Some individuals embody the fragile stability between heritage and modernity in vogue and luxurious. Éléonore Baudry, CEO of Figaret Paris, belongs to that uncommon era of leaders able to preserving the soul of a heritage home whereas skilfully propelling it into the spirit of the occasions.
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 sleek transformation, sharpening its picture, modernising its collections, and successful 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 vogue, and her deep love for the artwork of the shirt. A fascinating dialog with a frontrunner who believes within the energy of considerate gestures, rigorously chosen phrases, and deliberate selections — in a sector the place each nuance issues and the place class 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 international locations — in Asia and Egypt, however above all, I’ve labored for a few years in the USA. What struck me most was the realisation that, regardless of all my years in American corporations, regardless of being fluent in English and loving the tradition, I wasn’t American. As soon as I arrived, I used to be shocked by sure sudden facets that challenged my preconceived concepts. From that, I’ve retained a deep curiosity and the will to strategy others with out preconceptions. Working in the USA additionally gave me a invaluable head begin, notably in digital issues. After I returned to France, I used to be two or three years forward just because I had the great fortune to be in the proper place on the proper time. The French market has caught up significantly as we speak, however that early benefit has introduced me a fantastic deal.
LA: And as we speak, how do these experiences form your work at Figaret? E.B.: They nourish two important facets at Figaret: the digital and the connection with the model and retail. At Gucci, I realized easy 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: that you must add layers with out ever damaging it. At Figaret, we have now celebrated this “artwork of the shirt” since 1968, and we root it in modernity with out slipping into simple developments. 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 now have 31 boutiques, which implies a mess of every day interactions. Model transformation occurs via shut consideration to element, to individuals, and to listening rigorously to the “faint indicators.” We would like our prospects to have a rare expertise, as a result of you should buy shirts wherever, however a phenomenal 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. Right now, France stays a serious trendsetter, notably in vogue. That mentioned, I discover Italy is highly effective in the mean time. At Figaret, we align ourselves with this spirit: hyper-chic, elegant vogue, with out loud logos or something “in your face.” Our prospects are in search of high quality items they’ll put on typically and for a very long time — clothes with that means and real craftsmanship.
LA: While you arrived at Figaret, what had been your keys to “waking the sleeping magnificence”? E.B.: Sure, it wanted waking up… nevertheless it was already gorgeous — that was our benefit! After I arrived in 2018, the craftsmanship and high quality had been definitely there, however the model had slipped off the radar. We would have liked to carry it again into the highlight. We labored on three predominant fronts. First, picture and communication: nothing was damaged, however we had been not in tune with the occasions. We needed to restore pleasure in our prospects and make them say, “I went to Figaret” with enthusiasm. To try this, we needed to totally embrace our traditional heritage and declare it as an asset at a time when individuals had been realising that traditional, in actual fact, is in vogue. Subsequent, we rethought the providing: We tightened the enterprise focus, developed the informal line, and relaunched the ladies’s assortment in a contemporary approach. 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 traditional heritage and up to date vitality.
LA:Figaret has existed since 1968. Do you continue to make “the proper shirt”? E.B.: Sure, and greater than ever! After I arrived, one of many first priorities was to make sure that our shirts had been really good. 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 accomplished 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 gorgeous issues.
LA:Your “Je t’aime” assortment caught my consideration. Do artwork and literature play a necessary 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 had 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 should 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 environment, a visitor involves share their ardour for an creator’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 guts in order that it may be hidden or revealed relying on one’s temper. This piece has develop into iconic for us, collected by a few of our shoppers, and it’s additionally a phenomenal strategy to uncover the model or to supply a present to a liked one.
LA:Right now, 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 all places, together with Switzerland, for fairly a while, and in our boutiques. If a buyer can’t discover a explicit piece, we order it and organize supply to their dwelling, typically as quickly as the following day. We now have made sturdy 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 wish 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 provide a restore service via our web site. A high quality product deserves to endure; it is so simple as that.
LA:You will have begun increasing internationally, together with your first boutique in Brussels and now in Geneva. How does this match into your general improvement? 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 had been already coming to Paris and Lille and shopping for loads on-line. It’s the similar with Switzerland. We now have many Swiss shoppers, and Geneva is a world metropolis the place the Swiss maintain an actual place. The thought is to have the ability to inform our story in-store, not simply on an internet site. Subsequent, we have now London in our sights for subsequent yr. We maintain a singular place that may enchantment 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 girls’s vogue at Figaret? E.B.: This position permits me to remain attentive to the evolution of ladies’s vogue and to the true wants of ladies, each of their skilled and private lives. At Figaret, we need to provide shirts that accompany girls in each dimension of their lives — elegant, versatile, and cozy items. We pay explicit consideration to the selection of materials, cuts, and particulars to supply timeless items. Trend ought to be each a way of expression and a every day ally. A girl ought to by no means select between class, consolation, and authenticity.
LA:What query do you want I had requested you, however haven’t but? E.B.: You can have requested me, “Do you might have a particular reference to Switzerland?” And the reply is, “Sure!” My mom is Swiss, so I’m Swiss myself, and I’m notably 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 can have the pleasure of discovering a brand new model they genuinely take pleasure in. That is the ambition we have now for Figaret.
In conclusion
Below 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: one in all 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 determine — cosmopolitan, 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, rigorously cultivating a fragile stability between industrial calls for and aesthetic pursuit. For her, each choice, 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 desires, and press the previous to open it in direction of a greater tomorrow. For right here, class isn’t 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 knowledge on this article was researched and compiled completely for LuxuryActivist.com. All content material is protected by copyright and is probably not reproduced, distributed, or transmitted with out prior written permission. Photographs are used solely for illustrative functions. Photographs are courtesy of Figaret Paris.
