Le Minor

A look back at one hundred years of history, challenges and success. Le Minor, a French heritage brand opened their doors to us in Guidel, Brittany.

Interview with Sylvain Flet, today’s brand co-owner.

What is Le Minor?

Le Minor is a historic fashion brand and manufacturer. We're knitwear specialists. Originally, we made navy sweaters, and striped jerseys, and today we have a whole range of navy sweaters, military sweaters and contemporary jerseys with t-shirts and revisited striped jerseys. We want to stay true to our sailor roots, part of our history, but also try new things. What's special about Le Minor is that we are a hands-on brand. We buy big rolls of thread, most of them from France, and we transform them into garments in our own factory, taking care of every step. When we say we’re a “made in France” brand, lots of people think of garment manufacture, whereas here, we take care of everything that comes before too. We knit either fabric or textiles, then we cut and assemble them. There are many different steps and skills involved, we keep them alive and kicking in our factory. That’s what sets Le Minor apart, it’s a pretty rare approach.

When did the adventure begin for you?

In 2018, with Jérôme, a life-long friend and business partner, we took over the brand. At the time, there were 23 employees, and the brand was heavily struggling in France - 90% of the business was made in Japan. In a way, the Japanese market saved Le Minor.

Since 2018, we've been working to continue this beautiful story with Japan, but also to rise this historic French brand, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022.

What challenges did you face?

Le Minor has a rich history. The French textile industry’s crisis has been one of the biggest challenges for our predecessors. They were extremely courageous and committed, as they decided not to relocate anything, unlike all the other manufacturers in the sector. From 1990 to 2010, 90% of textile companies in France closed. Le Minor survived. How? By supporting local craftmanship and positioning themselves on a high-end segment. However, for many years this decision didn't resonate in France, but it did in Japan. As a result, the brand almost disappeared in France. This was a huge irony that we discovered when we took over the business in 2018: that the most French garments were no longer known in France.

How did you cope with these challenges?

During the textile crisis, at Le Minor, we went from 750 employees to 23, in fifty years. In 2018, our challenge was to keep the brand alive, maintain our local expertise and skills, while modernizing our industrial apparatus. We renewed our entire fleet of machines to improve working conditions, and productivity. The second challenge was to get the brand known again in France; after five decades of disappearance, we had to raise awareness about us and our garments. Today, we continue this educational work to make French people aware of their own country textile heritage.

Where does the name Le Minor come from?

It's a family name from Brittany, where everything started and where we're still located today. The Le Minor family created the brand in 1936. But the first factory was founded in 1922, and called Manufacture de bonneterie lorientaise, they made workwear: sailor sweaters and striped jerseys for local fishermen. Knitting is part of our identity, and we work every day to keep it alive.

What are the manufacturing stages?

At Le Minor, we have a unique organization that integrates all the manufacturing stages in one place. First, we receive big rolls of cotton or wool thread. We only work with natural materials. The first stage is knitting. There are two different knitting techniques: for cotton, we use circular knitting machines to make plain colors and stripes; and for wool we use flat knitting machines. The wool panels must then be steamed. This stage is essential: we inject steam into the panels to fix the stitches and to correct any distortion. For cotton, it’s the only step we outsource. We send our knitted cotton rolls to a factory in Roanne, near Lyon, where they "stabilize" our cotton jersey. Then there's the cutting. Cutting is quite specific because knitwear is a naturally elastic material, it's a manual stage that requires very specific skills to guarantee not only the shape, but also the stripes’ alignment. After the cutting, you have the tacking that includes several stages: simple stitching, overcast seam and hemming.

Finally, you have the finishing stage including buttonholes, edging and what we call “remaillage.” It's an extremely fine technique we use to assemble the collar and body of a wool sweater. It’s usually used in the luxury industry, and quite symbolic of the skills we're trying to keep alive here. At the end of all these steps, we have the quality check, during which the piece is meticulously inspected to ensure the garment is perfect.

What’s your creation process?

We have a large range of timeless pieces that are part of our heritage and that we want to preserve. In particular, the classic Sailor Sweater, which comes in several colors, and the Commando Jumper, one of our bestsellers. The Commando Jumper that we designed and made for the French Navy for over 40 years, is still very popular today. It remains in our permanent collection because it's a beautiful garment, sturdy and timeless. We have the entire sailor's kit: the Navy Sweater, the Submariner Sweater and the Navy Striped Jersey. We also have a range of classic striped jerseys, made from cotton.

Our process is very simple since we have mostly heritage designs in our collection. Sometimes, we adapt these models in new colorways, for example, the Sailor Sweater can have multiple different variations depending on the cut or the stitch. We also create new models inspired by the sailor wardrobe and reflecting our core knitting expertise. We recently designed a hoodie in merino wool using a new knitting stitch we developed here, with a very soft and comfortable finish.

Our challenge is to stand out as a high-end knitwear brand. In the 50's, 60's and 70's, Le Minor had a positioning very close to luxury, especially around a range of coats. Le Minor worked as a white label for Dior, Courrèges, and other haute couture houses.

What could we wish you, for the future?

In five years, we succeeded in raising awareness about our brand as not only a fashion label, but a manufacturing structure. We hope to keep building on this success, and to convince more and more people about the importance of buying local fashion, whether it’s for quality, craftsmanship, or environmental impact.

I would really like to see a change of habits and get back to our grandparents’ common sense: a garment can be expensive, but when quality comes along, we can keep it for life.

Things have already changed but there's still a long way to go, because fast-fashion brands don’t waver, and the way we buy fashion is extremely consumerist. Clothes are still seen as disposable products. What we can hope for, as for all the heritage brands and local manufacturers, is a real change in mentality and a return to reasonable buying habits with a true sensibility for quality.