For decades, Gérardmer has asserted itself in domain of textiles, to the point where "Gérardmer cloth" has become a seal of quality in the domain of weaving in France. But to obtain a finished product that is supple and pleasant to the touch, worthy of its renown, this fabric requires a treatment that we call "ennoblement" which includes bleaching.

It is for this specialisation that Jean-Henri CROUVEZIER, weaver by profession, founded his company in 1860 in this region.

Through the years, the process of treatment was developed and Henri CROUVEZIER himself, who took over the company in 1936, perfected a chemical process, which made possible all bleaching and drying inside his premises.

After being interrupted by the war in June 1940, modernisation, the key principle of the company ever since its formation, was carried on when business was resumed in 1946. The 1960's saw the birth of a revolution, through the conception of a process perfected by the management of the company CROUVEZIER-VIALA, which enabled them to carry out in 2 hours, a series of operations that had previously required 24 to 48 hours.

From then on, investments and innovations where implemented in rapid succession: automation in 1968, work on synthetic fibres in 1972, the first shrinking machine for wide cloth in France in 1979, purification unit in the 1980's, etc.

Yves CROUVEZIER and his team, new arrivals at the management of the company in the 1990's, are perpetuating the family tradition by embarking on a programme of very large investments in production equipment which puts the company on an industrial scale.

Despite extensive fire damage in April 1995, the managers are pressing on with their undertakings, taking decision to rebuild the industrial plant and to retain all the personnel, with the same objectives in their minds as their predecessors : to focus on innovation and investment in the latest technology, in order to provide the best service possible to their customer within the time schedule.