Charlotte and the entire team at the ATOUT LINGE association
in Vendée make accessories from recycled French tarpaulins and fabrics for
[ ATELIER ATOUT LINGE ]
Year founded: 2017
Design and office location: Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, Pays de Loire, France 🇫🇷
Raw material sourcing location: Pays de Loire, France 🇫🇷
Manufacturing and production location: Fontenay-le-Comte, Vendée, Pays de Loire, France 🇫🇷
Brand overview
L'ATELIER is a committed brand offering unique products made in France through fair-trade and eco-responsible practices.
It all started with two needs identified in southern Vendée that needed to be addressed. The first concerned the socio-professional integration of disadvantaged people in the Fontenay-le-Comte community of communes, and the second was an environmental issue involving tarpaulins destined for incineration or landfill.
The Atout Linge association, which is a sheltered workshop for integration, decided to offer a workshop aimed at engaging people who were far from employment and thus turned to sewing and garment making. But that wasn't enough; they also needed to make something useful and have a positive social and environmental impact! The association then reached out to local shade sail manufacturers, and so began the rescue of several kilograms of tarpaulins destined for disposal.
Under Charlotte's careful and creative eye, several accessories were born: cooler bags, pie bags, document bags, card holders, and many more... The idea was to create everyday products that give new value to recycled materials and provide on-the-job training for our employees in integration, helping these women, as well as these men, get back on the path to employment and achieve their goals.
For three years now, Charlotte has supported her team of employees in integration, each with very different backgrounds and skills. One guiding principle prevails: adaptability! It is often the case that L'ATELIER recruits people who have never touched a needle in their lives, but that is no problem because this integration project is built on key skills that promote a return to employment (teamwork, punctuality, self-confidence, job-seeking techniques, etc.). Charlotte trains each of them step by step at their own pace, and everyone finds their place in the production process. Ultimately, the entire team complements each other and makes it possible to create L'ATELIER's upcycled products.
Eco-responsible impact
L'ATELIER is a responsible brand and sheltered workshop for integration that works with disadvantaged people who are very far from employment and basic skills. L'ATELIER provides social support to men and women in the region, giving them the tools to regain self-confidence and give themselves every chance of finding their way back to employment.
It is also a small-scale sewing workshop: 12 employees and a technical, educational, and social supervisor who ensures support and the production of our products.
L'ATELIER makes everyday items from recycled materials that the team itself collects in the region. "We have a local and environmental approach. In addition, each item is designed and manufactured in Fontenay-le-Comte, in southern Vendée, a region with high integration needs where we can address social and environmental challenges in the same place." In itself, an L'ATELIER product is a fair-trade and eco-responsible product.
The main benefits
L'ATELIER's garment-making workshop also offers product design and subcontracting services, with the option of providing design services (research, pattern making, prototyping).
Brand values:
♻️ Recycling
🔁 Upcycling
👐🏽 Social and Fair-Trade Impact
👤 Expertise
🏡 Made Locally
🧬 Unique Item
[ Giving new value to materials and people ]
