Home » News » In the cities of Seine-Saint-Denis, the fabric mask industry is taking root

In the cities of Seine-Saint-Denis, the fabric mask industry is taking root


In August, Stéphania’s sewing machine went silent. But she still sits on the long workbench lit by the living room windows. Ready to go. “I still have a dozen masks to make,” slips the young woman. I go at my own pace. I take my time, I want everything to be impeccable. “

In the space of two months, more than 300 fabric masks, washable and reusable, left his apartment in the Pont-Yblon residence, in Dugny (Seine-Saint-Denis). “It allowed me to earn a normal salary, a minimum wage, while during confinement, I had no work at all,” says Stéphania. At 27, this passionate seamstress has become one of the cogs of a textile industry born in the midst of a health crisis, on the land of 93.

Nearly 16,000 masks sewn in four months

A modest sector, of course, more artisanal than industrial. But in the space of four months, it made it possible to produce a little less than 16,000 masks, sewn in integration workshops or apartments not much larger than Stéphania’s. From fabric cutting to quality control, the production line employs around 100 people, including more than 30 independent seamstresses.

“The principle is to meet the needs linked to the health crisis, and to ensure decent income for the seamstresses and designers that we employ,” summarizes Mathieu Glaymann, co-director of the Saint-Denis district management.

It is from this structure that the impetus came at the start of confinement. Its reintegration employees, assigned to cleaning and removing bulky items, continued their work. “However, fairly quickly, we needed masks, but there was a shortage,” explains Mathieu Glaymann. His appeal for help, launched on Facebook, had been heard by some seamstresses and creators of the territory. “But fairly quickly, I received lots of messages from associations, individuals, who also needed masks …”

Market traders provided the fabric

A production chain was then created, managed by the management, with a boost of 10,000 euros, paid by the territory of Plaine Commune. Traders from the Saint-Denis and La Courneuve markets provided the first meters of fabric, cut by two artists from La Briche in Saint-Denis, sewn by seamstresses and creators of the region …

The masks, in accordance with current standards, are then washed and dried at Esat Marville, in Stains … And it is the bicycle delivery men from the Rider Social Club cooperative, in Saint-Ouen, who provide the shuttles from one end to the other. the other of the chain.

In Aubervilliers, Fadila does his accounts: “I made 412 masks in 2 months. It was well organized: the fabric was already cut. You just had to assemble it and put the links. This mother worked in a sewing workshop until last spring. The call of the district authority was a “breath of fresh air”. “Sewing is my passion. It allowed me not to stay idle, to feel useful… ”

8 euros per mask: “a citizen gesture”

Stéphania, “very, very shy”, even believes that this work allowed her to “open up to others” – not the least of the paradoxes in full confinement. “We had a WhatsApp group on which the seamstresses exchanged advice. Thanks to these links, I came out of my cocoon ”, slips the virtuoso of the needle, who made a modest living, before confinement, by selling pouches, T-shirts and jackets stylized with wax fabrics.

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