3 questions for . . . Régis Pennel, chairman and founder of the L'Exception
After studies at the Polytechnique University and the Ecoles des Mines, Régis Pennel pursued a traditional career path, as a consultant with Cap Gemini and then as a civil servant with the Ministry of Finance. But his love of fashion quickly caught up with him. In 2007 he joined Céline as executive assistant to the retail director France, Switzerland, and Monaco before becoming product manager for leathergoods. At the end of 2011 he left the company to start L’Exception, a website that currently sells around 400 women’s and men’s brands. Last April his concept store opened, joining other new actors in the Canopée des Halles. And now L’Exception is gradually introducing home and lifestyle products.
What were your goals when you started L’Exception in 2011? Since then, what major changes have you seen in your sector?
Shortly before starting the website, we noticed the appearance of new brands, from Editions M.R to AMI, and we admired their style. But there wasn’t a website to carry them – one between the luxury positioning of net-a-porter.com and the more mass market appeal of placedestendances.com. So there was a slot to fill and we started with 40 brands. Today we carry 400. Demand is as strong as ever in the segment covering contemporary brands, accessible luxury, and independent designers.
In the beginning, the first brands we chose were on-trend and cutting edge. Then, over time, we saw that we couldn’t develop a long term activity on a latest-trend offer. The fact is that our regular clients don’t buy only designer labels, they also like contemporary brands. So as time went on we decided to sell both very fashion-focused and more accessible products.
Over five years after our launch, we have a turnover of around €4 million and we are one of the only sites in this segment. It’s a difficult profession with reduced margins. To stay in business for the long term you must, at the same time, get support from investors and offer the very best services. If we had to launch L’Exception today, it wouldn’t work. It would be too complicated in the current competitive environment.
What do you think about the evolution of French brands? What are their strong and weak points?
Overall, the product offer from French brands is creative, good quality, and attractive to clients. These brands have real value added but their weak point remains financing. A very strong French signature does exist. In fact, when we created our site, our identity was built on a selection of only French brands. And today our offer is still, for the most part, French.
In general, I get the feeling that support for French brands has increased, whether from the Fédération Française du Prêt à Porter Féminin or the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode with its Designers Apartment showroom. This kind of support is essential for brands to become established and then stable during their first seasons. Otherwise, we get the impression there has been a kind of mimicry in the launch of new brands over the past two or three years. Their business models, however, are changing; several businesses have started online before even looking for retailers. Some opt for a pre-order system.
Since you opened Les Halles boutique, what has been your analysis of the relationship between online and boutique sales?
With the opening of the Les Halles boutique last April, we made the choice to invest in multichannel distribution. The boutique is absolutely a complement to the website. It’s also a tool for winning new clients. We see that clients constantly go back and forth between the two. The first report since we opened is promising, as store traffic and turnover have met our expectations. The boutique’s location may seem surprising, but we always keep a startup approach for all our projects. That means our strategy is alternative and we don’t do things like the others. We think there’s a lot of potential for a boutique in this segment, especially in central Paris. We had already tested a point of sales next to our offices in the 10th arrondissement. The results were very encouraging. We want to continue to expand in Paris and in France, both with the Les Halles boutique and the website. Next, we’ll focus more on the international scene, which represents 15 percent of our clientele today.