Le Pigeon Voyageur vêtements de travail

Customers often contact us about three French brands: Adolphe Lafont, Le Laboureur and Le Mont St Michel, three great brands from the heyday of everything being manufactured locally that still exist today. However, before globalisation, dozens of other brands and manufacturers thrived, producing clothing just as nice as these three.

Today we would like to focus on one of our favourites, Le Pigeon Voyageur or Pigeon Voyageur (PV). At its peak in the early 1970s it employed 800 people and produced a million and a half garments a year.

The Pigeon Voyageur factory employed hundreds of womeThe business was established by the Appourchaux family in Bethune, market town situated in Pas-de-Calais, Northern France. As one of the town's main employers, it had several sites in the area and recruited hundreds of people, especially women, including many school leavers aged 14, and then 16 when the school age was raised. They expanded into sportswear and outerwear for pursuits such as fishing and hunting.

The name (homing pigeon) reflected a big hobby for locals in Northern France, keeping pigeons in your backyard and taking part in competitions. The carrier pigeon was also perceived as one of the hero animals of WWI and associated with values of hard work, determination and consistency. With this name, the Appourchaux family attached themselves to the region, its culture and people. Even today, there are 20,000 registered 'Colombophiles' in France, 10,000 in Nord-Pas-de-Calais alone.

Other brands also referred to animals seen in the countryside and familiar to their customer base. Examples include Le Sanglier (wild boar), Le Faisan, or L'Hirondelle (swallow). Another Northern French brand was 'Le Mineur' again reflecting the local economy and culture. The presence of old mines in that part of the world still has a big impact on the area.

The Appourchaux had a strong visual and marketing culture for their time, using everyday objects for advertising. These included rulers, blotting paper, keyrings etc.

This went with the striking graphic design of the label and fonts (the cloth labels inside the garments or the paper labels), even a customised bus, which probably went around the Tour de France. The visuals were sharp and contemporary, with fonts evolving and reflecting the decades well - that's definitely another reason to love PV.

At its peak the manufacturer was also a sub-contractor for haute couture. Sadly globalisation came along and the business started to decline in the late 1970s and shut its doors in 1994.

It has left us with great quality garments, which we are always excited to find. What non-obvious / more obscure brand are you happy to come across? Do let us know.

Some great Le Pigeon Voyageur garments.