« Wool & the Jules Tournier Factory »
It is natural, soft, beautiful, warm, durable, and insulating.
Of animal origin, wool is shorn regularly from sheep, which makes it an inexhaustible natural resource with many physical attributes.
Thanks to its wavy texture and its scaled structure, wool fiber stores a large quantity of air, guaranteeing good thermal insulation.
In addition, it is a naturally hydrophobic material, which makes it possible to produce fabrics with low water permeability that are water-repellent after felting.
These advantages have made it the preferred material for winter clothing, and more particularly, for sailors‘ clothing. Our 100% wool peacoats are historically the best protection against cold and humidity in hostile environments. Of note, they were used by the French army of Napoleon III, and later by the soldiers of the First World War, with their famous “horizon blue” uniforms.
Wool is our historical core business; the beginnings of the Jules Tournier Factory are intimately linked to industrial developments in its region, which, from the 15th century onward, exploited the unique, natural properties of the water from the Montagne Noire for wool pulling and the treatment of sheep hides. As wool manufacturers since 1865, we work this material with passion and perpetuate exceptional savoir-faire.
Originally, we produced flannels, swaddling clothes, cordelats, and fleeces. Today, our felts, peacoats, woolen sheets, tweeds, and brushed mohairs—our Timeless collection—are the direct heirs of this heritage.
We have all the industrial tools—all the machines, from the oldest to the most modern—to work with this material. We felt our wool fabrics for slippers soles in wooden drums dating from the middle of the last century. This operation is an essential step in obtaining thickness, abrasion resistance, and exceptional durability for our products.
For our peacoats and pure woolen sheets for high-end ready-to-wear, our modern finishing machines allow us to offer incomparable drape and feel. This can be seen in particular with fabrics made from Arles merino, which have extraordinary resilience, softness, and durability.
Now, we have diversified our offerings by producing fancy tweeds for luxury ready-to-wear and by developing a subsidiary dedicated to technical textiles. We ally recent industrial progress with traditional knowledge of wool work to better serve these specific developments.
French expertise that today attracts the most prestigious brands.
