the workwear market | France

1.1 Presentation and definition of the market

Work clothes are articles of clothing intended to be worn in the course of a professional activity. This is often done to protect the worker against one or more risks to his or her safety

There are 4 main categories of work clothes:

• Technical clothing;

• Image clothing;

• The uniforms

• Personal protective equipment (PPE).

Nevertheless, the distinction between these categories is gradually fading as many PPE or technical garments are becoming more and more personalised.

It is important to note that the work-wear sector does not include footwear (such as safety footwear).

The French work-wear market is slightly on the rise with a 4% growth between 2015 and 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic has had an overall positive impact on this market as the months following confinement were almost twice the level of the same months during previous year. This increase can be explained by the desire of companies to reassure their employees by providing them with more work clothes or by renewing old clothes to protect them against health risks.

Generally speaking, the work-wear market is deeply linked to the dynamism of the industrial, construction, certain market services (hotel/restaurant, transport), health and public service sectors. Among their main functions are the protection of the worker, communication on the brand or service, or the identification of an employee.