Pantin: the new Brooklyn?

Three months after his election as mayor of Pantin in 2001‚ Bertrand Kern saw the Grands Moulins flourmill there close‚ putting an end to the process of deindustrialisation begun twenty years earlier. Pantin‚ a city with both cottage industry and large-scale industry, had to find a new way forward. Ten years later‚ the New York Times and several French newspapers started referring to Pantin as the new Brooklyn‚ in reference to the installation there of the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac art space, Hermès’ and Chanel’s workshops, the ‘La Fabrique’ training centre for the creative arts, and about thirty craftspeople who established their businesses in Pantin’s Quatre-Chemins neighbourhood. This dynamic was spearheaded by the pragmatic approach of the mayor‚ Pantin’s primary ambassador‚ who sought to flaunt the numerous assets of the city. Even though the initial installations were random and not organised, synergies are now starting to develop between those involved in the arts‚ crafts and creation.