The EPV label recognizes the excellence of rare savoir-faire

In a globalized world where expectations of more sustainable consumption, valuing Made in France and its savoir-faire, are growing by leaps and bounds, the EPV label is more relevant than ever... Yet the general public needs to be better able to recognize what's behind the acronym of this label of excellence, set up by the State twenty years ago.

"This label is not sufficiently well known, admits Tristan de Witte, President of the EPV Excellence Network, because the State devotes budget to labeling companies, not to its communication. So it's up to companies to make it legible, and the reason we created our network".

Constituted in 2024 and chaired since then by Tristan De Witte, the Réseau Excellence EPV replaced the former ANEPV (Association Nationale des EPV) existing since the origin of the EPV Label, with a more proactive organization and approach in terms of communication and anchored in the territories. A dozen regional associations are thus brought together by a Federation (the Network).

"Each has around a hundred companies meeting on a regular basis. This enables members to discover other professions and, in particular, to imagine co-productions with peers sharing the same high standards. This is the virtue of our multi-sector network", explains Tristan De Witte.

State recognition

© Réseau Excellence EPV

The entire Réseau Excellence EPV is dedicated to raising awareness of the label's unique assets. More than other means of promoting themselves for hexagonal companies (via, for example, their location, like Origine France Garantie), "EPV distinguishes the best manufacturers in their field, an assertion that the State guarantees better than the companies themselves can", Tristan De Witte emphasizes.

The labeling of a company is the result of a six-month appraisal process. To obtain this label, you must be the holder of a rare and excellent savoir-faire, whether artisanal or industrial, and demonstrate a territorial anchorage. "The rarity can be that of a gesture that has always been carried out in the company, or of old equipment or tools", notes Tristan De Witte. Excellence can be proven by indicators such as "being the subcontractor of a major luxury Home or having a Meilleur Ouvrier de France on its team".

Applicant companies are seriously audited by SGS France, world leader in testing, inspection and certification services, commissioned by the Direction Générale des Entreprises. The audit is analyzed by a committee of experts appointed by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, who validate or reject the application before the prefecture validates the award of the label, for a renewable period of five years.

Around 1,300 companies have now been awarded the label, representing almost 59,000 jobs and over 14 billion euros in cumulative sales. Among the sectors represented (Home, Gastronomy, Jewelry, Tableware, etc.), Fashion boasts some 250 certified companies, including 150 in Clothing. These include companies with a wide range of savoir-faire, such as Le Minor, a Breton specialist in top-of-the-range knitted fabrics (with a rare luxury linking knitwear technique), Tuffery, a pioneer of French denim in the Cévennes since 1892, and Kiplay, a Normandy-based workwear expert since 1921, which also produces its own ready-to-wear brand. La Société Choletaise de Fabrication, meanwhile, weaves, knits, braids or makes narrow lace textiles to measure (braided trims, laces...) for, among others, the greatest luxury Houses in the fashion and luxury sectors. "She has bought back endangered 19th-century professions, enabling very fine weaving", stresses Tristan De Witte.

A competitive lever

For all these companies, the EPV label is an undeniable lever of competitiveness and recognition. Starting with international markets, where 80% of EPV-labeled companies export, with an average of 52.3% of their sales generated in this way."For EPV companies, generally positioned at the top end of the market, the French market is too small, explains Tristan de Witte. The fact that you've been recognized by the French government is a major advantage when it comes to exporting. Our network organizes trips or participation in trade shows, often with the help of Business France. When EPV companies travel together, for example to Riyadh where the local environment is very demanding, it's very effective. An EPV label, an indicator of excellence, sometimes helps accelerate an export or B2B development plan."

In France, premium or luxury houses, sometimes themselves label holders (such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton or the workshops of Paraffection, Chanel's métiers d'art subsidiary...), are sensitive to this label at a subcontractor. To highlight these exceptional companies,the Maison du Savoir-Faire et de la Création platform, which puts brands and manufacturers in touch with each other, has added an "Entreprises du Patrimoine Vivant" criterion to the list of distinctions displayed by the latter.

The EPV label also entitles the holder to a more generous tax credit for arts and crafts professions, set at 15% of eligible expenditure compared with 10% for a conventional enterprise. On the HR side, the EPV label strengthens the employer brand and employees' pride in belonging. "We have a lot of difficulty recruiting today, but when you're an EPV, it helps. It's very important when you're in a production profession to show extra soul", explains Tristan De Witte. By joining the network, it's finally possible to take part in training courses, masterclasses, meet other companies, get out of an overly compartmentalized professional environment...

"Applying for the label has a small cost (€1,000 to €2,000 depending on size), partially covering the costs of the selection work of around €4,000, essentially paid for by the State, but we receive much more than we give", assures Tristan De Witte, who urges label-holders to sign up "to this dynamic of capitalizing on their ancestral savoir-faire" and to invest as much as possible in the life of the label to reap the individual and collective benefits.

Very innovative EPVs

The investments required to maintain its level of quality and renew its label every five years don't seem an obstacle. "EPVs are not old-fashioned companies. On the contrary, they are always striving to find the best production methods of excellence and are in a demanding innovation dynamic. I see EPV companies, including small ones, using or taking an interest in 3D printing or AI", he points out.

For label holders, joining EPV is finally the assurance of benefiting from the leverage of the three sectors of excellence, set up by the Excellence Network, starting with Home (Contract) two years ago, before Gastronomy and Fashion, six months ago.

These bring together small groups of EPV company managers, tasked with drawing up a strategic roadmap. In Fashion, for example, Olivier Verrièle (Société Choletaise de Fabrication), Clément Pradal (Kiplay), Julien Tuffery (Tuffery), Clémentine Colin (Fédération Française de la Chaussure), Jean-Baptiste 0'Neill (le Soulor), Catherine Cousin (Filt)...Among the challenges: exporting as a group, taking advantage of Fashion Week to organize high-quality events, or launching design bridges between EPV manufacturers and craftsmen.

All of this will enable us to deploy "a rather enormous strike force", believes Tristan de Witte.

To raise the profile of the EPV label, the Network is also setting up media ambassadors, like architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte in Home and pastry chef Pierre Hermé in Gastronomy. In Fashion, a first ambassador, a renowned artistic director, will be announced in the second half of the year.

For the future, Tristan De Witte finally expresses the wish that luxury principals, who until now have kept the names of their subcontractors secret, will do more to unlock communication to raise the profile of EPVs. "Some have started to do so and are even more involved in the life of the label...", he rejoices.