Industry
Northern France is a national reference for innovative textiles with
- nearly 200 sector businesses
- 9,000 workers
- 17% of French sales in the industry.
Including Belgian businesses specializing in industrial textiles, the total number of textile companies within a 150-kilometer radius rises to 350 and the number of jobs to 18,000.
Main markets for high-tech textile producers in Northern France are:
- transport, especially automobiles
- medical services and healthcare
- manufacturing
- sports and leisure
- protection
- construction and civil engineering
Our region has an unparalleled offering of courses relating to the textile industry, with 1,200 graduates each year.
Two engineering schools train 120 graduates a year, or 2/3 of the French engineers in the field:
- ENSAIT, the national school for textile arts and industries (www.ensait.fr)
- ESTIT, the national school for textile processes and industries (www.estit.fr)
Two-year colleges specializing in textiles, vocational secondary schools and apprenticeship centers also train top-level technicians.
Six teams in a 10-km radius employ 120 researchers working on the textiles of the future:
- Gemtex, in association with the Ecole Nationale des Arts et Industries Textiles
- IFTH (Institut Français du Textile et d’Habillement)
- Centre Matisse, in association with ESTIT
- IEMN (Institut d’Electornique, de Microélctronique et de Nanotechnologie)
- PERF (Laboratoire des Procédés d’Elaboration des Revêtements Fonctionnels)
- CREPIM (Centre de Recherche et d’Etude sur les Procédés d’Ignifugation des Matériaux)
Northern France is also home to CENT, the European Center for Non-woven Fabrics, dedicated to developing the textiles of tomorrow. In this fast-growing market, CENT aims to create a European cluster for R&D in innovative products and processes, offering small-scale production runs of non-woven fabrics.
The first step was the opening in Tourcoing of a central lab, with links to scientific and technical teams in other centers provide access to know-how in chemicals, high-tech textiles, mechanical engineering, automation, visionics and more.
Networking among participating businesses, research centers and training institutions opens promising scope for future projects. Facilities are flexible, covering a wide range of production processes.
The next step will be to set up a production center capable of developing new product lines for full-scale production, thus verifying technical performance and tracking cost components.
By bringing together European technology, CENT serves
- scientists working in applied research
- businesses, which can use its facilities for testing and launch of new R&D programs. Through CENT, SMEs will gain access to equipment used by major world players, while multinationals can outsource research to industry specialists.
As the first step in a wide-reaching program for the development of innovative textiles, CENT draws on the expertise and commitment of a range of players focusing on the same market or same technology.
Support
Clubtex (www.clubtex.com), a not-for-profit association set up in 1989, brings together textile professionals and promotes both the industry as a whole and its members.
Innotex (www.innotex.com.fr), a business incubator specialized in high-performance textiles, is one of the most active units of its type in France.
Contacts : 
