Making a line of leather goods out of aeronautical leather scraps, including used seat covers. This is the activity of Domitille Roche Michoudet, who founded Atelier Méta (obviously no reference to the company that owns Facebook) in late 2020. Until a few days ago, she was selling her creations on the Internet, and now also in a temporary shop in Toulouse. But her passion for leather comes from Argentina.
With leather scraps from the air force
Domitille Roche Michoudet went to Argentina to graduate in scenography. And, as she tells La Tribune, she met a leather craftsman. “Once a week, I would go to his workshop and learn all the techniques of working with leather,” Domitille recalls. After five years, she returned to France. There she met by chance a seamstress who was retiring and wanted to get rid of her equipment. Thus, began her entrepreneurial adventure. After a few prototypes and tests, Atelier Méta now offers a wide range of travel-related products to maintain a link with the origin of the raw material. Atelier Méta makes leather labels for suitcases, passport and pen cases, card cases, make-up cases and small backpacks.
Procurement
The crux of the business is the sourcing of the leather. According to her personal count, Domitille Roche Michoudet collected only 56 kilos of leather from the aircraft industry. Very little compared to the quantities discarded by the aviation industry, but for the moment it is a sufficient quantity to fulfil the first orders. Atelier Méta, which has been certified as a “zero waste” company, has much higher ambitions and is looking for new suppliers.
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