Petit Bateau

In 1893 Pierre Valton opened, in a 3,700 m2 workshop, the Valton-Quinquarlet & Sons hosiery factory, which specialized in underwear, especially in underpants and vests. Established in the Aube, capital of the French textile industry in the nineteenth century, at that time the Saint-Joseph factory in Troyes manufactured the entire production. In 1918 Étienne, the founder's son, invented underpants without legs and buttons and replaced the rough wool by white unbleached cotton. For greater convenience, he replaced the buttons by an elastic band at the waist and the thighs. However, the brand used the term "panties", which referred more to women's or children's underwear.

Valton was inspired by the nursery rhyme Maman les p'tits bateaux (Mummy the little boats) for the name of this new underwear, and he registered it as his trademark. The Petit Bateau brand was thus registered in 1920 by the Valton-Quinquarlet company, and was symbolized at that time by the drawing of a little girl nicknamed Marinette. At the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris, the company won the "Grand Prix de l'innovation" but it was really after the Second World War that the company developed and diversified its product range.

In the late 1980s the company was on the verge of filing for bankruptcy; it was acquired in 1988 by the Rocher Group, formerly the Yves Rocher Group, which beat a BNP bid. The Rocher Group also includes Yves Rocher, Stanhome, Pierre Ricaud, Daniel Jouvance, Kiotis, ID Parfums, Flomar and Sabon.

In the middle of the 1990s, in the midst of a minimalist trend, Petit Bateau became a “fashionable” brand: Karl Lagerfeld had Claudia Schiffer walk the catwalk in a Petit Bateau T-shirt under his Chanel suit, and success was immediate. The child's T-shirt she wore was then made available in adult sizes. T-shirt sales increased tenfold over the next three years. In 1994 Petit Bateau put on a fashion show. The designers seized on the child's white T-shirt and made it a fashion phenomenon. This event marked the entrance of the brand into the ready-to-wear market for adults.

In 2000 Petit Bateau opened its flagship store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. In 2013 Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki were named artistic directors of the adult collections.

Today, Petit Bateau is a brand of clothing and underwear. Present in Europe, Japan, China, the Middle East, Russia and the United States, its products are sold in nearly 400 Petit Bateau shops, 4,300 partner stores and also on its e-commerce website launched in 2006.

All the collections are devised by the style teams located in Paris.

The company has been accused by the UFC-Que Choisir of deceiving the consumer. According to Fabienne Maleysson, the company is a "past master" in the art of making customers believe that their products are made in France, more particularly in Troyes. She estimates in her article that only 20% of the production is made in France and 80% in North Africa. This publication is criticized by Jean-Pierre Lambour, secretary of the works council; the union delegate stresses the fact that the company still employs 1,100 people in the Aube and 2,000 in France while the majority of companies in the hosiery sector have closed.

45% of the knitting and dyeing is done in the Petit Bateau St Joseph factory in Troyes, the remaining 55% being done in the Petit Bateau factory in Morocco created in 1989.

As for the manufacture, 85% of the clothes (underpants, pyjamas, panties or T-shirts) are made in the Petit Bateau factory in Marrakech and in the partner production plants in Morocco and Tunisia. As underlined by François Hollande after a visit to the workshops of the historic site of the Troyes factory in April 2017, if they had not made the decision to move a portion of their production to North Africa, Petit Bateau would no longer exist in Troyes. Regarding the remaining 15%, Petit Bateau collaborates with manufacturers with expertise complementary to that of the brand. Thus, products such as raincoats or trousers are produced by about thirty external suppliers, installed in particular in Eastern Europe and Asia.

The sustainable approach of the house also has an influence on the sales packaging, from which plastic has been banned. Petit Bateau is committed to a sustainable approach in 2017, by developing recycling between individuals based on the circular economy. Called “Faites passer les Petit Bateau”(Pass on the “Petit Bateau”) the webspace of this Petit Bateau application puts sellers and buyers of the brand's used clothing – which is deemed almost indestructible - in contact free of charge.