What Smuggler is known for
Founded in 1978 in the Limousin region, Smuggler is a French tailoring house selling from boutiques in Paris and Limoges; after its longtime manufacturing partner, France Confection, went into liquidation in 2020, the brand's suits are now produced across workshops throughout Europe.
Smuggler was founded in 1978 as a menswear ready-to-wear chain in France's Limousin region and was taken over by the company Orphée Longchamp in 1985. Its modern identity as a Made in France specialist dates to around 2000, when Gilles Attaf and Serge Bonnefont partnered the brand with the France Confection workshops in Limoges to produce tailored suits at accessible prices; in December 2011 Smuggler earned the Origine France Garantie label for its suits, jackets, trousers and waistcoats, and it went on to dress the organizing committee of Euro 2016. The brand hit financial trouble in the mid-2010s: its parent company entered receivership in January 2017 and liquidation in March 2018, when the Paris-based Molitor group acquired Smuggler. Its Limoges manufacturing partner, France Confection, then entered its own receivership in January 2020 and liquidation that March, before being taken over by Ludovic and Corinne Gaudic, who kept its roughly 85 employees on. Today Smuggler operates as an active tailoring house selling custom and ready-to-wear suits, jackets and accessories from boutiques in Paris (rue de Courcelles) and Limoges, sourcing materials and workshops across Europe rather than exclusively in France, a shift from its earlier all-France manufacturing model.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — French-made suiting crafted in Limoges
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