La Manufacture

Photo Patricia Maupetit

La Manufacture du beau et de l’utile is a little shop situated in Toulouse, known as the Pink City, in the South of France. The shop was established in 2014 after appearing as a pop-up store for two years. Hélène Lesur and co-founder Marie-Pierre Bessac chose to create their own permanent universe with the creation of their brand l’Hirondelle. La Manufacture was later established by Hélène in the narrow streets of Toulouse, a little shop with a beautiful mixture of their own designs, under the brand name L’Hirondelle, and a selection of beautiful products designed and created in France. L’Hirondelle products include a range of linens for the home. Amongst other French brands available at the shop are Série Limitée Louise’s tea towels, Myriam Ait Amar’s ceramics and Jalan Joe jewelry. You will also find antique photographs which have been re-edited in a limited edition by Linéature, and antiques. The partners believe in supporting ‘Made In France’, a heritage rich in craft traditions. With that in mind, the linen products L’Hirondelle designs are made by the last linen weaver in France. Hélène loves acquiring antiques which she restores and refurbishes in order to sell them. The uniqueness of the curated selection of products is what the customers love so much. Hélène’s favourite aspect of owning the shop is the connection she makes with her customers. Along with L’Hirondelle, she offers a wide range of services including a reupholstery service that gives new life to customer’s furniture. In the future Hélène hopes to keep expanding the shop and offering more services, a particular one that she has in mind is to repurpose embroidered family sheets, that often get stored and left in a big cupboard to be forgotten, into duvet covers, giving them relevance in a modern lifestyle.