French brush makers see their generational technology on the verge of extinction and are shifting to upscale and niche markets to survive rising costs and surpluses.
“We have been making brushes here for six generations,” says Daniel Desjardins, a family-run business that has been making brushes made from horse and boar hair since 1834. He spoke while standing in his workshop.
Now “it’s becoming a lost craft,” Desjardins said, citing intense competition from cheaper products made in Eastern Europe and China.
Synthetic alternatives to natural hair and the struggle to find young people interested in the industry are also threatening the industry, leaving the profession’s future uncertain.
But brush makers in France’s northern Oise Valley are “refocusing” their efforts to revive the craft by turning to the luxury goods sector, Desjardins said.
“Only three left.”
Tucked away in a valley north of Paris, France’s brush-making industry sprang up in the 19th century, taking advantage of its proximity to the country’s capital and the River Terrain.
“In my grandfather’s time, there were 12 brush shops in the little Hermès village alone,” said Frédéric Brigault, whose family business has been supplying boar bristle to the French brush-making industry since 1930.
Today, Brigeau added, “there are only three manufacturers of high-end brushes left in all of France, including the one run by Desjardins in the village of Cauvigny.”
Those that survived turned to high-end customers, including shoe makers such as Berluti and Weston.
“The luxury niche is saving us,” Desjardins told AFP, showing off stamps on completed brushes with the names of high-end customers.
Brush makers cater to a more niche customer, making “brushes for jewelry brands and indoor climbing gyms” to clean wall holds, he added.
The shift also meant the company, which ships about 20,000 brushes a month, went from 10 to three employees.
“It was Europe that ruined everything,” Desjardins said, noting that customers flocked to rivals in Eastern Europe that paid “half the price” and then turned to Chinese competitors.
But one French brush maker says a shift to the luxury market has brought it back from the brink.
～“Efforts bear fruit”～
Enzo Santomer uses a drill to drill holes for the bristles in the wooden handle of one of the hundreds of Fornival Artesse brushes that are handcrafted each year.
“It looks simple, but you have to set the ends of your hair at a certain angle,” the 23-year-old said.
These handmade brushes retail for 350 euros (about $380) and are just a fraction of the roughly 400,000 brushes the company produces each year, which the company says has experienced a resurgence in recent years.
Fornival Altesse went into receivership in 2005, but things are looking up with a move into the luxury market driven by new CEO Giulia Tissot Gaillard.
By emphasizing the quality and craftsmanship behind its brushes, Tissot Gaillard negotiated 100 to 150 percent price increases with high-end clients including Leonor Grail, Kérastase, and even Dior.
The company is currently experiencing double-digit growth and has hired 10 people this year, a sign that “our efforts are paying off,” Tissot Gaillard said.
Still, the industry is beset by another challenge: a declining interest in industry learning among younger generations.
～“Comeback”～
Frédéric Brigault is one of two remaining craftsmen in France who supply horsehair and boar hair to companies such as Altesse and Desjardins, up from 40 after World War II. The number is decreasing.
“There are many things that require hair, and no one doubts it,” Brigeau said, explaining the intricacies of the craft inherited from his father and grandfather.
However, the rise of synthetic materials such as nylon has reduced the demand for natural fibers, the artisan added.
And his Chinese suppliers — the only companies that raise livestock long enough to get their long coats — are increasingly using “intensive factory farming of pigs,” a system that prioritizes efficient meat production. “transition” is underway.
Brigault currently supplies all the remaining French brush manufacturers, but is under pressure to open up to exports, which account for 60% of the business.
The craftsman, who is ready to retire, said he has not yet found someone to take over his business and know-how.
“There’s no school to learn this trade…it’s a skill that can be passed down,” Brigeau said.
Unfortunately, “young people are not so interested anymore and would rather work with machines and computers,” he said.
Despite all the uncertainties, the industry’s shift towards the luxury market has kept traditional crafts alive for now.
“With luxury products, we now reach customers almost everywhere in the world,” said Altesse CEO Tissot Gaillard.
And that’s leading to a “strong resurgence” of French-made products, Brigault said.
