Some individuals embody the fragile stability between heritage and modernity in style and luxurious. Éléonore Baudry, CEO of Figaret Paris, belongs to that uncommon technology of leaders able to preserving the soul of a heritage home whereas skilfully propelling it into the spirit of the instances.
Since its founding in 1968, Figaret has established itself as a benchmark of the French shirt, synonymous with impeccable cuts, distinctive supplies, and understated stylish. The model has undergone a swish transformation, sharpening its picture, modernising its collections, and profitable over new audiences in France and internationally.
On this unique interview, Éléonore Baudry passionately and insightfully shares her imaginative and prescient of the craft, her eye for element, her dedication to extra sustainable style, and her deep love for the artwork of the shirt. A fascinating dialog with a pacesetter who believes within the energy of considerate gestures, fastidiously chosen phrases, and deliberate choices — in a sector the place each nuance issues and the place magnificence stays, greater than ever, a query of sincerity.
LuxuryActivist (LA): Expensive Éléonore, I’ve adopted your profession and seen you’ve travelled extensively. What have you ever taken away from these experiences? Is there a lesson, a mantra, or a tenet that shapes your work at Figaret as we speak? Éléonore Baudry (E.B.): I’ve been lucky to work in lots of nations — in Asia and Egypt, however above all, I’ve labored for a few years in the US. What struck me most was the realisation that, regardless of all my years in American firms, regardless of being fluent in English and loving the tradition, I wasn’t American. As soon as I arrived, I used to be stunned by sure sudden points that challenged my preconceived concepts. From that, I’ve retained a deep curiosity and the need to strategy others with out preconceptions. Working in the US additionally gave me a useful head begin, significantly in digital issues. Once I returned to France, I used to be two or three years forward just because I had the nice fortune to be in the correct place on the proper time. The French market has caught up significantly as we speak, however that early benefit has introduced me a terrific deal.
LA: And as we speak, how do these experiences form your work at Figaret? E.B.: They nourish two important points at Figaret: the digital and the connection with the model and retail. At Gucci, I discovered methods to immerse myself in a home’s DNA — to respect and assist it evolve with out betraying it. A model is a fragile factor: you could add layers with out ever damaging it. At Figaret, we’ve celebrated this “artwork of the shirt” since 1968, and we root it in modernity with out slipping into straightforward tendencies. We’re a model that whispers, not a model that shouts. As for retail, it has at all times been my world: I began at Procter and spent seven years in strategic consulting inside this sector. We’ve got 31 boutiques, which implies a mess of each day interactions. Model transformation occurs by means of shut consideration to element, to individuals, and to listening fastidiously to the “faint alerts.” We wish our prospects to have a rare expertise, as a result of you should buy shirts anyplace, however a ravishing expertise is uncommon and valuable.
LA:You talked about returning to France with a head begin in digital. How do you see France’s positioning on these matters as we speak? E.B.: On the time, there was certainly a delay — the adoption of e-commerce was slower. However the catch-up has been spectacular. At this time, France stays a significant trendsetter, significantly in style. That stated, I discover Italy is highly effective for the time being. At Figaret, we align ourselves with this spirit: hyper-chic, elegant style, with out loud logos or something “in your face.” Our prospects are searching for high quality items they are going to put on typically and for a very long time — clothes with which means and real craftsmanship.
LA: If you arrived at Figaret, what have been your keys to “waking the sleeping magnificence”? E.B.: Sure, it wanted waking up… nevertheless it was already gorgeous — that was our benefit! Once I arrived in 2018, the craftsmanship and high quality have been actually there, however the model had slipped off the radar. We would have liked to carry it again into the highlight. We labored on three foremost fronts. First, picture and communication: nothing was damaged, however we have been now not in tune with the instances. We needed to restore delight in our prospects and make them say, “I went to Figaret” with enthusiasm. To try this, we needed to absolutely embrace our basic heritage and declare it as an asset at a time when individuals have been realising that basic, in actual fact, is in style. Subsequent, we rethought the providing: We tightened the enterprise focus, developed the informal line, and relaunched the ladies’s assortment in a contemporary manner. Lastly, we labored on the in-store expertise: We retained our long-standing salespeople, those that know the product inside out, whereas bringing in contemporary vitality to embody the stability between basic heritage and up to date vitality.
LA:Figaret has existed since 1968. Do you continue to make “the right shirt”? E.B.: Sure, and greater than ever! Once I arrived, one of many first priorities was to make sure that our shirts have been really excellent. We adjusted the cuts, added high quality particulars like double ascolite stitching to strengthen the collar and cuff buttons, and strengthened high quality management throughout all our workshops. This season, we launched the “Les Beaux Tissus” assortment, utilizing distinctive materials from Albini, Thomas Mason, and Canclini—the good Italian textile makers. We’ve carried out all this whereas staying inside a really affordable value vary as a result of we’re not an elitist model; we’re a model of lovely issues.
LA:Your “Je t’aime” assortment caught my consideration. Do artwork and literature play an important position at Figaret? E.B.: Completely. We’re a heritage model, deeply rooted in French tradition, and our shoppers are delicate to that universe. For instance, we have been the primary model to collaborate with the publishing home Gallimard: we created a Rimbaud shirt embroidered with a line from A Season in Hell — “Love have to be reinvented” — and an Antoine de Saint-Exupéry shirt, impressed by his aviator world, that includes a ripstop parachute cloth pocket for a flight plan and a phrase taken from his love letters: “Let’s hurry to dream.” We additionally organise “La Ardour du Model literary dinners” in our Rue de la Paix boutique. After closing, in a speakeasy ambiance, a visitor involves share their ardour for an writer’s work. As for the “Je t’aime” shirt, it’s impressed by Claude Sautet’s movie The Issues of Life. In it, Romy Schneider borrows Michel Piccoli’s shirt, and we’ve embroidered “Je t’aime” close to the center in order that it may be hidden or revealed relying on one’s temper. This piece has change into iconic for us, collected by a few of our shoppers, and it’s additionally a ravishing strategy to uncover the model or to supply a present to a beloved one.
LA:At this time, new generations place nice significance on digital and sustainability. How is Figaret evolving on these two fronts? E.B.: Digital is essential, naturally, each for our e-commerce, which has delivered in every single place, together with Switzerland, for fairly a while, and in our boutiques. If a buyer can not discover a specific piece, we order it and prepare supply to their residence, typically as quickly as the following day. We’ve got made robust commitments to sustainability. We produce completely in France, Europe, and the Maghreb, by no means in Asia, and we keep away from utilizing air freight for transport. Above all, we would like our garments to be worn typically and for a very long time. That’s true luxurious and the perfect strategy to company social duty. We even supply a restore service by means of our web site. A top quality product deserves to endure; it is so simple as that.
LA:You’ve got begun increasing internationally, together with your first boutique in Brussels and now in Geneva. How does this match into your general growth? E.B.: We took 5 years to revive the model’s splendour in France, and as we speak we’re able to cross borders. Belgium was an apparent alternative, as our Belgian prospects have been already coming to Paris and Lille and shopping for quite a bit on-line. It’s the similar with Switzerland. We’ve got many Swiss shoppers, and Geneva is a global metropolis the place the Swiss maintain an actual place. The concept is to have the ability to inform our story in-store, not simply on a web site. Subsequent, we’ve London in our sights for subsequent 12 months. We maintain a singular place that may attraction even in a rustic of shirts, as a result of what we provide differs from anybody else.
LA:You additionally maintain a key position on the board of administrators of the Fédération Française du Prêt-à-Porter Féminin. How does this expertise form your perspective on ladies’s style at Figaret? E.B.: This position permits me to remain attentive to the evolution of girls’s style and to the actual wants of girls, each of their skilled and private lives. At Figaret, we wish to supply shirts that accompany ladies in each dimension of their lives — elegant, versatile, and cozy items. We pay specific consideration to the selection of materials, cuts, and particulars to supply timeless items. Style needs to be each a way of expression and a each day ally. A lady ought to by no means select between magnificence, consolation, and authenticity.
LA:What query do you want I had requested you, however haven’t but? E.B.: You possibly can have requested me, “Do you’ve a particular reference to Switzerland?” And the reply is, “Sure!” My mom is Swiss, so I’m Swiss myself, and I’m significantly delighted that we’re opening in Geneva. I’m from Valais and have many cousins within the Lausanne and Sion areas.
LA:What can we want you for the long run? E.B.: The encounter occurs between our model and the shoppers. We hope for a easy, profitable launch, the place prospects could have the pleasure of discovering a brand new model they genuinely get pleasure from. That is the ambition we’ve for Figaret.
In conclusion with Éléonore Baudry
Beneath the management of Éléonore Baudry, the home of Figaret has masterfully mixed custom and modernity, respiratory contemporary life into the model with out ever unpicking the seams of its heritage. Every shirt, every assortment, every element turns into a press release: considered one of luxurious that takes its time, of magnificence anchored in longevity, of a home that prefers the whisper to the loud show.
On the helm of this renaissance, Éléonore Baudry is a uncommon, cosmopolitan determine formed by her worldwide experiences, decided, and endowed with an bold and grounded imaginative and prescient. She pays as a lot consideration to roots as to aspirations, fastidiously cultivating a fragile stability between industrial calls for and aesthetic pursuit. For her, each determination, each collaboration, each element issues, as a result of at its core, it’s about making a heritage home resonate with the rhythm of the up to date world.
Finally, at Figaret, they do greater than sew shirts. They weave tales, button up goals, and press the previous to open it in direction of a greater tomorrow. For right here, magnificence shouldn’t be merely a matter of thread and needle; it’s a literature to be worn, a affected person script that, sew by sew, writes the chapters of a fascinating future.
José Amorim The data on this article was researched and compiled completely for LuxuryActivist.com. All content material is protected by copyright and might not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted with out prior written permission. Photographs are used solely for illustrative functions. Photographs are courtesy of Figaret Paris.
