Avel and Men dresses up in Le Minor!
Avel and Men and Le Minor are delighted to announce a collaboration: the century-old manufacturer, a "Living Heritage Company" known for its collections of Breton striped shirts and sailor sweaters, is giving Avel and Men its dormant fabric stock. The young Finistère brand, which specializes in watch accessories and watch straps, will use it to make the pouches that come with its creations.
Avel and Men, founded in 2016 in Finistère, specializes in watch accessories and watch straps made in France. Among other things, it offers a range of watch straps in Seaqual canvas, a fiber made from plastic waste collected from the ocean floor.
The Le Minor knitwear company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2022. It offers several collections of sailor sweaters and Breton striped shirts made in Brittany, with a complete value chain. From receiving the cotton yarn to making a striped shirt, several crafts come together in harmony to produce a 100% Breton product: even the fabric is made on site. These trades and skills are so rare that the manufacturer has launched its own in-house apprenticeship training program to pass on rare know-how such as linking and cotton jersey knitting.
It was after finding themselves side by side on a page of a fashion magazine that the two companies got together: after a first meeting in Guidel and a tour of the workshops, Agnès asked what the fabric stock stored at the back of the company was. It turned out to be end-of-line stock from old production runs, in quantities too small to consider making clothing. But why not use it to make packaging? Avel and Men delivers every strap or watch roll in an embroidered pouch. For Agnès and Xavier, nothing could be more natural and consistent than to take the upcycling approach already started on several product ranges one step further.
Sylvain and Jérôme saw it as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: giving a boost to a young brand from the region and seeing their fabrics put to good use, in line with their vision of responsible and sustainable manufacturing.Avel and Men's watch-enthusiast customers will therefore discover unique pouches when they receive their watch rolls or watch straps, with colors and patterns that will vary according to the fabrics donated by Le Minor.
Agnès and Xavier warmly thank all Le Minor employees for their support throughout this project and for their generosity.
