3 questions for . . . Gérard Ravouna President, Mode-Habillement Rhône-Alpes and First Vice-President, FFPAPF

Gerard Ravouna, fashion enthusiast and founder of Babouchka workwear, has been the President of Mode-Habillement Rhône-Alpes for the past 11 years. This regional union defends the unique capabilities of businesses such as Zilli, Lejaby, Avance Diffusion, Nathalie Chaize, Hôtel Particulier and others.

Mode-Habillement Rhône-Alpes, the regional union you have led for 11 years has recently moved to the Villa Creatis, next door to Unitex. Do you think proximity between professional groups is important?

I believe textile and apparel sectors are meant to work together, and that’s why we chose to be physically closer to Unitex (Union des membres de l’industrie textile de Lyon et sa région). In general, I think we all need to work together to be heard during economically challenging times.

And on this subject, Mode-Habillement Rhône-Alpes is the only regional organisation that represents all the apparel segments and includes brands for women, men, children, accessories, fur and, of course, lingerie. This means we can truly stand up for our region, which with 460 businesses (1,000 brands, 4,000 employees, and €2 million turnover) carries significant economic weight.

What are your organisation’s areas of activity?

Naturally, there are all a union’s regular representation duties. Of special note, we founded the Village des Créateurs in Lyon to help young designers. The structure is directed by Isabelle Gleize and hosts around 50 young designers that benefit from our services for 23 months. We also have ModExport, an assistance program to help businesses develop internationally. ModExport provides information about different countries and above all helps find financing for businesses. We also direct our brands to the FFPAPF International Division which helps 200 businesses with their export projects every year.

I think it’s obvious, I believe organizations should work together. We each have our strong points, whether it’s working between regions or between Paris and the different regions. And it’s through this network that I seek to advance a subject I feel very strongly about: the relocalisation of expertise.

How exactly do you encourage relocalisation of expertise?

I wrote the white paper on relocalisaiton, which is another way of saying I’m involved (laughs)! Here again I’m convinced that we need to work with each region’s specific skills to safeguard our top-level expertise. In Rhône-Alpes we have silk, fabric printing, embroidery and leather. These are luxury goods skills that require incredible finesse. So we encourage partnerships between our big fashion houses and our schools. For example, Zilli is involved in the “Leather and ready-to-wear apparel” training program at the Louise Labé technical school. And at the end of November we’ll begin a new partnership between Lejaby Couture, now directed by Alain Prost, and the Adrien Testud technical school. Such collaborations mean these prestigious brands can recruit employees who are already familiar with their working methods in their own region.

But I don’t just think about manufacturing when we talk about relocalisation. You can have the most wonderful product in the world, but you have to know how to protect, promote and sell it. With this in mind, we set up a sales training course at the SupdeMod Fashion School in Lyon. This is one more way to protect local employment.