More than a century ago, Fredric Stockman was the first to think that it should be possibly to standardize the shapes of the human body. That is how the sizes in cloths, that we know today, came into being. At a tie when only the rich had their tailors and dress-makers, he was a precursor in believing in the burgeoning democratization of cloths and, together with his associate and designer, Siegel, he started to manufacture busts and dummies to be used in the ready-to-wear trade and by couturiers.

Caroline Mondon, the managing director of the Siegel et Stock company, which is the world number one on this market with 70% of its turnover coming from abroad, explains. At Siegel & Stockman, exporting is an old tradition. “We intervene in such a restricted market that it has always been essential for us to export. At the moment, we cater for two kinds of market. The first concerns the so-called developing countries where we work for sewing workshops and schools, in Africa and in Pakistan. The second is aimed at fashion designers and shop-Windows in the so-called rich countries”.