Roubaix Génie Textile

In 2026, Roubaix is still synonymous with textiles!

From raw material manufacturers to training colleges, and from artists to garment makers… The sector is thriving.

From newly established organisations to historic firms, and from craftspeople and self-employed entrepreneurs to small and medium-sized enterprises, they all contribute to Roubaix’s identity as a city of textiles. They have forged close ties with the local area and maintain a special relationship with it, its people and its history.

Since deindustrialisation, the sector no longer looks the same as it did in the 19th and 20th centuries, when Roubaix was known as the ‘wool capital’. Nevertheless, textiles remain part of the city’s DNA and continue to weave their way through its history.

Proof of this is that more than 70 textile businesses are now based in Roubaix. They are committed to research and innovation, sustainable development, social inclusion, artistic creation and the preservation and passing on of traditional skills. Come and meet them!

Higher education institutions training the textile engineers and designers of tomorrow; major fashion and ready-to-wear brands founded in and still based in Roubaix; research and development centres at the cutting edge of innovation; artisan tailors preserving traditional skills; artists working with a variety of techniques and media; committed residents with innovative ideas… You’ll find all this in Roubaix!

This exhibition offers a snapshot of the richness and diversity of the organisations active in the area, like a ‘textile snapshot’ of Roubaix in 2026, set against a backdrop of undeniable industrial history and heritage.

An exhibition presented by the City of Roubaix’s ‘Ville d’Art et d’Histoire’ department.