to the success of the reshoring of purchases by national brands. The Maille 4.03 pole can immediately rely on a unique local tool in France, the Institute for Services and Industries of the Future of Troyes (ISIFT), and on the resources deployed by the Grand Est Region as part of its “Industry 4.0” policy.
• The fourth challenge is to densify the textile industry by reintroducing certain local brands or relocating certain textile activities to France. Made in France capsule collections are starting to appear in catalogs, confirming the expectations of consumers who are willing to change their purchasing behavior, provided they find quality, eco-responsible products at affordable costs. The actors of the pole have the capacity to meet these new expectations and want to make it known to clients and national industrial companies.

Finally, communicating the excellence of Maille 4.03 will be essential. For this, the Pole will be officially launched during CITEXT, a business convention that brings together international professionals, users, and producers of textile solutions, which will take place in Troyes from September 23 to 24, 2020. In addition, the local brands of South Champagne will be represented for the second consecutive year at the MIF Expo from November 6 to 8, 2020, in Paris on a collective space led by Business Sud Champagne.

This project illustrates the strength of the collective, which is the hallmark of this region. Other actors will join us depending on the chosen themes, including national or international partners. Change is underway, accelerated by the COVID-19 health crisis. We are ready to meet this challenge.