Old Gillet Factory

Description

After "50 Shades of Grey", here we have "1,000 shades of black". A production of the Gillet factory, which has made every colour under the sun known to silk. Including black.
Distributed all over the world.

It's true that the factory is pretty recognisable with its red brick and 50-metre chimney. It's true that it's pretty impressive, with its 16,600m². It's true that it provided a livelihood for over 500 families in its heyday. So what is there to get excited about?
Well it has to be said that colour is part of the DNA of the Gillet dye works. And so is dying silk.
The old lady - the factory - set up home on the banks of the River Gier to take advantage of the quality of its waters which flowed directly down from the Pilat massif. That's because the lady - well her silks - was frequenting some smart people, even some crowned heads of Europe. Yes, she was the one chosen to dye several kilometres of black silk for Queen Victoria, when she went into mourning. And decades later she was the one they came to again for 60 metres of silk for Queen Elisabeth II's train.
But as we said, all stories have an end, even the best ones (even the stories of princesses!) and the Gillet story came to its end in 1976, but not without leaving some traces behind.