1898 De Witte Lietaer was founded
In 1898 Zeno De Witte and Leonie Lietaer started a workshop for flax weaving: De Witte Lietaer was born.
The founders of the company, as well as the many generations of workers and employers who succeeded them, have transformed De Witte Lietaer into a textile company renowned for its quality products, knowhow and perseverance.
1900 one of the most well-known Jacquard weavers
In 1900 the company had 9 weaving looms and before World War I, De Witte Lietaer was already one of the most important Jacquard weavers in the world. (1350 employees and 750 weaving looms).
1983 De Witte Lietaer receives the Oscar for Belgian Export
1989 De Witte Lietaer is part of Gamma Holding
2004 The company was divided in two divisions
– the Division De Witte Lietaer “Industries”, specialised in manufacturing and knitting fibers for the automotive industry;
– the Division De Witte Lietaer “Style in Textiles”, specialised in the manufacturing of household linens.
2006 De Witte Lietaer International Textiles
The Gamma Holding sold the division -specialized in household linens- to the group HDM Finance and the company name was changed to De Witte Lietaer International Textiles. HDM Finance is the holding company covering: Tissage Denantes, Garnier Thiebaut, Mulliez-Flory, IME Mulliez and De Witte Lietaer. The owner and president of this company is Hervé de Montclos. This French textile group manufactures and distributes household linen and furnishing fabrics to institutions, hotels, restaurants, laundry companies and retailers all over the world. The turnover of this group is about €135 million.
2008 Take-over Maes Textiles nv
In 2008 De Witte Lietaer International Textiles took over the company Maes Textiles nv based in Waregem, also a household linen manufacturer.
2013 Take-over Byttebier Home Textiles
De Witte Lietaer integrates Byttebier Home Textiles in its activities; a Textile trading company which is mainly focused on distribution and the production of bath linens.
Today
De Witte Lietaer operates in the hospitality, project market, retail and contract markets. Our headquarters are situated in Belgium (Lauwe) and we have our own production unit in Turkey.
Our reference list includes well known international hotels, restaurants and industrial laundries. We mainly export our products to Western Europe: Benelux, France, Germany, Spain and partly to the Middle East.
The company offers a diverse assortment of bath, table, kitchen and bed linen collections for all kinds of retailers such as department stores, boutiques and specialist shops.
What if reducing our waste and our environmental footprint went through the relocation of natural textile fibers and an ethical and transparent textile industry?
Design for resilience Studio is a textile research workshop based in Braine-L’Alleud (Brabant Wallon, Belgique), for a zero waste, zero plastic, and an healthy lifestyle, founded by Vanessa Colignon.
We want to allow everyone to reduce their environmental and social footprint, by reducing our waste and the spread of micro-plastics in nature through the creation of clothing and accessories in natural, local and solid fibers, produced in circuit- short and with respect for the living.
The relocation of production, brought about by a strengthening of European environmental standards in the 90s and the attractiveness of low-cost labour; not benefiting from any social protection in countries where lax environmental regulations do not allow to protect the nature, health, land and drinking water of the inhabitants of the producing countries has allowed the advent of fast fashion such as we know it today, to the detriment of living beings and the planet.
Today, we can no longer tolerate this race for productivity and the resulting toxicity of production. This is why we are focusing our forces in particular on the relocation of the production of natural, resistant and ecological textile materials in Belgium and on innovation in the craftsmanship of naturally ecological materials by working in particular with one of the last hosiery factories from Belgium.
Producing in a short circuit allows us to guarantee respect for workers and living things, while limiting our dependence on fossil fuels.