GASTON MILLE, FRENCH MANUFACTURER OF SAFETY SHOES

IF THE COMPANY HAS SPECIALISED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR FOR PROFESSIONALS, IT IS WITH RESPECT FOR THREE FOUNDING VALUES THAT MAKE UP ITS UNIQUENESS WITH ITS CUSTOMERS AND ON THE MARKET.

THE CHOICE OF A FRENCH MANUFACTURER

Gaston Mille proposes to its customers a French manufacturing for 80% of its products. The latter benefit from four direct advantages:

• more comfort and well-being: designed on an extra wide European shoe that avoids any deformation of the foot, Gaston Mille shoes are so comfortable that one would almost forget that they are safety shoes.
• a local service: because professionals have no time to lose, Gaston Mille ensures a guaranteed delivery within 5 working days.
• the assurance of a safe value: the major accounts (Areva, Saint-Gobain, Sodexo, Total, Vinci...) trust Gaston Mille which has been able to impose itself for its reliability among the safety shoes manufacturers.
• high technology: the constant research of innovative materials with high technicality, of raw materials of very high quality, and the research carried out by the R&D office within the company, allow to propose models which answer perfectly to the problems related to the safety on the work place.

PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE COMPANY 

Pioneer in the protection of man at work, the manufacturer Gaston Mille is also a pioneer in the implementation of a policy of social and environmental responsibility of the company. The first footwear company to be certified SA 8000, Gaston Mille has now invested in the ISO 26000 standard, by implementing a policy of improving the environmental impact by developing so-called "ecological" ranges, by producing an eco-label display for its user customers, and by participating in the European TiLeather programme (CIP Eco-innovation).

PROVEN KNOW-HOW FROM THE GENERAL TO THE VERY SPECIFIC 

With an unequalled anti-slip sole technology, an exclusive footwear based on the anatomy of the European foot, Gaston Mille's strategy has always consisted in favouring the safety and well-being of its users while respecting the normative requirements in force. The challenge? To meet all the needs of professionals, in all sectors of activity: food & health, construction and industry. Safety, protection and work shoes, the diversity of its ranges, both general and ultra-specialized, makes Gaston Mille the most specialized generalist on the market.

MILLE SAS is proud to perpetuate a traditional trade through the marketing of 1,500 pairs of safety shoes per day. The GASTON MILLE brand is undoubtedly committed to a new and lasting industrial dynamic, backed by over 100 years of experience.

GASTON MILLE, MANUFACTURER SINCE 1912

- The first steps of the shoe manufacturer

In 1912, in the heart of Provence, Gaston Mille created a production unit for work items and summer shoes. 15 years earlier, his father Emmanuel had already started manufacturing military shoes. Each generation of Mille brought a new speciality: after the war, Charles, the grandson, created the first French model of shoes with a steel toe cap in wrought iron.

- The turn towards safety footwear

Charles Mille was to make his mark once and for all by testing various processes, inspired in particular by the vulcanisation of tyres, and leading to the creation of the first vulcanised sole on an upper. In 1964, he met Dr Martens and experimented with the first air-cushioned soles called "Arausio" (Orange in Latin). The model was eventually sold in thousands of copies.

At the end of the 1960s, the company began to specialise in safety footwear, but it was not until Hugues Mille, the former director, that the company definitively positioned itself in this market. In 1987, the purchase of a polyurethane injection carousel with colour injection accelerated production and enabled the creation of a new range of high-tech safety shoes. The company's reputation in the market is now established.

In the 90's, Gaston MILLE will be one of the first companies to manufacture shoes classified as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) class 2. In 1995, the company invests in a new production site in Courthézon (84), then, two years later, receives the ISO 9001 certification, still in force.