La réindustrialisation du secteur textile en Belgique : Etude de faisabilité à partir des modèles d'entreprises sociales

Abstract

This thesis tries to open up the subject of backshoring the textile industry formerly florishing in Belgium, from the business models applied by social enterprises in the country. We focus on the sewing part of a garment making process. The industry is apprehended as a vast value chain of which each link needs to be concretised as an activity in Belgium to produce locally rather than using foreign products. The transition studies help us understand the potential movements of development in the field, as in short food chain studies. This study shows the feasibility of producing clothes through a social enterprise in Belgium. Using semi-constructed interviews, we prove that such a business is viable if it relies on subsidies, partnerships, coherence and development of the whole value chain, and if the social mission is adapted to the local needs of the beneficiary public. We also analyse in both short and long perspectives, to identify conditions in the long run that would enable such a reindustrialisation of the textile industry in Belgium to live on. It entails that such initiatives will in the future depend on the political line, the adaptation of teaching programs, the development of consumer awareness on the role of social enterprises locally, and on the development of improved logistical opportunities for upcycling materials and products.