At the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, seamstresses in the Montpellier region mobilized to make masks. A call for “SOS masks” was launched on Facebook and very quickly, several seamstresses or designers from the region responded. A dozen and soon fifty women volunteer. The network is growing gradually and orders are pouring in.

Caroline Bouvier, seamstress, stylist, decides to go even further. With its entrepreneurial partners, it is setting up an innovative project: “the company of tomorrow”, united and collaborative. A “dream” place with workshops and jobs, a coworking space, a commercial area and associated events.

Thus begins the story of the collective “Les nouvelles grisettes”. A name that refers to the grisettes of Montpellier, these women of the people, the invisible ones, recognized for their know-how, who, still in the 19th century, gained their independence by working in textiles.

Réjane Varrod, the director, tells us about this wonderful adventure, born against the backdrop of the health crisis and which has become a real breeding ground for craftsmanship and creativity.