How to (re)concile fashion, social commitment and the desire to consume sustainably: Designer Valentine Gauthier shares the keys to the perennial success of her eponymous brand.
images courtesy of Valentine Gauthier
Before creating a fashion brand, Valentine Gauthier wanted to invent “a lifestyle”. Her ambitions since the creation of her eponymous label in 2007:
1- Create a fashion brand that pioneers desirable and innovative engagement
Designing a committed, cool, colorful wardrobe that combines art and culture. Creating a complete wardrobe of feminine essentials, with an assertive and wearable style, mixing the codes of femininity and masculinity.
Offering a selection of pieces that are renewed or enriched at a thoughtful rhythm, highlighting their origin, know-how and “made-in-proximity”, while respecting the teams and partners.
“This achievement resulted in the designer being awarded the Grand Prix de la Création de la Ville de Paris in November 2019, in the Fashion category”.
How to achieve it ?
– Do not follow seasonality.
– Favour small series and semi-customisation.
– Look for the right fit that becomes timeless, created from materials chosen for their natural, recycled or sustainable qualities, made in France and Europe.
– Guarantee the respect of tradition in the production, the use of innovative and respectful processes thanks to the choice of partners committed to a responsible process.
– Control the sourcing and have a great visibility on the whole manufacturing chain, up to the transformation of the fabric scraps.
2- Secure a moderate growth to serve its purpose
Proving the brand’s value before generating profits by relying on quality versus quantity to gain true legitimacy and an uncompromising DNA, which allows the brand’s statement to be strengthened with sincerity and transparency.
“What is essential is to be in a position of stability to develop reasonably, to cultivate and reinforce affinity with a loyal and transgenerational community”.
How to achieve it ?
– Listen to the community in order to fulfill the desires of the customers while respecting the brand’s convictions and the history on which it is built.
– Do not segment to dress plural women regardless of their age, their appearance, their color, their gender…
– In digital or in physical environment, meet the clients, exchange with sincerity and confidence, show the backstages as long as everything is real.
3- Do not compromise an “eco-responsible” positioning but remain ultra-agile
becoming the perfect intermediary between luxury that is reassuring but whose prices have been constantly increasing and “a fashion system that has become too interchangeable to retain their customers’ loyalty”.
How to achieve it ?
– Act transparently, fairly and coherently to be in a position to take beneficial risks because they reflect values that are essential to generations Y and Z, aiming for consumption grounded in reality.
4- Become a fashion brand that renews the retail experience
Opening in 2018, the Parisian flagship « Holism modern craft », a boutique, workshop and apartment. The designer, aware of the need to extend the retail experience to other creative fields, has designed “a space dedicated to lifestyle, open to the public by appointment and hosting dinners exclusively for business professionals”.
How to achieve it ?
– To enrich the brand, fashion becomes the vector of a holistic universe conceived as a place to live and create, where visitors can discover: furniture made especially for the space, photographs, artists’ ceramics, which complement the timeless iconic wardrobe, as well as virtuous collaborations with other brands chosen by the designer for their engagement.
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