22 million in sales in 2005 with her husband

At the entrance to the workshop, a true lower garden welcomes isitors. Stacked on the shel es, hundreds o reasons in silk, el et and lace draw an unlikely landscape in a collection o colors. Guillet, nicknamed the "couturier o the lower", will continue to grow its know-how. ounded in 1896, the Parisian House joined in March 2006 the ery closed circle 7 artisans o art acquired by Chanel since 1997, including Lesage or Lemarié, a set which is now more than 35 million euros and 300 jobs. "A ter our generations o the amily at the controls, the company sees its guarantee sustainability." My three sons chose a di erent path, there ore need to ensure the transmission. "Chanel, with whom we work or twenty- i e years, is the best o all," pro ides Marcelle Lubrano-Guillet, who leads the society (1.22 million in sales in 2005) with her husband. In the ield o the creation o arti icial lowers high-end, Guillet is the rance only to work or ashion (70) and decoration (30), or theatre, cinema and ad ertising. These are 26 small hands made pink 5,000 dressing the dummy o ad ertising Jean-Paul Goude or Cacharel. The House also clients include Dior, Lacroix or Elie Saab, who know that it holds a priceless treasure amassed o er time: his collection o 10,000 matrices to per orm all their wishes to make petals and lea es. "The quality o this know-how is appreciated internationally." We are between 20 and 25 o our export acti ity, particularly in the Japan. "It would ha e me lot o sentence that this memory parte abroad", resumed Marcelle Lubrano-Guillet.

Since the purchase by Chanel, Guillet retained its independence, as the other artisans entered the old o the group. "The challenge is to sa eguard TK in Paris, close to our creati e studios." We used that workshops which ha e a real economic iability, and that we encourage to di ersi y. It is there ore no question o exclusi ity, insists Bruno Pa losky, President o the mode o Chanel. "In return, identi ies them constraints administrati e and logistics, allowing them to ocus on the creation."

Initiated by Chanel, this policy o redemption o cra tspeople by groups, also by Hermes (Hatter Motsch, the Crystal Saint Louis...), demonstrates the ragility o a sector which includes near businesses 18.300 (31,000 jobs) and 217 trades, or a turno er o 3.5 billion. Not less than one third are working or the luxury o the wigmaker in the brodeur, passing through the plumassier. World-wide plebiscite our cra tspeople. "They maintain a continuous dialogue between the tradition and inno ation the more pointed and are a part o our cultural heritage", notes Pierre Che alier, President o the society o encouragement in arts and cra ts (Sema).

Working solo

E en i each year, with a rate o creation o 8.7 in 2005, the number o separations o acti ity continues orward. "In three years, we ound about 20 o disappearances, or economic, but also sociological reasons." The retirement is re lected in two-thirds o the cases by a termination. ind a successor is ery di icult, because these pro essions are not enough known. "They lack appropriate training and are not iable," said Bernard Poncin, Director o rance art workshops, main Union o the pro ession. According to his Obser atory, launched in ebruary, 64 o cra tspeople consider insu icient income rom their acti ity.

entailliste Anne Hoguet, head o the House ounded by his great-grand ather in 1872, knows something. Well-known designers and entertainment world, it has created in his Studio, Paris, 13 years ago, the Museum o the range, with a stunning collection o 1,400 pieces. The show remained intact with its showcases where are exposed ans in the end o the 19th century ostrich eathers, has been classi ied in 2004. "I am a little a historical monument." But ame does not li e to enjoy. I juggles without judgment. When I ha e a beauti ul command, I am not happy, because I know that I will ha e probably nothing the ollowing months. "Courted in the world, who must be ans o the ilm"Marie-Antoinette"has conquered, last summer, the Royal Court o Thailand, or which she has done a decade o unique pieces (prices can range rom 100 to 2.000 EUR). Leading ront creation and restoration, it works only, as the majority o the artisans o art: about 60 o them ha e a one-person company, and only 15 ha e more than 10 employees.

Prepare succession, a priority

"I ha e projects or the three months to come, so I can hire." "It's the li e o artist", or its part said Jean-Pierre Baquère, the only glass torch in the Paris region. In his workshop, at the bottom o a garden at Colombes, all his creations to the delicate orms are presented, including Caron commands, his client or twenty years. Baquère is known in particular or ha ing produced or the per ume House 101 pieces numbered and signed the ial Cascade, inlaid with gold lea . Each copy o the "mind and hand work", sold 1,000 euros, called a day o e ort. "At a time, I had also three orders per year to Dior or his glasses Louis XIII ser ice, created in 1956, that I am the last to achie e." "Today, I ha e more than one", noted the pro essional. In addition to acing a di icult situation, he must play the Decou lé. "It's hard to be alone, because it must respond to requests, make the creation, manage the business and train." or ten years, I worked to export or the Japan and the Middle East. I no longer ha e the means and pre er to de ote mysel to the transmission. In the years to come, I ha e i e small seeds de eloped in land, in Brittany, Alsace, which will hatch. "This glass lame initiated i teen young people, but all will do their job.

Ensure that the succession has become a priority or many o these irtuosos o the gesture, the ancestral know-how are sometimes taught nowhere. The rance has approximately 1,200 training in cra ts, Cape Town to schools as Boulle Estienne, or some 2,500 students and apprentices, according to the Sema. or the restoration o tapestries, there is not more than i e young promoted annually. It is estimated that 53 trades ha e no education, such as the work o i ory, printmaking or range. "When it".