“We were too early”: curtain falls on Les Nouvelles Grisettes, this short-circuit solidarity textile workshop in Montpellier

Four years after the launch of this project to do business differently, the association was placed in liquidation by the judicial court in view of its accumulated debts. But the hope of a virtuous model in the textile sector persists… Three leaders of Nouvelles Grisettes respond.

A bit of dejection and quite a bit of disappointment, of course. But also the hope that these four years will not be totally in vain. The magnificent adventure of the Nouvelles Grisettes is over. This third place, born during the lockdown, had the ambition to make a shared textile workshop prosper around a collective of independent seamstresses.

Richard Préau, Caroline Bouvier and Fanny Ligneres had to resolve to end this beautiful adventure. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

The judicial court put a stop to this lovely project. The association, which had ceased payments, could no longer cover its expenses and was placed in liquidation: “After the health crisis, we have never been able to find a viable economic model in this sector hit hard by the economic crisis”, Caroline Bouvier sighs with disappointment. The iconic Montpellier seamstress, who initiated the project, is a little bitter: “We paid too much for our premises in Pérols and, despite the transfer to Réalis in Montpellier, in the Occitanie Region nursery, the damage was done”, notes the president of the association Fanny Ligneres. She is the head of a consulting and support company for responsible companies (cooperatives, associations, third places, etc.).

“The day when fossil fuels will be rare and expensive”

Four years after the start of this crazy story, it was necessary to face the facts. The fifteen or so seamstresses who worked with us left for other horizons. It was necessary to lay off the two employees of the structure. The accounts had been in the red for two years. “But also that orders were struggling to come in. I sincerely thought that the association would be more supported by public orders”, regrets Caroline Bouvier.

Manufactured in the first workshop in Pérols. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

Because after needing this precious short circuit when the global economy was at a standstill, nature took over. An example: a quote for a “pulicaire tote bag cost us 8 € without the logo to have organic fabric. In Taiwan, you can get it for 4 € including the logo and shipping", adds the seamstress. "The day when fossil fuels run out, when they are rare and very expensive, then we will turn to our model, adds Fanny Ligneres. But we were too early, probably too innovative".

The failure of school uniforms

School uniforms for the start of the 2024 school year. That was the collective's hope. A hundred cities experimenting with the single outfit… "We made prototypes and about fifteen quotes. But we haven't received any orders", laments Caroline Bouvier. Not even from Perpignan, even though she had approached the Catalan Le Maillot Français. All the uniforms worn in schools were manufactured abroad. This failure is emblematic of the difficulty of keeping the short circuit alive: “If politicians had taken the time to think, to bring all the players in the sector around the table, many things would have been possible”, regrets the seamstress.

The advisor and teacher, marketing specialist in the textile world Richard Préau, who was at the origin of the virtuous association, underlines: “We are like organic farmers. During the lockdown, they were doing very well. We needed them. But today they are in great difficulty”.

What about made in France and made in Occitanie ?

Over time, the accumulated debts have become too high despite a rent divided by four in Réalis in the Celleneuve district :“We were a lab. Today, it has not been rewarded but the world will change and we will return to this type of initiative”, prophesies Fanny Ligneres. “We remain convinced that it is possible”, adds Richard Préau.

“We will have to ask ourselves the question of what made in France, made in Occitanie means, and agree to support it. We can't systematically want to always buy cheaper, otherwise how will we maintain our generous social model ?", the leaders of Nouvelles Grisettes ask together. The question is asked. Part of the answer has just been given. But they are not giving up and know that this model will eventually be successful.

An idea born from the lack of masks in 2020

The idea was born in 2020 due to the lack of masks during the health crisis. Muriel Fournier, manager of a cleaning company in Montpellier, has no protection for her employees and talks about it to her seamstress friend, Caroline Bouvier, who has a shop in Montpellier. She created “SOS Masques” on Facebook and brings together around fifty volunteers to make 5,000 textile masks per day, as well as gowns. When the epidemic recedes, the desire not to let this surge of generosity go away.

A collective and an association are created and set up in Pérols, not far from the Arena, in a large building with other companies of the “made in Occitanie”, advocated by institutional actors. The collective dynamic works and contracts are signed: “150 companies will choose to buy a little more expensive”, notes Caroline Bouvier. The third place responds to the triple requirement: to put Occitan know-how at the heart, to bring the short circuit to life and to raise awareness about the pollution of textile waste. But the economic model is running out of steam. At the time of the takeover, Les Nouvelles Grisettes must move to Réalis in Celleneuve for a much lower rent. Alas, after four years of existence, the virtuous project ceases but the initiators want to believe in a future, based on the fruit of an extraordinary adventure.

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