PARIS — Tucked away in an alley behind Crazy Park, an indoor children’s amusement park in an unassuming industrial area on the outskirts of Paris, is the even more inconspicuous entrance to Teintour de France.
It’s hard to imagine this being the place where brands like Balenciaga, Chloe, Louis Vuitton and Hermes are vying for orders ahead of Paris Fashion Week.
On a recent Monday morning, their names were among those handwritten on colorful folders lined up on a table in the reception area of a go-to dye and fabric treatment specialist for France’s luxury industry.
Step through the door and into a world of bubbling vats of colorful liquids, giant washing machines, spray-painting stations and printers, where time-honoured botanical dyeing techniques meet cutting-edge laser etching, 3D printing and stamping tools.
“The coronavirus pandemic changed everything,” said Serge Hauge, design manager at Teintour de France, recalling how brands turned to factories for fabric supplies when travel bans were imposed.
“Before that, I’d be super busy for a month or a month and a half before a show. It was a seasonal thing,” he continued. “Now I’m busy all year round. I’m open in August, I’m open through Christmas and New Year.”
Ariana Grande
Lexi Moreland/WWD
Apart from the runway, Teintour de France has played a part in many key fashion moments, from Ariana Grande’s Loewe dress at the Met Gala to the gold-painted costumes of the dancers suspended from the scaffolding of Notre Dame Cathedral during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
With just 45 employees, including Hauge’s wife, two daughters and nephew, the company is known for its ability to handle last-minute emergencies. “Customers know they can always contact us. I’m always connected,” Hauge said of his customers.
Teintour de France dyers are renowned for interpreting creative briefs and recreating colours from the smallest samples, taking into account everything from the properties of the fabric to the light in which it will be viewed.
The profession is becoming increasingly rare in France, so much so that Hauge has started recruiting experts from Tunisia.
“In the ’90s, there were more than 100 dyers and bleachers in Paris. Now we are the only bleacher and as for dyeing, there are only four left,” he pointed out.
A dyer working at Teintour de France.
Courtesy of Teintour de France
Hauge and his business partner Thierry Azerrad have invested nearly 5 million euros in state-of-the-art machinery, including more than 10 3D textile printers, between 2021 and 2024. “We are currently the only company in France offering this range of services,” he said.
A lively, fast-talking man, Hauge likes to test machines.
“For example, we bought the latest Mona Lisa from Epson. It’s a machine designed for printing on natural materials, so we said let’s try it on leather,” he recalls. “We damaged the print head, so we had to replace it. But we were able to print on leather in ways that even Epson couldn’t have imagined.”
Hauge, who began his career in dry cleaning for clients such as Disneyland and the Moulin Rouge in Paris, began collaborating with designers in the early 2000s when Jean-Claude Gitroy asked him to distress a pair of his signature stretch leather trousers.
He has since collaborated with Christophe Decarnin for Balmain, designing artfully shredded T-shirts, and more recently with John Galliano, designing the acclaimed vintage-inspired leather corsets for Maison Margiela’s Spring 2024 Artisanal collection.
The company also works with smaller brands like Charles de Vilmorin, and recently produced printed fabric for the brand’s segment featuring the aerial dancers perched on poles along the Pont Neuf at the Olympic opening ceremony.
Maison Margiela Couture, Spring 2024
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Before the pandemic, Teintour de France had sales of just over 2 million euros. Hauge predicts sales will grow from 6-7 million euros this year to 10-12 million euros in 2025.
The company plans to soon expand into an adjacent warehouse, more than doubling its space to about 37,500 square feet, and add clothing manufacturing to its menu of services.
The company also plans to install a wastewater recycling system by the end of the year and even generate its own energy. Hauge said the company is working to phase out raw materials and processes that have a negative impact on the environment and is applying for ISO 14001 certification.
“Of the 1,500 products we used, over 800 were toxic,” he says. “Now we’re down to just three.”
The company has also invested in less-polluting machines, such as Jeanologia’s G2 Atmos, which washes jeans with ozone, drastically reducing the need for water and chemicals.
“We are trying to become the most environmentally friendly workshop possible,” he said, adding that he was encouraging brands to adopt sustainable techniques even if it meant higher costs.
Teintour de France embroidery machine.
Courtesy of Teintour de France
The school also nurtures the next generation of talent through a partnership with the Ecole de France Mode, allowing students to use the school’s facilities for their graduation shows.
Additionally, Teintures de France will support five designers for the next Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival in October.
By working with fashion design students, the company is able to build relationships with future creative directors while teaching them the ropes of the industry.
“You have to have passion to do this job,” says Hauge. “To me, they’re not just customers, they’re partners.”