Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie (abbreviated as DMC), is an Alsatian textile company created in Mulhouse, France in 1746 by Jean-Henri Dollfus. During the twentieth century, it was one of the largest European textile and industry groups. DMC was the owner and then shareholder of the Ronchamp coal mines. Listed on the Paris stock exchange since 1922, it merged with the Lille company Thiriez and Cartier-Bresson in 1961. After going through a crisis in the 1990s, the old company was liquidated in 2009. In September 2016, the British investment fund BlueGem Capital Partners purchased 100% of the capital of DMC.
Printing on fabrics was introduced into Mulhouse (or rather the Republic of Mulhouse), in the middle of the 18th century, allowed the bourgeoisie to manufacture indiennes fabric, which made their fortune. Among the bourgeoisie was the Dollfus family, which was linked to the Koechlin and Engel families. These families included many entrepreneurs, such as Jean-Henri Dollfus.
At the end of the 18th century, the Dollfus family set up a factory in the neighboring village of Dornach (today integrated into the city of Mulhouse), along a stream, the Steinbaechlein, which was favorable for the treatment of fabrics. The region of Mulhouse thus plays, after Geneva, a central role in the history of indiennes in Europe.
Nineteenth century
DMC mill in the 19th century
Daniel Dollfus, a nephew of Jean-Henri Dollfus, was able to take over the company thanks to the contribution of his wife Anne-Marie Mieg. He restructured the company as Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie, which was officially created on 21 March 1800. The business diversified under the First Empire, with the introduction of weaving and mechanical spinning. These enabled it to control the different phases of fabric manufacturing on the same site. André Koechlin (who was mayor of Mulhouse twice, from 1830 to 1831 and from 1832 to 1843) took over the management in 1818. An engineer in the André Koechlin & Cie company, Émile Koechlin (mayor of Mulhouse from 1848 to 1852), also participated in the business.
From its creation, the company was the main client of the Ronchamp coal mines, and in 1812 became its owner.[1]:16 However, in 1843, the widow of Daniel Dollfus had to sell the mines because of poor earnings.[1]:17 Nevertheless, the company remained on the board of directors and remained the main client and shareholder.[1]:17
In 1841, Emile Dollfus (brother of Jean Dollfus, director of DMC, mayor of Mulhouse in 1843 who succeeded his brother-in-law, André Koechlin, and future initiator of the working class city of Mulhouse) added the manufacture of thread sewing to the activities of DMC, the specialty that has made the reputation of the company.
The company also continued printing fabrics and was the first company to use a machine capable of printing 12 colors.[2] Frédéric-Engel Dollfus (1818–1883), a follower of Saint-Simon, joined DMC as an associate in 1843.[3] In particular, he developed the production of sewing thread and embroidery cotton, sold worldwide, and mechanized production.[3] In 1870, he took an active part in the economic negotiations which preceded and followed the Treaty of Frankfurt between Prussia and France. He was a member of the Commission for the Defense of Alsatian Interests, and was sent to Tours to the Government of National Defense of 1870.[3]
Frédéric-Engel Dollfus created for the workers of the company an emergency and retirement fund, group insurance, a nursing home for the elderly, a society to encourage savings, schools and facilities for children (a predecessor of kindergarten).[3] He also created a clinic for sick children in Mulhouse.[3] Finally, he founded the Preventive Accidents Association, in which several manufacturers participated. This association aimed to prevent accidents at work; their inspectors controlled the associated factories.[3] This initiative partially influenced the promulgation of the laws of 1871 (in Germany) and 1874 (in France) relating to the improvement of the working conditions of workers from the point of view of safety and health.[3]
Frédéric-Engel Dollfus also helped found the drawing school intended to train draughtsmen for the painted canvas industry and the Mulhouse spinning and weaving school (now known as the École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs Sud Alsace).[3] In the 1870s, Frédéric-Engel devoted himself more and more to his philanthropic activities, and gave way in the company to his four sons, Frédéric, Alfred, Gustave and Eugène Engel.[4] The members of the company were divided regarding their future development: the Dolfuses wanted to focus on producing printed textiles while the Engels emphasized the production of sewing/embroidery thread.[4] In 1877, Jean Dollfus left as a company manager. Frédéric-Engel Dollfus and Gustave Dollfus remained. The latter, a nephew of Jean and the son of Emile, is the last of the Dollfus family who remained in the company).[4]
In 1888, the Indian factory was liquidated because it had deficits.[3]
Meanwhile, Jean Dollfus-Mieg met the Austrian embroidery designer Thérèse de Dillmont during the Universal Exhibition of 1878. He recognized the importance of Thérèse de Dillmont's embroidery creations and the potential it would bring to the company. He managed to persuade her to come and settle in Dornach, where the DMC company is located, in order to found an embroidery school there. It was not until 1884 that Thérèse de Dillmont left the Vienna Embroidery Academy to settle in Mulhouse. It was there that she wrote her famous Encyclopedia of Needlework, the first edition of which dates to 1886.
Embroidery motifs book
Twentieth century
Entrance to the Mulhouse factory
In 1922, DMC was listed on the Paris stock exchange.[2] During the German occupation of France in the Second World War, the company worked for the Nazis in war production.[5] In 1961, it merged with the Lille company Thiriez and Cartier-Bresson. The Mulhouse company kept its corporate name but replaced its logo, a bell, with that of Thiriez, a horse's head. In the 1960s, the company had up to 30,000 employees.[2] DMC also diversified into weaving (fabrics in Remiremont and Bruay in Artois, dyed woven fabrics in Roanne, terry cloth in Albert), in fabric printing (Texunion in Pfastatt and KBC in Lörrach), and in household linen (Descamps in Lille).The group also had a factory for zippers (Winged Closure with Airaines ) and has been engaged in publishing (Éditions DMC specializing in books on sewing and embroidery works and Éditions Mame in Tours). It is to the DMC editions that we owe the Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont, an essential reference work for all needlework.
DMC suffered oil-related shocks and Asian competition as a part of the European textile crisis. In 1990, the workforce had been halved to 15,000 employees. Printed textiles were also going out of fashion. The group tried to diversify by launching approximately twenty Loisirs et Création stores offering embroidery and interior decoration items.[2] The decline continued and from 10,000 employees in 1998, it had only about 1,100 ten years later.[6]
Boxes of DMC cotton
Twenty-first century
Led by Jacques Boubal and his right-hand man Dominique Poile, the restructuring continued,[7] By 2008, the company had only around 800 people. In addition to the stores, the group only kept the manufacture of velvet (SAIC Velcorex) and embroidery thread (DMC).[8] but accumulated liabilities approached €100million (equivalent to €120.2million in 2022) by May 2008,[9] culminating in its cessation of payments.[7]
The consulting company Bernard Krief Consulting (led by Louis Petiet and now Krief Group) took over, as part of a disposal plan, the velvet activity of SAIC Velcorex in August 2008 (which was liquidated in March 2010) and the embroidery thread activity in December 2008. Bernard Krief Consulting appointed, as president of the new DMC SAS, the former manager Dominique Poile to whom he sold capital in 2009, in violation of the law.
On 18 February 2009, the judicial liquidation of the old company was pronounced by the Paris Commercial Court. DMC shares were withdrawn from Euronext listing.[10] In 2011, the plan to sell the embroidery thread activity was challenged by the filing of a complaint for fraud in the December 2008 judgment.[11] In June 2016, the British investment fund BlueGem Capital Partners[12] announced its intention to buy 100% of the capital of DMC. The repurchase was made in September 2016.[13] In February 2019 the DMC company was acquired by the British investment fund Lion Capital.[14]
In September 2023, the DMC company acquired the Anchor thread brand, together with the related brands of Domino and Puppets from the MEZ Crafts Group for an undefined amount.[15]
Related Research Articles
Cross-stitch is a form of sewing and a popular form of counted-thread embroidery in which X-shaped stitches in a tiled, raster-like pattern are used to form a picture. The stitcher counts the threads on a piece of evenweave fabric in each direction so that the stitches are of uniform size and appearance. This form of cross-stitch is also called counted cross-stitch in order to distinguish it from other forms of cross-stitch. Sometimes cross-stitch is done on designs printed on the fabric ; the stitcher simply stitches over the printed pattern. Cross-stitch is often executed on easily countable fabric called aida cloth, whose weave creates a plainly visible grid of squares with holes for the needle at each corner.
Embroidery is the art of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to stitch thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on hats, clothing, blankets, and handbags. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. It is often used to personalize gifts or clothing items.
Drawn thread work is one of the earliest forms of open work embroidery, and has been worked throughout Europe. Originally it was often used for ecclesiastical items and to ornament shrouds. It is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of even-weave fabric. The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns. The more elaborate styles of drawn thread work use a variety of other stitches and techniques, but the drawn thread parts are their most distinctive element. It is also grouped with whitework embroidery because it was traditionally done in white thread on white fabric and is often combined with other whitework techniques.
Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to create hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself.
DMC may refer to:
Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labor on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.
Filet lace is the general word used for all the different techniques of embroidery on knotted net. It is a hand made needlework created by weaving or embroidery using a long blunt needle and a thread on a ground of knotted net lace or filet work made of square or diagonal meshes of the same sizes or of different sizes. Lacis uses the same technique but is made on a ground of leno or small canvas.
Backstitch or back stitch and its variants stem stitch, outline stitch and split stitch are a class of embroidery and sewing stitches in which individual stitches are made backward to the general direction of sewing. In embroidery, these stitches form lines and are most often used to outline shapes and to add fine detail to an embroidered picture. It is also used to embroider lettering. In hand sewing, it is a utility stitch which strongly and permanently attaches two pieces of fabric. The small stitches done back-and-forth makes the back stitch the strongest stitch among the basic stitches. Hence it can be used to sew strong seams by hand, without a sewing machine.
Whitework embroidery is any embroidery technique in which the stitch and the foundation fabric are of same color. Styles of whitework embroidery include most drawn thread work, broderie anglaise, Hardanger embroidery, Hedebo embroidery, Mountmellick embroidery, reticella and Schwalm. Whitework embroidery is one of the techniques employed in heirloom sewing for blouses, christening gowns, baby bonnets, and other small articles. It has been used extensively on household and ecclesiastical linen, as decoration. It is often found on traditional regional and national costume, particularly on shirts, aprons and head coverings.
Embroidery thread is yarn that is manufactured or hand-spun specifically for embroidery and other forms of needlework. Embroidery thread often differs widely, coming in many different fiber types, colors and weights.
The straight or running stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric at a regular distance. All other stitches are created by varying the straight stitch in length, spacing, and direction.
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic Era. Although usually associated with clothing and household linens, sewing is used in a variety of crafts and industries, including shoemaking, upholstery, sailmaking, bookbinding and the manufacturing of some kinds of sporting goods. Sewing is the fundamental process underlying a variety of textile arts and crafts, including embroidery, tapestry, quilting, appliqué and patchwork.
Hemstitch or hem-stitch is a decorative drawn thread work or openwork hand-sewing technique for embellishing the hem of clothing or household linens. Unlike an ordinary hem, hemstitching can employ embroidery thread in a contrasting color so as to be noticeable.
The Koechlin family are a French Alsatian family which acquired its wealth in the textile industry and became leading industrialists and politicians of the region.
André Koechlin (1789–1875) was a French industrialist and the railroad equipment maker from the Koechlin family.
Thérèse de Dillmont was an Austrian needleworker and writer. Dillmont's Encyclopedia of Needlework (1886) has been translated into 17 languages. She owned a string of shops in European capitals and she was "one of the most important pioneers in the international and multicultural enterprise of hobby needlework in the late nineteenth century".
Jean Dollfus was a French industrialist who grew a textile company, Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie (D.M.C.), in Mulhouse. Dollfus was a leading figure in a philanthropic society which constructed a company town that sold houses at cost to the town's workers. Dollfus also helped publish an encyclopedia of needlework.
Events from the year 1746 in France
The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Mulhouse is a municipal art museum in Mulhouse, France. It originated with the Société industrielle de Mulhouse (SIM), a learned society established in 1826 by local industrialists such as Dollfus, Koechlin, and Schlumberger, which had begun collecting artworks in 1831, and was founded in 1864 by Frédéric Engel-Dollfus.
Joseph-Laurent Malaine was a flower painter and created cartoons for tapestries as well as designs for wall-papers and textiles.
References
1 2 3 Parietti, Jean-Jacques, 1940– ... (2002). Les houillères de Ronchamp. I, La mine. Vol.1. Impr. Pulpi-Lux). Vesoul (1 rue de Franche-Comté, 7000): Éd. comtoises. ISBN2-914425-08-2. OCLC469929334.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
1 2 3 4 "DMC, le dernier dinosaure du textile". Le Point. No.1860. 8 May 2008. p.89.
Blanc, Jérôme (11 April 2008). "Trois générations à la tête de DMC"[Three generations at the head of DMC] (in French). Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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