Our history

Payen was created in 1839 by Louis and Charles Payen, and their activity at that time was focused on the trading and throwing of silk. During the 1950s the company underwent its first industrial change to synthetic thread, using its silk-throwing know-how.

In 1965, in collaboration with the American company Dupont de Nemours, now Invista, Pierre Payen invented Pagastic®, a covered yarn based on the revolutionary fibre Lycra®. In addition to its elastic properties, Pagastic® has the particularity of being highly durable, which has enabled the company to become the European leader in this field.

On this foundation, the company’s team of engineers developed thousands of yarns and new processes in order to respond to the need for textile innovations and to push back the boundaries of existing technical knowledge.

In 1990, after texturing and warping, Payen took a further step forward by including weaving within its industrial capacity, in order to develop bi-stretch warp and weft fabrics. In 2000, textile finishing marks the end of industrial integration, which today enables Payen to be the only European weaving company to control all stages of manufacturing from extruded polymer to the finished fabric. This major advantage ensures control of all technical processes and enables ever more innovative products to be offered.

Now, as before, Payen’s objective and DNA remains the provision of the products for tomorrow, ever more innovative, technical and sustainable.