2023-10-21 10:07:36
Needle in hand, she carefully stitches the hem of the jeans before putting them back in the machine. An industrial sewing machine that Natalia has not yet mastered. “It’s still a little difficult but I’m learning every day,” she smiles, impressed by the speed and precision of her new work tool. In her previous life, this woman from Donetsk in Ukraine was an economist. But also a seamstress in her spare time. “I made aprons for restaurants,” she says. Forced to flee her country at war, here she is now a manufacturing mechanic. A salaried activity that she carries out within of the Espero Bretagne association which opened its back-to-work sewing workshop at the beginning of October in the premises of Comme unestablish, an artisan factory located north of Rennes.
The refugee women recruited by the association all already have experience in sewing. – J. Gicquel / 20 Minutes
Like Natalia, six other refugees, five women and one man, were recruited by Marion Levesque, coordinator of the association. “We don’t train people in sewing,” she explains. The objective for us is to support people who already have experience in sewing to subsequently enable them to integrate socio-professionally. » In Île-de-France, the Espero association has already been carrying out these actions since 2021 in a workshop in Anthony. Using the same model, the Breton branch was set up “to promote the know-how” of these refugee seamstresses far from employment.
The textile industry is relocating and recruiting
This is the case of Marielou who ran a boutique selling dresses for little girls in Guinea. In France for ten years, she has not found work as a seamstress since, contenting herself only with helping her compatriots by doing “a few alterations.” » Still “in training” like the whole team, she will soon be making high-end and even luxury clothing and accessories. “We are currently responding to orders from local textile companies who subcontract or from young local designers who are launching their collections,” indicates Marion Levesque.
Supported for two years by the association, these women, who also benefit from three hours of French lessons each week, will then exercise their talent in companies in the region. “That’s the objective in any case,” underlines the coordinator of the association. In any case, there are opportunities in the textile sector which has started to relocate its production with strong recruitment needs, particularly in Brittany. »
The association plans to launch its own brand
Winner of the participatory budget of the Ille-et-Vilaine department, with a nice check which allowed it to purchase around fifteen sewing machines, the Espero Bretagne association also plans to eventually launch its own brand of clothing and accessories. Always with an upcycling approach. “We are an association with a social but also environmental impact because we work from unsold fabrics that we collect from local businesses,” explains Marion Levesque.
For the inauguration of its workshop in mid-November, Espero Bretagne will also open its doors to exiled designers for a fashion show.
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