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The Camo-Cantaloup firm was founded at Arles-sur-Tech in 1913, specialised in the production of cloth for espadrilles, the manufacture of which was then a widespread and prosperous activity in the Vallespir region. From the 1950s, the firm was run by Pierre Muchart who had a diploma in fine arts and who initiated a series of productive reconversions and heritage projects at a time when the factory had suffered from the flooding of the Tech river in October 1940 and when, more generally, the business was affected by a decline in traditional footwear making. Production was redirected towards making large pieces of cloth for use in ready-made clothing or in household linen. The firm’s private archives and in particular its preserved cloth samples, show how traditional designs were recycled into new products. At the beginning of the 1990s, the factory’s machines ceased operation and the site was gradually abandoned. It was purchased by the local authorities in 2012 in order to offer facilities for art-based and craft activities. Part of the site saw restoration in 2020-2021, including the factory’s former machine hall which still contains 22 mechanical looms. The technical equipment for weaving and dyeing which has been preserved is characteristic of the equipment used for the manufacture of cotton goods during the twentieth century and is now part of the rich variety of textile-related heritage in the Occitanie region. |
