3 questions for . . . Cyril Paillot, founder of the NUE 19.04 brand
Cyril Paillot started his fashion career early – at 17 years old as a stylist with Catimini. At 25 years he worked with Jean Bourget and then went on to become a children’s wear stylist with IKKS, where he was eventually given carte blanche to design a women’s line. In 2011 he fulfilled his long-standing dream of creating his own brand, NUE 19.04. The women’s ready-to-wear brand is both “rock and sensual” and the materials are of the utmost importance.
What are the main difficulties and opportunities for a young brand today?
Difficulties being paid and paying bills are the biggest obstacles, especially during the first season, and the amounts concerned are significant. That’s why it’s essential to find the right business partners, whether retailers, agents, or distributors. It’s important for us to plan ahead to avoid orientation errors.
Another difficulty concerns manufacturing costs. For example, for knits we pay 30 percent more since we order low volumes, and then we have to fight to be delivered on time. All of that takes a lot of energy. Our opportunities are primarily through export, where we earn between 80 and 85 percent of our turnover.
I think the foundations are communication and visibility which are, in fact, inseparable. They are key today for growth.
What kind of help did you get to start and then to expand?
From the beginning we exhibited at French and international trade shows for different seasons, and we got help from DEFI.
The Fédération Française du Prêt à Porter Féminin gave us a lot of support. Its teams are very active and energetic and they contacted us for meetings and helped us with introductions. The Fédération put us in contact with Unibail-Rodamco which was looking for brands to join its Polygone Riviera mall in Cagnes-sur-Mer. After several meetings we opened a boutique. The Fédération also suggested we take part in the Fashion Week at Shenzhen. We submitted a dossier and last year we were selected to be part of the fashion show. It was a very rewarding experience. The Fédération also provides moral support which is very important for a brand, since during the first seasons everything seems complicated and heavy.
How would you describe the process of setting up the right distribution for a brand – between wholesale in France, export, and mono-brand boutiques?
To be in the market, you have to attend not just French trade shows, but also the European ones (in Berlin, London, and Milan). Export is fundamental for us since it accounts for most of our turnover.
Our clients are in South Korea, Japan, and China as well as the United States and Europe. By signing contracts with certain Asian buyers, we sometimes get access to 30 or 40 boutiques. The size of those orders can be a surprise in the beginning. Recently we’ve seen a return of Spanish clients and, to a lesser degree, Portuguese and Greek.
On the other hand, our concept store in Polygone Riviera is doing well and the results from the store are really encouraging. Since it’s been a positive experience, we may sign on again with Unibail for a similar type mall. But ultimately, our priority project is to open a store in Paris.