After André, Naf Naf or Jennyfer, another flagship of French fashion may disappear. He asked for his investment in receivership last week.
On the ready-to-wear side, it is the same catchphrase for all brands. Few are those who manage to escape the financial difficulties that hang them in the nose. Even the most popular are not spared: Jennyfer and Naf Naf have already sold to the sirens of the receivership. Today, yet another French fashion brand from the 90s is on the verge of bankruptcy. Born in 1995, she seduced a number of women with her “mother-daughter fashion”-a marketing positioning in accordance with our time, evidenced by the trend of matchy-match looks.
Unfortunately, this relevance will not have been enough to reconnect with growth and customers. Friday, June 20, the Fast Retailing group, which holds the label, asked for its placement in receivership from the Paris economic activity court. 50 shops in France and a hundred jobs are threatened; “Financial deterioration having continued” over the years. This brand is none other than Comptoir des Cotonniers.
If it has not changed its hand since June 2005 – a stability sign of good financial health – it is just as affected as the other actors. In recent years, it has multiplied restructuring plans and strategic changes. In the spring of 2024, she adopted a new price strategy. The objective? Give up attractive, be more accessible and expand your target. The claw prices are reduced by 30%.
On the product side, Comptoir des Cotonniers tries synergies with the group’s locomotive brand: Uniqlo. Interest? Take advantage of its popularity. This collaboration results in collections jointly scratched by the French label and the Japanese. An exchange of good processes which extends to the distribution, since Corners Comptoir des Cotonniers are emerging in Uniqlo stores (see Rivoli).
However, despite all the efforts made, its turnover continues to decline, from 72.2 million euros in 2019/2020 to 63.4 in 2022/2023. Employees on land deplore a lack of adequacy with the needs of the hexagonal client.
The leaders would have content to make a copy and paste from their Japanese market strategy to the French market, without trying to adapt it to local specificities. A kind of failed “glocalization”, made of “Change of style to get closer to Uniqlo”of “rationalization of the typical uniqlo basic product” ; in short, “Bad strategic choice” Who would have led to a loss of what made its stylistic DNA: stylish pieces for mother and daughter.
But a happy ending is still possible. Frédéric Biicese, former managing director, said he was ready to support a potential recovery so as not to see her die. Case to follow.
