It is not only traders who find themselves partially or totally excluded from state aid mechanisms. While Covid-19 is still not eradicated a year after the start of the pandemic, fashion designers also feel well isolated, as they continue to fight to stay afloat. The designer of high-end women’s ready-to-wear Coralie Marabelle tells FashionNetwork.com about her obstacle course, while keeping a positive and optimistic attitude.
The one who made herself known in 2014 by winning the audience’s prize at the Hyères Festival founded her own fashion house of “couture-à-porter” in 2016. From 2018, she is betting on the retail via a boutique inaugurated in Paris, deciding to abandon the wholesale to focus on direct sales in order to better establish its brand with its community. But the Covid crisis will force it to review its strategy.
Having integrated the 2019-20 promotion of the “Talents” program of the French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear, she took the opportunity to put everything back on track. “I got involved just before the pandemic in a multi-channel development plan providing for a boutique, an e-shop and a distribution wholesale with, at the end of the day, significant investments. But the situation forced me to revise my objectives downwards, ”she sums up.
Given the context, it is impossible for him to reopen a store, nor pop-up stores. Just before confinement, her lease expiring, the stylist had decided to move to transform her workshop into a unique place of sale and creation. However, she must postpone her project. As a result, since June, it no longer benefits from any state aid, because it no longer has a point of sale.
At the same time, she had started to canvass multi-brand retailers, but she quickly became disillusioned. “We have participated in virtual shows, but to choose an item of clothing, you have to see it, touch it. Besides, buyers don’t bring new brands into their store during this period, they don’t want to take risks. It is important to meet them in person to explain the product to them, especially when starting out in the network. wholesale. The only stores with which we were able to conclude are those which we already know “, explains the stylist.
An approach requiring investment here too, “in order to expand the range with larger collections and to ensure that we have the right images to showcase the product in digital showrooms”. Lots of resources and energy for an almost zero return… “This is the worst moment for the wholesale“, loose Coralie Marabelle.
Unable to be able to open a new store, create pop-up stores and develop wholesale sales as initially planned, the company has refocused on digital. It has invested heavily in a new e-shop and in social networks, multiplying its 2020 digital communication budget by 2.5 compared to 2019. “In the current context, we need to be much more visible, present and hyperactive on the Internet. Web. This translates into more shoots, videos, GIFs and other advertising investments, “she said.
The results this time lived up to expectations. While in 2019, the brand’s online sales represented 19% of its turnover, now they have reached 70%. “It’s very encouraging. Sales have skyrocketed compared to those made on our old site. We launched this new e-shop in September, but it did not explode overnight. We are a small structure. ; it took us a long time to get to grips with this sales method and its innumerable technical elements. In addition, digital does not compensate for the shortfall in the two other sales channels (retail and wholesale) “, notes the designer.
“We were unable to benefit from the government’s economic support measures because our turnover had not fallen sufficiently between 2019 and 2020. At the same time, we have made investments, which have so far not been profitable. . Today, we have cash flow problems, but must continue to invest to remain visible on pain of disappearing. However, the State does not take into account this kind of scenario for young companies “, deplores t -it.
The only tangible help she has received is an endowment of 1,500 euros granted by the French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear with the Challenge for its digitalization. A very meager consolation prize to face the scale of the expenses. Coralie Marabelle has no other choice but to advance the cash to launch her productions, run her site and remain active on the Web, which remains the only outlet “to function at the moment and on which we can act”.
The only good news is that the stylist was able to obtain a PGE (loan guaranteed by the State) quite easily last year. “But we’re going to have to pay it back. Financially, it’s difficult to move forward in this context. To keep up, we need cash, regardless of our turnover. It’s the same for all the other brands. in the meantime, we have to keep our backs round, ”she concludes.
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