Our history
From fiber to needle
Provençal by nature
1882
Our story begins in Nyons, the French capital of olives, located in the heart of Provence’s Drôme region. The Fert family has established itself there as weavers. Firmly connected to the local culture, the artisanal business produces sheets and fabrics made from hemp, linen, and cotton.
New times, new needs
1900
In parallel, significant changes are taking place in the olive oil industry. Throughout the south of France, oil mills are gradually replacing the old screw presses with hydraulic presses, which are making their debut. The scourtins, traditional filters woven by hand for millennia around the Mediterranean and used during the extraction of olive oil, can no longer withstand the pressure and become obsolete.
Making the most of the game
1900
Ingenious and visionary, Ferdinand Fert sees in this large-scale technological change a commercial opportunity to seize.
In 1892, he invents and patents the very first machine for the mechanical weaving of filter cloths. An expert in textile materials, he replaces alfa and uses coconut fiber ropes for the first time, utilizing their rot-resistant properties: it’s a true revolution! Faster to produce and more durable, these next-generation filter cloths can now be used for multiple seasons.
Winter
1956
France experienced an exceptionally mild early winter, causing an early sap rise in local flora, before a Siberian cold snap paralyzed the country, which recorded some of the lowest temperatures in its recent history. The Seine and the Rhône froze over, and even the port of Marseille was gripped by ice. The olive trees of Provence literally shattered from the cold. It was a true disaster: in just one month, over four million olive trees were lost.
Artistic flair
1960
The olive oil industry was severely affected, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The Fert family tried to diversify their production. Observing the tendency of modest Provencal families to reuse used scourtins as doormats, Georges and Alain Fert decided to use their handcrafted machines to create genuine decorative carpets: Scourtin de Provence® was born. The creative company took its first step into the world of decoration and flourished once again.
The Indian adventure
2000
Over the years and through travels, La Scourtinerie builds much more than just a simple commercial exchange. Naturally curious and open to Keralite culture, the Fert family weaves strong bonds of friendship with their raw material supplier, fostering a relationship based on trust and fairness.
Furthermore, the local craftsmanship that each generation of the Fert family discovers on-site continues to inspire and enrich their creations.
The creation of the shade sails
2017
It was during one of his annual business trips to Kerala that Arnaud Fert imagined and created the very first shade sail made of coconut fiber.
After some studies and adjustments, La Scourtinerie launched in 2017 Les Ombrières de La Scourtinerie®: both practical and highly aesthetic, the success was immediate. The company even won the prestigious Côté Sud Salon award in 2019, recognizing the most beautiful innovation of the year.
Innovative and ambitious
2024
Experiencing remarkable success, La Scourtinerie logically establishes itself as the leader in the market for shade sails made from coconut fiber. The company is industrializing and significantly expanding its team.
In 2024, to support this expansion, the company separates administratively from its parent company and becomes Les Ombrières de Provence®. Firmly focused on its time and challenges, the company intends to continue exploring the creative potentials of its iconic raw material.
The team
Interweave our skills
THE LINKS OF A KNOW-HOW
Constantly expanding, the company’s team has continually evolved since 2017: from our talented seamstresses to our ingenious technical salespeople, not to mention our administration and communication officers, discover the members of our team and their specializations.
Rita
She is the absolute queen of the workshop. Originally from Latvia, she left the Baltic shores with her training as a seamstress in hand to join our team in 2022. Since then, she has been crafting all of our custom shade sails and privacy screens with precision and expertise. While she may be quiet in her large workspace, she remains incredibly efficient and has a keen appreciation for craftsmanship. Driven by a passion for sewing, she also channels her creativity through her own clothing brand, MISTIJA, where her creations are meticulously handmade.
ARNAUD
Arnaud is the manager and creator of shade sails. At the beginning, there is Arnaud, the fourth generation of the Fert family. With a degree in Materials Science, he begins a career in aerospace engineering in Germany. He returns from across the Rhine after his father’s retirement to assist his sister in the family factory. In 2017, he imagines and designs the very first shade sail made from coconut fiber, thus starting a new chapter in the history of La Scourtinerie.
ROBIN
Robin is the webmaster of the company. In other words, he alone masters all the technical aspects of our website and online store. But his talents do not stop there: holding a BTS in audiovisual and a multimedia director’s degree, he is also our cameraman and designated drone pilot, in addition to editing most of our video content. Creative even outside of work, Robin expresses his passion for music by singing in a local afrobeat band – the greatest of the Baronnies provençales, if you ask him!
Tiphaine
Arriving from the Vosges in 2021, Tiphaine is a true mountain girl. And even though she’s fully embraced our beautiful Provencal region and its olive trees, she still gets wistful from time to time about the great pine forests… Passionate about the exhilarating speed of sports cars and the creative world of tattoos, her rock chic style leaves no one indifferent. With a degree in business unit management and specialising in supply chain management since 2024, our Supply Chain Manager is characterised by a strong sense of responsibility, much to the delight of her colleagues!
Florian
A catalyst for good moods and a fervent defender of simple and authentic values, Florian is undoubtedly the life of the party who brings our team together. Graduating in Applied Foreign Languages (English and Spanish) and holding a master’s degree in international project negotiation, he moved with his family to Drôme provençale in 2021 and quickly adapted to the region that reminds him of his native Biterroise land. Having become one of our first technical sales representatives, he is also now a key player in innovation as he is responsible for developing new products for our catalog. Between his cycling outings (road or mountain biking, depending on the weather) and his creative projects, Florian is always ready to embrace new challenges with enthusiasm.
Philippe
Don’t be fooled by his serious demeanor as a former customs freight forwarder: behind his glasses, Philippe is undoubtedly the most outgoing sales technician on the team! An expert in European cultures and passionate about geopolitics, he is also responsible for our after-sales service and the export of our creations outside the European Union. Coming from a Spanish family and holding a degree in transportation and logistics, Philippe will also be happy to converse with you in the language of Cervantes. Outside of work, he passionately dedicates himself to his guesthouses “Terre de Lumière,” where he shares his love for hospitality and conviviality.
Roberta
Originally from the Italian Riviera, Roberta is our multilingual sales technician perfectly embodying our openness to the world. It must be said that she speaks six different languages, at least for now, as she doesn’t seem to want to stop there… With a degree in foreign languages, she arrives in Provence in 2022 from Liguria specifically to join the team. An unconditional lover of fitness and travel, Roberta shares with the team her dolce vita, her Italian culture… and sometimes even her pizzas!
Chloé
Chloé has held the central role of communication officer for over four years. As the voice and pen of our company, she ensures to write, validate, and share our content while creating connections between key areas of the team. A stylist by trade, Chloé has traveled the world for several years, with a prolonged stay in Oceania. From her travels, she brings back a cultural richness that fuels her creativity and inspires her insights, making her a true asset in communicating our services and conveying our values.
Mélanie
Hailing from the region, Mélanie has just returned from a stay of over ten years in Ireland, where she worked as a pastry chef. Now serving as a sales assistant/receptionist at the company, you will have the pleasure of speaking with her when you contact us by phone for the first time. A devoted admirer of Nem, our beloved four-legged mascot, Mélanie blends sweetness and spirit with a natural charm that makes her indispensable to the team. Indeed, behind her gentle voice lies a strong character that contributes to her distinctive personality.
Laura
Specializing in support for custom projects, Laura is the youngest technical sales representative on the team. After completing a degree in organizational management, she is embarking on a career change in 2024 and subsequently joins the company as an apprentice. Focused on customization, her listening skills and interpersonal qualities, derived from her previous studies, reflect in the attention she gives to each project she supports. Between two enduro motorcycle rides, she cultivates and shares a positive energy that boosts the team’s dynamics on a daily basis.
Shean
If the team has members who are a bit dreamy and others who are more pragmatic, Shean, on the other hand, has long had both feet… on a boat! After more than 18 years of sailing through the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic Sea, she will drop anchor in 2024 and join our company. Now at the warehouse, it’s her energy, rigor, and a good dose of humor that add to our team and contribute to the smooth functioning of the company.
Morgane
Morgane is a true jack-of-all-trades. Responsible for finance, human resources, and administration, she works across departments to ensure a smooth operation of all the mechanisms of the company that she orchestrates with precision. With degrees in foreign languages and organizational management, she joined Drôme specifically for the position after a rich experience in the tourism sector in Savoie. Always in search of optimization, she is just as comfortable behind an Excel spreadsheet as she is on a badminton court!
