LE MINOR: A Brief History

1936:
Madame Marie-Anne LE MINOR, born in the Glazik region of Brittany (between Quimper and Douarnenez), chose the Bigouden region (near the town of Pont-l’Abbé), her adopted home by marriage, to found the Le Minor company.

At the beginning, Le Minor was a workshop for dolls’ clothing, which quickly grew to employ twenty people. The dolls, whose fame took their creator to the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, also served as the basis for a long friendship between Madame Le Minor and the writer Colette, who described Madame Le Minor as the “grand couturier of folk dolls”.

WORLD WAR II:
The company’s beginnings were soon disrupted by war, and the shortage of celluloid, required for doll bodies, led Madame Le Minor to seek other means to keep her workshop employed. She began to use the decorative embroideries of traditional Breton costumes and to apply them in completely new ways: tablecloths, table cosies, hats, handbags.

1948:
The first Le Minor silk scarf was introduced. This was the Penmarc’h model (at left), designed by Pierre Toulhoat. The experiment was an immediate hit, and many more equally successful designs have followed and remain available to this day, designed by well-known artists such as André Bouler, Louis Bouligand, René-Yves Creston, Jean Fournier, Pierre Péron, Pierre Toulhoat, and Dominique Villard.

1957:
The company received new blood when the second generation, Jean and Jacques Le Minor, took the helm. Taking inspiration from the thick-woven fabric worn by coastal kelp gatherers of the 19th century, Le Minor adapted the fabric to create a new fashion, that of the kabig (at right). During the 1970s a “kabig fad” swept France and Europe, carrying Le Minor to one of the high points in its history.

1980:
The economic crisis of the late 1970s combined with the end of the “kabig fad” to push Le Minor into financial difficulties. The company stopped manufacturing dolls and sold off its clothing marque, but retained everything that pertains to folk art: hand embroidery, table linen, silk scarves, and folk costumes. Le Minor returned to its original strength, which is tradition.

1988:
The second generation passed the baton, and since that time Gildas Le Minor (at left) has held the command of the House of Le Minor.

During his 20 years at the head of the enterprise, Gildas Le Minor has striven to develop and modernise a folk art rich in tradition. He seeks to play a role in Breton popular culture because tradition is preserved when it renews itself. His essential concern is to find inspiration in the deep wells of tradition, and apply it to a wide variety of creations — not just the old and the new, but timeless innovations worthy of being the emblems of regional identity.

To do this, he calls upon well-known regional artists, or artists strongly inspired by Brittany.

These artists apply their talents to such products as:

• church banners (Pierre Toulhoat)
• embroidered table linen (Gwen Le Gac)
• printed table linen (Pierre Toulhoat, Nelly Rodi)
• porcelain tableware (Nelly Rodi)
• hand-embroidered tapestries based upon designs by famous artists (Dom Robert, Picart Le Doux, Simon Chaye, Pierre Toulhoat...)
• numerous works of embroidery (clothing, furniture covering, decoration, high fashion).

In conclusion, the challenge for Gildas Le Minor is to reflect Breton culture to Bretons, and to transmit to visitors his passion for beauty and tradition, in offering them products of great regional style.