StoryAt the head of the Le Mont Saint Michel brand, Alexandre Milan, heir to a long line of industrialists, and his wife Marie perpetuate the tradition of authentic and sustainable fashion from their design studio in Brittany.
Extend the cable of this giant sweater, ideal for teleworking, reduce the ribs, change the color palette … In the long building with multiple arcades, which, in the 19th centurye century, housed horse-drawn carriages and coaches, the “postponement” is for the team an important moment of questioning and adjustments of the first prototypes. In this case, here, those from the fall-winter 2022-2023 knitwear collection, before they go into production at (European) manufacturers.
To house the design studio of his fashion label, Alexandre Milan took over the former stables located in the property acquired in 1960 by his grandmother. Behind the wrought iron gate, past the entrance pavilion, stretch a forest, a 17th century castlee with topiary gardens, outbuildings from more recent periods, and, on the edge of the pond, the funeral chapel of a former notorious owner, Jean Ambroise Baston, Count of Lariboisière and General of the Empire.
In 1919, a hosiery factory
In this place steeped in history, other stories intersect and rewrite. Alexandre Milan represents the fourth generation of textile manufacturers from northern France. In 1919, the great-grandmother, Caroline Lesaffre, founded a hosiery factory. His two daughters will succeed him, then Patrice Milan, son of one and father of Alexandre, will take the head of Tricotages de l’Aa – “Aa” for the name of the river irrigating Wizernes, cradle of this family which nevertheless sets up residence and factory in the Brittany region, an hour’s drive from Mont-Saint-Michel.
“I felt a strong attachment to these clothes that farmers and artisans wore here. The name was magical and the logo awesome. »Alexandre Milan
Patrice Milan, a brilliant technician, and his wife, Lydie, a fine designer, develop the business. After having, as a child, built cabins in the woods, fished in the river and admired the patinated overalls of Amand the Guardian, Alexandre Milan trained in Switzerland to understand the programming of knitting looms, then worked alongside his parents as product manager: “I had to translate technically, and sometimes stylistically, what brands like agnès b., Isabel Marant or Joseph wanted…”
In 1998, the young man acquired Le Mont Saint Michel, an iconic workwear brand of the French West, created in 1913 but dormant since the end of the 1970s. “I felt a strong attachment to these clothes that farmers and artisans wore here. The name was magical and the logo awesome. “
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