Paris-based footwear entrepreneur Philippe Zorzetto has said only 1% of the shoes and boots that consumers in France buy now are locally made.

He said there had been a time when French shoe factories, operated by brands including Clergerie, Charles Jourdan and Stéphane Kelian, had led the global footwear industry. “Then our country began to dream of a factory-free economy and sold its manufacturing to Asia.”

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