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Savoir Faire – A Look Inside Le Coq Sportif’s Made in France Program
Earlier this month we had the pleasure of travelling to the production centres of LE COQ SPORTIF’s rejuvenated MADE IN FRANCE program to learn more about the sporting rooster’s roots and their vision for the future.
As the quintessential French sportswear brand, production in France is a strong part of LE COQ SPORTIF’s heritage and identity going back to their origins in Romilly-sur-Seine in the 1880s. With Asia emerging as the most economically-viable option for mass garment and footwear production, the company’s domestic operations lay mostly dormant for the past twenty years. However, with the recent resurgence in appreciation for artisanal goods and traditional craftsmanship, the brand embarked on an ambitious effort to renew this aspect of their history several years ago and we are now beginning to see the fruits of their labour. Not only are limited, collaborative projects such as the Footpatrol R800 ‘Artisan’ coming through with Made in France certification, but inline collections (such as the four-piece capsule that drops this weekend) are too. It is most definitely an exciting time for the brand as they reconnect with an important part of their story.
Footwear production takes place in the traditional textiles region of Cholet, in the family-owned Cléon factory—one of the very few remaining in France. With leather boots and city shoes making up most of their output, it was not a simple case of commissioning Cléon to construct LE COQ SPORTIF designs from archive pieces. There was painstaking procedure and meticulous study involved in bringing the ‘savoir faire’, or know-how, of their Asian production centres over and implementing their practices successfully. Unlike other brands the footwear is not simply assembled in France; the entire process, from the cutting of the panels to the final lacing, takes place under one roof.
LE COQ SPORTIF’s apparel division has undergone the same rebirth, with a huge range of garments being constructed by hand in same region of Romilly-sur-Seine that the brand has occupied since its birth in 1882. Again, the entire operation is France-based, from the dying and treatment of the fabrics and the initial prototypes all the way through to the final construction and packaging.
There’s no doubt that LE COQ SPORTIF have recaptured an incredibly important part of their DNA with their Made in France program and we are eagerly awaiting the future. With regards to the present, the four makeups from the MADE IN FRANCE CAPSULE COLLECTION are set to drop on SATURDAY 11 MARCH 2016 in limited quantities; link-through via the banner below to shop.
