Selling or partnering your luxury workshop or maison in France: when the great houses buy their suppliers

For decades, a leather goods workshop, a tannery, an embroiderer or a watch manufacturer was handed on within the family or to a craftsman trained on site. The great houses remained customers, outside the capital. This model has reversed over some fifteen years: the houses realised that their rarity depended on a few dozen fragile suppliers and began to buy them, often discreetly. Funds followed, financing groups of contract manufacturers able to serve several houses.

The 2026 context is accelerating this movement. The global luxury market fell in 2024 and is expected to fall again in 2025, according to Bain and Altagamma. ¹ Houses are sorting their suppliers and concentrating orders on the partners they control. For the owner of an independent workshop, the question is no longer just finding a buyer: it is whether they prefer to remain one supplier among others or become part of the industrial set-up of a house, a group of contract manufacturers or a peer.

A huge, export-driven market that is pausing

The French fashion and luxury industry represents around €154 billion in revenue and nearly 600,000 jobs, three fifths of them in retail, according to the 2023-2027 industry contract signed with the state. ² Leather alone accounts for nearly €25 billion and 133,000 employees in more than 13,000 companies, 90% of them SMEs; watchmaking and jewellery has around 2,700 companies. ² Luxury goods exports reached €59 billion, nearly 12% of French goods exports. ² The Comité Colbert, which brings together 98 French houses across fourteen trades, points out that French luxury represents a quarter of global luxury and that its houses generate on average 86% of their revenue abroad. ³ Behind them works an ecosystem of SMEs: leather goods, jewellery, textiles, embroidery, packaging, components, fine crafts, some of which produce almost exclusively for a few houses while others develop their own brand.

This fabric depends on global demand that is running out of steam. According to Bain and Altagamma, the global luxury industry fell 1% in 2024, to €364 billion, and the most likely scenario for 2025 is a fall of 2% to 5%, a first since 2008 outside the pandemic. ¹ The gap between the best-performing brands and the rest is widening. ¹ For a subcontractor, this means irregular order books and customers renegotiating. The market for workshops, however, remains active, because houses seek to secure what makes them rare.

The drivers of consolidation

Vertical integration by the great houses. Chanel took over the JY BH group and its four garment workshops in 2024, then three other suppliers in November, including a leather goods maker and two haute couture workshops near Cholet that had worked for it for more than twenty years; its network of subsidiaries, including Paraffection, covers around forty companies. ^4,5 Hermès took a minority stake in Italian wool maker Lanificio Colombo at the end of 2025, after John Lobb, Saint-Louis or Puiforcat. ⁶ When a house buys its supplier, peers lose a customer and gain an integrated competitor. Beyond know-how, the house secures the quality, lead times and production capacity of a critical step in its value chain.
The artisan shortage. The Comité Colbert estimates more than 20,000 posts to fill in craft and production trades, and points out that it takes at least five years to train a leather craftsman or jeweller. ^7,8 A quarter of the industry's employees will retire within ten years and half of vocational graduates leave the sector within a year. ² A workshop of thirty trained people has become a rare asset, which houses prefer to buy rather than rebuild.
Founder succession. The Living Heritage Company label (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, EPV), created in 2005, recognises more than 1,300 companies, 19% of them in fashion and beauty: family businesses, often created in the 1980s and 1990s, sometimes without a successor, whose know-how disappears if no one takes over. ⁹
Traceability and compliance requirements. Origin of leathers and stones, duty of vigilance, social and environmental audits imposed by customers: a subcontractor must document its supply chain like an industrial company. These fixed costs weigh more heavily on a fifteen-person workshop than on a group, and push towards more integrated, better documented production chains.
The need for size facing customers. Houses are reducing their number of suppliers and expect each to offer capacity, financial strength and several trades. Fund-backed groups of contract manufacturers meet this expectation by combining complementary workshops.
The development needs of independent brands. For an independent maison, the next step, opening stores, online sales, expansion abroad, financing inventory, requires resources the family shareholder does not always want to carry alone. A group brings distribution, retail and international reach; a brand platform brings support functions.

Who buys workshops and maisons today

The great houses and their know-how subsidiaries. Chanel through Paraffection, LVMH through its fine crafts arm, Hermès, Kering or Richemont buy tanneries, leather goods workshops, embroiderers or watch manufacturers, sometimes 100%, sometimes through a minority stake that leaves the workshop free to work for others.
Fund-backed contract manufacturing platforms. Multi-workshop groups, in leather goods, garments, jewellery or components, are being built through successive acquisitions following a buy-and-build logic, aiming to become the reference industrial partner of several houses. The same funds also finance brand platforms looking for maisons with a strong identity but limited resources.
Independent maisons and growing peers. Mid-sized family maisons buy workshops to bring a manufacturing step in-house or take over endangered know-how.
Foreign buyers and family investors. Italian, Swiss or Gulf groups, families and family holdings are interested in branded maisons and labelled manufacturers, attracted by the prestige of French manufacturing. Some long-term investors support heritage companies while preserving their identity and management.

The sector imposes no restrictions on capital ownership, but it has its checkpoints. The EPV label, registered trademarks, customer approvals, exclusivity contracts, leases and ownership of models or designs are attached to specific entities. A buyer checks that they are held by the company being sold and that customer contract clauses will not lose it a house the day after signing.

What this changes for the owner

A full sale to a house or group suits an owner who wants to guarantee the future of the workshop and its teams, with a transition of a few months to two years.
A partnership with reinvestment is for an owner who wants to secure part of their wealth while continuing to grow: they sell a majority or minority, reinvest part of the price in the acquisition holding and share in the next round of value creation.
A combination between peers in complementary trades, for example a cutting workshop and a stitching workshop, reaches the size customers expect without an outside investor.
A capital reorganisation such as an OBO lets the founder monetise part of their shares and bring in their workshop manager or management team, with bank debt or a minority investor, while keeping control.

In all cases, buyers look at the same things, and in luxury the intangible quality of the asset matters as much as its figures: reputation, know-how, depth of relationships with houses and the ability to meet standards often weigh more than size.

Revenue split between client houses. Each customer's share is read alongside the length of the relationship, its strategic nature for the house and the duration of contracts or volume commitments.
Rarity of know-how. Skills, processes, customer approvals, the EPV label and recruitment difficulty form a barrier to entry that the buyer purchases.
Operational quality. Defect rates, on-time delivery, results of quality, social and environmental audits and the ability to scale up without lowering standards are examined closely.
The team's ability to pass on skills. Age profile, training plan, mentoring and an identified successor for the workshop manager secure the company's future after the deal.
Profitability by customer and trade. A readable margin, not dependent on a single model or season, is the starting point for discussing price and any earn-out linked to future volumes.
Assets and compliance. Condition and ownership of premises, ownership of models and designs, traceability of materials, social and environmental compliance are checked before any binding offer.
For a branded maison, desirability and distribution. Sell-through rates, repurchase, own-store network, share of multi-brand retail and international presence complete the analysis.

You are thinking of selling: is this the right moment for you?

This is the first question we ask, and the answer is not the same for everyone. The right moment is never automatically "right now", even in a market where buyers remain numerous. It depends on two things: you, meaning your life plans, personal horizon and wealth objectives, and your company, meaning its ability to realise today all the value it holds. We encounter two situations.

Your workshop is almost ready. Several client houses, multi-year contracts, a trained team with succession in place, audits without reservations, a readable margin. Or you want your workshop to become part of a larger project, that of a great house or a group of contract manufacturers, often under LBO, that brings the tools, expertise and resources to absorb changes in the sector, which is reassuring for you and for your teams. A few weeks of preparation are then enough to go to market, and the large number of buyers works in your favour.
Your workshop needs time. A single house accounts for most of your orders, the current year was marked by a gap in the order book linked to the market slowdown, the age profile is unbalanced with no training plan, the audits requested by your customers found discrepancies. Selling remains possible, but it means accepting a discount. We will then tell you frankly that it is better to spend several months, sometimes a few years, working on these points, and we can support you through that phase before launching the transaction when you are truly ready.

The workstreams that make the difference are well known: diversify client houses or formalise the relationship with the main one, document capacity, quality, investments and recruitment plan, obtain or renew the EPV label and expected certifications, build a training and skills transfer plan, secure premises and ownership of models, and show profitability by customer and trade. For a brand, it means presenting detailed sales data by country, channel and customer cohort, and securing trademarks, designs and distribution contracts. Depending on your starting point, they take weeks or years.

The benefit of talking early, even without being sure you want to sell, is precisely knowing which of these two situations you are in, and deciding with full knowledge rather than under the pressure of a house bringing production in-house or an unexpected takeover offer. In this sector, direct approaches from a customer are frequent; having prepared your position before responding changes everything.

Facing houses and groups with dedicated acquisition teams, who know your economics since they are often your customers, an owner negotiating alone is rarely on an equal footing. The value of a workshop is not just a headline price: it depends on the buyer's plan, the price structure, any earn-out linked to future volumes, the share reinvested, the warranties, the future of the teams and the freedom to keep working for other houses. Two offers for the same amount can mean different things.

The role of an independent M&A adviser is to establish an objective valuation, identify all relevant buyers, houses, groups of contract manufacturers, peers and investors, put them in competition in a structured and confidential process, and negotiate beyond price alone. This competition protects the seller: it lets them compare genuinely different projects and choose the one that fits their objectives, including when the historical customer is one of the candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Why do the great luxury houses buy their suppliers?

To secure rare know-how, critical production capacity, quality, lead times and traceability of materials. Chanel, Hermès or LVMH have thus taken control of or stakes in leather goods and garment workshops, tanneries or wool makers that had worked for them for years. It takes at least five years to train a leather craftsman or jeweller: a trained workshop can be bought faster than it can be rebuilt. ⁸

Does working almost exclusively for one house prevent you from selling your workshop?

No, but this concentration is analysed closely. The length of the relationship, its strategic nature for the house, volume commitments and the rarity of the know-how mitigate its effect. In many cases, the client house is itself a candidate to buy; the challenge is then not to negotiate with it alone and to bring other options into play, groups of contract manufacturers or peers.

Who buys luxury workshops and manufacturers today?

Four families of buyers: the great houses and their know-how subsidiaries, such as Paraffection for Chanel or LVMH's fine crafts arm; fund-backed platforms of contract manufacturers and brands; independent maisons and peers bringing a manufacturing step in-house; and foreign buyers or family investors attracted by French manufacturing and the Living Heritage Company label.

Is an approval required to buy a Living Heritage Company?

The sector imposes no restrictions on capital ownership. However, the EPV label, customer approvals, exclusivity contracts, leases and ownership of models are attached to a specific company. The buyer checks that they are held by the entity being sold and that change-of-control clauses in customer contracts will not lose it a house the day after signing.

Can you sell your workshop and continue to run it?

Yes. In a partnership, the owner sells a majority or minority to a house, a group of contract manufacturers or an investor, reinvests part of the price and stays at the helm to continue growing with greater resources. A minority stake by a great house also often leaves the workshop free to work for other customers.

When should an independent luxury brand consider a partnership?

When it has demonstrated a strong identity and commercial traction, but the next step, opening stores, international expansion, online sales or financing inventory, requires resources the family shareholder no longer wants to carry alone. A group or brand platform then brings distribution, support functions and capital.

How long does it take to sell a workshop or manufacturer?

Between preparing the file and signing, generally six to nine months: confidential approach to houses, groups and investors, gathering offers, quality, social and financial due diligence, negotiation. Upstream preparation, notably formalising relationships with customers and the skills transfer plan, can take several more months.

Why put several buyers in competition when selling your luxury workshop?

Because houses and groups already know your economics, since they are often your customers, and have dedicated acquisition teams. A confidential process bringing together several candidates allows you to compare prices, but also the industrial plan, the freedom to keep working for other houses, the earn-out linked to future volumes, the warranties and the future of the artisans.

Public sources consulted

Journal du Luxe, Le marché des biens personnels de luxe pourrait connaître un ralentissement inédit en 2025, d'après Bain & Company et Altagamma (23 juin 2025) : https://www.journalduluxe.fr/fr/business/etude-marche-biens-personnels-luxe-recul-chiffres-2025 (good reliability)
Conseil national de l'industrie et Direction générale des Entreprises, Contrat de filière Mode et Luxe 2023-2027 : https://www.entreprises.gouv.fr/files/files/Entites/CNI/2023/contrat-filiere-mode-et-luxe-2023-2027.pdf (high reliability)
Comité Colbert, site institutionnel, présentation et chiffres clés de l'association (consulté en octobre 2026) : https://www.comitecolbert.com/ (good reliability)
Journal du Luxe, Chanel devient propriétaire du groupe de manufactures JY BH (12 mars 2024) : https://www.journalduluxe.fr/fr/mode/chanel-proprietaire-manfacture-jybh-recrutement-luxe (good reliability)
La Conceria, Chanel made a series of under-the-radar acquisitions of French suppliers in 2024 (fin 2024) : https://www.laconceria.it/en/finance/chanel-made-a-series-of-under-the-radar-acquisition-of-french-suppliers-in-2024 (good reliability)
Luxury Tribune, Hermès prend une part minoritaire dans le capital de Lanificio Colombo (6 novembre 2025) : https://www.luxurytribune.com/hermes-prend-une-part-minoritaire-dans-le-capital-de-lanificio-colombo (good reliability)
Comité Colbert, communiqué de presse, Les De(ux)mains du Luxe au Carrefour de l'Orientation de Cholet (12 novembre 2024) : https://comitecolbert.com/app/uploads/2024/11/20241112-cp-les-deux-mains-du-luxe-cholet.pdf (good reliability)
France Travail, Maroquinerie, joaillerie, mode : les filières du luxe recrutent, entretien avec le Comité Colbert (octobre 2024, mis à jour septembre 2025) : https://www.francetravail.fr/actualites/le-dossier/luxe/page.html (good reliability)
Direction générale des Entreprises, Étude sur les Entreprises du Patrimoine Vivant : des acteurs clés des territoires (17 septembre 2026) : https://www.entreprises.gouv.fr/la-dge/actualites/etude-annuelle-2026-label-epv (high reliability)