30 years ago, there were more than 30 beret makers in the South West of France, and certainly more than 100 in France. Unfortunately, today most of the berets you can find in supermarkets, or with consumer brands of ready to wear come from China or India for costs 5 to 8 times lower than the berets still made in France and of course the quality does not follow.
Fortunately, there are still a few die-hards from Bearn who still dare to bet on the manufacture of quality French berets. There are actually 4 of them and here are their stories
Laulhère in Oloron-Sainte-Marie
The Laulhère establishments in Oloron, are neither more nor less than the oldest manufacturer of berets in France. After a golden age in the twentieth century that made this factory a jewel of the local industry as well as the aeronautical factories, the production has gradually decreased, facing the low cost competition, putting in danger this tradition of the Basque beret. Fortunately, the Laulhère brand has been reborn from its ashes for a few years now and has been taken over by a young entrepreneur, Rosabelle Forzy. The factory is modernized, the collection is also modernized and not far from 300,000 top-of-the-range berets leave the workshops each year and are sent all over the world.
The French Beret
Initially installed since 2012 in Laas, a dynamic village or Principality in the heart of the Béarn des Gaves, Le béret Français has since moved to Bayonne in the Netherlands. Created from scratch by a young entrepreneur, this beret factory is a dynamic outsider that counts today in the landscape of quality berets in the purest French tradition.
The beret factory
Again, this is a small workshop created a few years ago in Oloron by Denis Guédon, a former employee of Laulhère, and taken over by Sara who makes the berets alone in her workshop installed a few months ago in Orthez. Sara proudly proclaims itself “the smallest workshop in the world”. The manufacture of berets offers a wide collection of berets for men and women, customization … to discover without a doubt …
And if Sara on her website proudly declares that she is one of the last 3 French beret manufacturers, we regret to say that she is wrong because a fourth one has appeared.
The Constanti beret, making French berets… with chocolate
You have understood, it is about us and our berets are not worn on the head but are tasted with greed. Think about it, a real beret from one of the 3 manufacturers we have just presented accompanied by
a box of chocolate berets
that only the Constanti House proposes, here is a magnificent gift, very classy, which will not fail to touch the heart of the person who will receive it.
