Maison Chemisière since 1947
1947
Albert Gauthier, the origins...
1909-1947 - The Desire to Create
Born in 1909, Albert Gauthier first trained as a demanding saddler-harness maker in Chalon-sur-Saône, where he learned precision of movement, the right tension, and respect for materials.
Eager to perfect his apprenticeship, he moved to Paris in 1929 and joined the workshops of Hermès. In contact with this great French house, he discovered another dimension of the craft: that of absolute demandingness, precise detail, and the constant pursuit of perfection.
A foundational experience that would profoundly shape his vision of work and craftsmanship.
1945 - Resilience
After leaving Paris, Albert Gauthier completed his military service. The following years were marked by hardship: World War II devastated the country and, shortly after, he narrowly escaped death after contracting tuberculosis.
Weakened but determined to get back to work, he began searching for a new creative challenge...
1947 - The First Shirt
After the war, resources were scarce. Leather, Albert Gauthier's preferred raw material, was hard to come by and expensive.
Committed to manual work, he then turned to fabric, which was more accessible, and decided to create shirts.
The saga began with numerous trips to Alsace: Mulhouse, Guebwiller, Munster, Altkirch – France's textile hub.
Albert himself cut his first shirt on the floor, before entrusting it to a seamstress for assembly. Encouraged by the model's success, in 1947 he founded a workshop in Buxy, surrounded by a dozen seamstresses.
1950 - First Customers
Albert Gauthier travels the region in a 2CV van to present his shirts to merchants.
The reputation of Gauthier shirts quickly grew. They were distinguished by their durability and their fit.
At the peak of French industry, they dressed both executives and workers.
The Gueugnon forges and Blanzy mines chose the company to design shirts adapted for work.
Quality became a daily requirement.
1956 - The Anchorage
The business grew rapidly, and the Buxy workshop soon became too small.
Albert Gauthier, with his son Alain, began searching for a larger space to accommodate the company's growth.
They chose Chalon-sur-Saône, where the workshop moved to Rue Dewet, into the buildings of a former 19th-century silk mill.
It was there that the company would permanently take root — an address it has never left since.
1979 - Signed Dalmory
In 1979, Alain Gauthier took a new step by creating Dalmory, his first shirt brand from the workshops.
Designed to embody contemporary French elegance, Dalmory allows the house to fully express its know-how through its own collections.
Distributed in many boutiques in France, the brand helps to make known the quality of shirts manufactured in Chalon-sur-Saône.
1990 - The Ascent
As early as 1963, Alain Gauthier structured the company, strengthened quality control, and developed its brand in multi-brand stores. Our workshops employed up to 100 Artisan-Seamstresses.
In the early 1990s, he went to Paris to advocate for the family's craftsmanship with major French luxury houses.
He convinced them.
The workshop thus established privileged partnerships with the luxury world that continue to this day.
1992 - Alain Gauthier Paris
In 1992, Alain Gauthier took a new step by launching Alain Gauthier Paris, a brand designed to bring the workshop's expertise to the heart of the capital.
Through this new signature, the house more clearly asserts its position in the world of high-end shirts and develops its collections with multi-brand boutiques in France and internationally.
This initiative marked the beginning of wider recognition for the work accomplished over several decades in the workshops of Chalon-sur-Saône.
1997 - Internet before its time
At a time when e-commerce was still in its infancy, the house launched one of the first shirt-making websites in the world.
Virtual fitting.
Online payment.
Remote ordering.
Technological innovation became the natural extension of traditional expertise.
1999 - President Chirac
In March 1999, the House had the honor of dressing the President of the Republic, Mr. Jacques Chirac.
In an official letter, he praised the quality and cut of Gauthier shirts. Our Prestige Collection was born.
An institutional recognition that crowned a work of precision undertaken more than half a century earlier.
2004 - A New Beginning
Upon retirement, Alain hands over the company to Michel and Bernadette de Saint-Jean.
Their decision is clear: to maintain and develop all manufacturing in Chalon-sur-Saône.
Against the trend of delocalization.
Excellence as a Legacy
Michel de Saint-Jean brings to the house expertise forged over twenty years in high-end textiles, working with the greatest European weavers.
Recognized for his creative eye for fabrics and colors, he imbues the collections with rare textile demanding standards and sensibility.
A passion that also has its roots in his family history: in the 1920s, his grandmother made silk ties and pajamas for Jacques Fath, the great Parisian couturier and mentor to Hubert de Givenchy and Valentino Garavani.
2017 - The French Shirt
After decades dedicated to perfecting the art of the shirt, our workshops are giving birth to a new brand: La Chemise Française.
More than just a name, it embodies a conviction.
At a time when most shirts sold in Europe are produced at the ends of the earth, the house chooses to champion another path: that of a shirt designed, cut, and manufactured in its historic workshops in Chalon-sur-Saône, in continuity with a legacy that began in 1947.
2024 - A New Generation
Romain de Saint-Jean, the eldest son of the family, joins the company while completing his studies at a prestigious business school.
He supports the development of La Chemise Française, initiates the redesign of the website and communication, and participates in the creation of collections alongside his father Michel de Saint-Jean.
The house thus enters a new generation.
2025 - Continuity
In 2025, the company is deeply affected by the passing of Michel de Saint-Jean, who profoundly marked its history with his high standards for materials and his creative eye for fabrics.
Once again, the company demonstrates its resilience.
His son Romain de Saint-Jean then takes charge of the entire development of La Chemise Française and the creation of collections, while Bernadette de Saint-Jean continues to manage the administrative and operational aspects of the company.
The company thus continues to write its history, faithful to the spirit that has driven it since 1947.
2025 - At the Élysée Palace
In 2025, La Chemise Française was selected for the Great Exhibition of Made in France at the Élysée Palace.
On this occasion, Bernadette and Romain de Saint-Jean met the President of the Republic, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, to whom they presented the shirts made in the workshops of Chalon-sur-Saône.