3 questions for . . . Alain Prost, Maison Lejaby CEO

‘Lingerie expresses the identity women wish to express within their culture’.

With fresh backing from Impala Investment Holdings, Maison Lejaby is gaining strength internationally. CEO Alain Prost, the architect who’s upscaling the brand renowned for French savoir-faire, tells us more.

Over 65 percent of your turnover is international. How do you organize your retail anchors outside of France?

If we count all our retail partners, we are present in around 100 countries, with a background foundation of working in Europe via two locations, Western Europe and Russia.

Currently, our greatest growth is in the United Kingdom and Spain; with Italy, Germany, and Benelux following right behind. Our points-of-sale are relatively diverse in this group of countries. Our products are in department stores such as El Corte Inglés in Spain, one of our most important partners. Then there are the prestigious names like Harrods. In addition to these international showcases, there are the traditional multi-brand retailers. In certain countries we also rely on specialist chains, and sometimes those chains belong to our competitors, such as Orcanta (Chantelle Group) or Rigby and Peller, which is part of the Van de Velde portfolio.

As for the Russian market, it’s a special situation today. Until last spring, Russia and Ukraine represented 30 percent of our activity. Since the crises, however, circumstances have become more complicated.

But our objectives remain the same ‒ to achieve 75 percent of turnover through export by focusing on premium market positioning, savoir-faire, and luxury; and to develop a boutique concept by collaborating with partners.

Last summer you announced the relaunch of your United States subsidiary. Is this due to the situation in the Russian market?

Not exactly! When Lejaby was bought by Warnaco, the brand was already popular in Canada and the USA, which was odd, given that the market was not very developed at that time. So, we’ve always seen potential in North America. As soon as we repositioned the brand to more a more premium placement, we targeted a US market equal to Europe. We just decided it was the right time to shake up and modernize the brand by taking advantage of our specific expertise. Excepting Victoria’s Secret, the American lingerie market is monopolized by mass-market retail players which produce colossal product volumes. Then there are department stores, and next the multi-brand retailers who represent a very small part of the market. So, for our premium products, we have to target the most prestigious department stores and build solid partnerships with boutiques that are based on luxury goods and advising their clientele.

But in the USA, as elsewhere, we use a fluid network made up of a few lingerie-specialist agents. This is due to the costs a PME (a small or medium sized business) can absorb, but also for the flexibility it allows, meaning we can act quickly to invest in new markets.

So the international scene offers strong potential for lingerie brands, but needs to be navigated carefully. How is this different from ready-to-wear?

For retail, we saw that Asia and the Middle East were much less receptive to lingerie than to ready-to-wear. In fact, there aren’t many lingerie brands with a strong presence on every continent, and we are constantly confronted with a powerful clique of big groups (Triumph, Vanity Fair, Hanes, Wacoal, Chantelle, Calzedonia, and others) in places where numerous ready-to-wear brands are already established.

Beyond this, there are all the product issues. A study a few years ago showed that lingerie was the leading purchase choice in terms of personal and psychological involvement, more so than fragrance and ready-to-wear. Putting aside all the adaptations required to suit different morphologies or the specific inherent religious precepts in Muslim countries, I’ve observed that lingerie ‒ more so than ready-to-wear ‒ expresses the identity women wish to express within their culture. In France, as in Italy, lingerie is a catalyst for femininity. It’s the opposite in the United States, where underwear is considered as a functional second skin, and shouldn’t become more important than the outer garments, which define the personality. In China, lingerie isn’t necessarily functional, but it’s very colourful. This particular expression is often difficult to interpret, since it’s for an intimate sphere, while garments are seen by everybody.