Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The former Fléchet factory, located in Chazelles-sur-Lyon, embodies the golden age of French chapelry in the early 20th century. Built in 1902 by the Lyon architect Eugène Baure (1868-1911), it was enlarged in 1927 and modernized in 1931 by Auguste Bossu (1885-1946), linking its workshops by a bridge above the street. This industrial complex, the most monumental in the city, maintained a central boiler room and a fireplace distributing steam and hot water to the surrounding workshops. The production of felt hats in rabbit hair, a local specialty, ceased in 1976, leaving room for storage uses.

Ranked a historic monument in 1999 for its 1902 buildings (workshops, boiler room, guardian's house) and its 1931 offices, the factory became in 2013 the site of La Chapellerie, a museum workshop. It reconstructs a factory of the 1920s with time machines and exhibits 400 hats tracing their history, from the Middle Ages to haute couture. This cultural project values an industrial heritage linked to the economic identity of Chazelles, once French capital of the felt hat.

The Fléchet company, founded in 1859, symbolizes the local prosperity associated with this industry. Its architecture reflects the industrial standards of the time: workshops in length on several levels, surrounded by hangars. The remarkable conservation of the site, including yard floor, gate and fence, makes it possible today to understand the manufacturing processes and the organization of work. The museum, created in 1983 under the name Musée du Chapeau, perpetuates this artisanal know-how and its social impact in the region.

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