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Children’s clothes made from recycled household linen, sneakers made from apple waste… fashion and footwear designed in Nantes are making a strong comeback. Numerous initiatives are flourishing across the Nantes metropolitan area to develop a sustainable and eco-friendly fashion industry.
Sustainable today, sustainable always!
A historic cradle of fashion, especially in footwear, children’s clothing, and prêt-à-porter, the Pays de la Loire region is home to 380 fashion companies, the largest concentration outside Paris, employing 11,500 people in the Textile-Clothing-Fashion-Luxury industries—representing 10.2% of national employment in the sector.
Halles 1 & 2: A creative hub
At the heart of the Création District on the Île de Nantes, near the famous Elephant of the Machines de l’île, the Halles 1 & 2 welcome initiatives led by creative and cultural players from the Nantes area. Dedicated to creation (incubators, business nurseries, shared offices), these halls provide 3,400 m² of spaces designed for ideation, prototyping, project development, and showcasing. About twenty creative startups are hosted and supported by Samoa to develop their projects within a rich and diverse ecosystem.
Success stories in sustainable fashion
Faguo
The first French fashion brand certified as a “mission-driven company” in 2020 and B Corp in 2021. Faguo relocated its headquarters from Paris to Nantes in 2019 to align with its eco-responsible values, now employing nearly 100 people. Over the last five years, Faguo has led 100+ actions to reduce its carbon footprint, including the planting of 1.8 million trees.
Hedj
A Nantes-based company transforming end-of-life textiles into functional products through upcycling. Founded by Camille Brun-Jeckel and Roxanne Gheno, Hedj promotes responsible fashion and sustainable reuse, working with businesses to upcycle old textiles into innovative products, such as seat covers for Naolib transport services or reusable accessories for hotels.
SMALA
A circular economy brand for children’s clothing, from birth to teenage years, created by the startup studio Imagination Machine. SMALA was the first second-hand clothing company in France to adopt the “mission-driven company” status, now employing 35 people with 30,000 customers and 30 clothing brands represented.
N’GO SHOES
A brand of eco-designed, fair trade shoes and bags highlighting traditional Vietnamese craftsmanship. Vietnamese artisans hand-weave patterns used on the sneakers and backpacks. B Corp certified since 2020.
Groupe ERAM
- A nearly 100-year-old family-owned French fashion group, with 10 brands driving responsible performance through innovation and a strong human culture. The group is evolving its “Change for Good” initiative from its 6e Ciel creative space on the Île de Nantes.
Other ethical fashion initiatives in Nantes include:
- Petit Picotin and Lililotte in children’s fashion,
- Panorama, producing sneakers from apple peel and recycled plastic bottles,
- Manufacture Bontemps, with 100% made-in-Nantes shoes,
- Processus, creating clothing lines from recycled parachute fabric.
A committed ecosystem
Nantes offers a fertile environment for projects combining fashion, sustainability, craftsmanship, and design, with a vibrant artistic atmosphere. The Samoa agency leads efforts to structure and animate the sustainable fashion sector.
The Collectif Emergence has brought together responsible fashion designers in the region since 2004, promoting craftsmanship, short supply chains, quality manufacturing, and waste reduction through upcycling industrial offcuts. Since 2018, the collective has launched “Made in Situ” pop-up stores to showcase local creators.
The Fashion Green Days were hosted in Nantes in 2023 and have now evolved into the “Rendez-vous de la Mode Responsable”, providing local brands a platform to showcase their skills, explore eco-friendly production methods, and engage industry professionals at Halles 1 & 2 in the Création District.
