The fashion industry in France is now 2.7 per cent of France’s GDP and accounts for up to a million jobs. Revenue from fashion industry is expected to register a CAGR of over 10 per cent from 2017 to 2021. In terms of sales, apparel make up the largest segment of the French fashion industry.

Women’s wear is the largest category in the sector, representing over half of the overall value sales of apparel in France in 2016, while men’s wear accounts for 32 per cent. However, both women’s and men’s wear posted low growth rates in 2016, with each increasing in current value by one per cent.

As for textile and apparel production, France ranks as the third largest in Europe, behind Italy and Germany. France accounts for over 12 per cent of total textile and apparel sales and ten per cent of the textile workforce in Europe.

In recent decades, France focused more on innovative and high value added textile products such as technical textiles, which now make up 15 per cent of the market. Linen is one of the most important fibers in this category, in which France now manufactures 70 per cent of European production.