15 26

After successfully pulling off the challenge of

relocating jean production to Drôme, making

sure that no pair ever travels further than 1083

km (the distance between the two French cities

furthest apart), the 1083 brand has just overcome

another issue: making its jeans buttons in France.

This innovation is 100% made in Drôme, the result

of a collaboration with Vallgrip, a company 30 km

from Romans specialised in cold-punching studs

for studded tyres. As well as being made in France,

this new aluminium button is more robust, more

resistant to corrosion and no material is lost during

its manufacture. In Drôme, resources are aplenty.

Like trainers with a good conscience, jeans are trying

to break away from their Yankee image, today a

cumbersome symbol of globalisation that initially

contributed to their success. Some producers dream

of a return to making denim in Nîmes. Others, like this

company, see Drôme as a local Far West, capable of

giving jeans new origins and rising to the challenge

of local manufacture...right down to the buttons.

Consumers don’t just want to know the origins of what

they eat. Now they want to know about what they’re

wearing too. With proof that local production

is possible and not necessarily more expensive, we aim

to progressively change our purchasing behaviors.