New leather goods school to open in Haute-Loire, France

Brives-Charensac, a town in the south-central Haute-Loire region in France, is to be the site of a school of excellence in leather goods. According to the local media outlet L'Éveil de la Haute-Loire, in October elected representatives approved a feasibility study for the future school to be located in the Le Puy-en-Velay area.

According to Michel Joubert, chairman of the greater Le Puy-en-Velay urban community and mayor of the Chaspuzac municipality, the project was long overdue. In an interview filmed and broadcast by the local news website La Commère 43, the mayor said that the French leather industry "lacks skilled, trained workers, even though it's a booming sector that can provide recruitment and therefore jobs for the future. It interests us because it's an opportunity for local employment."

The organisations involved in the project include the French leather goods federation (Fédération française de la maroquinerie) and the leather technical centre (Centre technique du cuir). The project is jointly funded by the Haute-Loire region, the Le Puy urban area and a group of companies.

The School of Excellence in Leather Goods will be built in a historic building, namely the cloister of the Chartreuse. The new French educational facility and accommodation aims to train between 80 and 120 people a year.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.FR. Translation and edit from French into English: Veerle Versteeg.