OUR STORY

EIGHT GENERATIONS OF BLANKET MAKERS IN L'ISLE SUR SORGUE

Our story

Isle-sur-la-Sorgue has a long history of working with silk and wool. The town wisely made use of its many natural resources (the driving force of its abundant water,  local wool, teasels, dyer’s madder, olive oil…), and the inhabitants cleverly developed industrial machinery driven by water wheels – there used to be up to 66! – fulling mills, spinning machines, and later mechanical looms…

In 1808 a father- (Charles Tiran) & son-in-law (Laurent Vian) partnership took advantage of this environment so  favorable to the textile industry and set up a mill on the banks of the Sorgue river to prepare woolen cloth and blankets. In 1886, the marriage of a Vian grand-daughter with Emile Brun completed the name the factory proudly bears today, Brun de Vian-Tiran. In 1900, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue boasted five complete  factories and many smaller, more specialized work-shops working to produce woolen blankets, carpets, garment cloth and specialized fabrics for the paper industry. Over one hundred years later, only Brun de Vian-Tiran is continuing its activity, perpetuating a unique and uninterrupted manufacturing tradition which 8 generations have nurtured and perfected.

The company is now managed by Pierre and Jean-Louis Brun, father and son, who have inherited the family’s love for natural materials and cloth making. While the factory maintains its respect for traditional skills, the Bruns also seek to remain innovators in their field, a spirit of invention which has always been in the company’s genes!

Among the highlights of the recent decades, the création of our first Mohair blanket in 1961 represented such a revolution in the blanket-making world that after a  hesitant beginning, it has overcome all obstacles to become the company’s emblem - often imitated, but never
equaled. Our unending quest for new noble fibers has meant our range now includes outstanding products in Alpaca, Camel, Llama, Cashmere and very rare materials like Cashgora and Yangir. The factory’s work has led to many famous labels and awards, and in 2009 it was honored by recognition as a “Living Heritage Enterprise”.

BRUN DE VIAN-TIRAN, TODAY & TOMORROW

In 2016, Brun de Vian-Tiran continues our tradition of a complete fabrication process. Technically-advanced machinery and time-honored manual skills complete and enrich each other, ensuring proudly-manufactured products which are both noble and beautiful. Though certain manufacturing steps have been mechanized as time goes by, the human touch and human know-how remain the key elements for our factory. The most modern machines available to the textile industry back up our team’s skills in a quest for perfection.

KEY FIGURES

  • 8 generations have carried on the company’s activities since 1808.
  • 45 employees
  • 15: the average number of manufacturing steps for a Brun de Vian-Tiran blanket: fiber blending, oiling, dying, carding, spinning, bobin winding, warping, weaving, fabric checking, fulling, washing, raising, drying, clipping and edge trimming.
  • More than 20 different countries supply the wools and woolen-type fibers Brun de Vian-Tiran works with.
  •  Our product stocks are kept permanently updated and orders can be delivered without a waiting time.