180 years of history.

Louis Lafont, Adolphe’s grandfather and a pedlar from the Pyrenees, decided to open a shop in Lyon, having sensed the potential of the fabric trade driven by the flourishing silk business. After marrying a woman from Villefranche-sur-Saône, he settled for good at 25 Grande Rue de la Guillotière in Lyon. His son took over the shop, adding a tailoring workshop to complement the fabrics and ready-to-wear department.

Adolphe Lafont took over the family shop with great ambitions. Seeing the success of the garments made in the workshop, and probably wishing to deter competitors, he registered the name “Adolphe Lafont” in 1896 and created easily recognisable labels.

He thus founded the first registered workwear brand in France.

It was then that he began making his first corduroy trousers, inspired by an idea from his maternal grandfather. With no sewing machine, he had to make them by hand. Short of space, he turned to the banks and, in 1904, bought land in the Monplaisir district of Lyon to build a factory, replacing the first workshop next to the shop.

The reputation of Lafont garments was established, but Adolphe Lafont was not content. A new project caught his attention. Although the fabrics he bought from various regions were of very good quality, he wanted to offer workers the best clothing at a fair price. To do so, he had to bring the dyeing and handling of fabrics in-house, and spin the cotton himself.

In 1911, he achieved his goal by acquiring a dyeing and finishing plant in Villeurbanne, which he ran until 1925.

As the factory became too cramped, he acquired a 5,000 m² plot next to the existing factory to make transport easier. Despite the difficulties of setting up such a factory in the region, he did not stop there. In 1919, he bought a 20,000 m² plot in Villeurbanne and built a 6,000 m² factory able to house 400 looms.

He then turned what had been a sole proprietorship into a partnership limited by shares (SCA).