The Olympic Games mascots come straight from a small Breton factory located in La Guerche de Bretagne, about fifty kilometers from Rennes. This site produces the small Olympic and Paralympic phryges, the large 1.30m models, and the Phrygian caps. For the past month, the workshop has also been manufacturing the medalists’ mascots, in gold, silver and bronze colors. The Doudou et Compagnie group has invested nearly 3 million euros for this part of the French production.
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In this small Breton workshop, we sew, stuff and label the mascots of 2024 Olympic Games. ” To keep up the pace, it was essential to recruit. Everything we can’t produce is made in China. We needed to recruit “, explains Mélanie, seamstress, to Odéphine Leleu.
The workshop has grown from 10 to 45 people to keep up the pace, even if the majority of production remains Chinese, explains Alain Joly, president of Doudou et Compagnie: ” Selling made in France is not so simple: 30-35 % of products sold are made in France. »
For Sophie, the finishing manager, the objective is also to give a new breath of life for the sewing professions : ” We must not lose our know-how, because seamstresses are very rare these days. There are not many opportunities, especially in plush toys. ” She adds : ” All these trades are now being lost, with a lot of finishing done by hand. We hope we won’t be replaced by robots. »
The company prides itself on being able to maintain the jobs created with the Olympic contract and already sees itself as the leader in French plush goods.
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