13 Parisian brands on what advice they'd give their former selves
The next edition in our series asking designers for their hard-earned wisdom. This time, Paris!
By Joe Bobowicz
Setting up a label in the City of Light is no mean feat. Sure, the cost of living is less than London and New York, but it’s also the fiercest fashion ecosystem in the world, renowned for the haughty Fashion Week regulatory board, Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode [FHCM], and a calendar of the world’s most critically acclaimed shows.
Comparatively speaking, the space and appetite for independent talent is palpably smaller than across the Channel. With an overarching onus on luxe excellence – versus raw Fashion East-style creativity – Paris can be tricky to navigate for those without backing from a conglomerate like LVMH or Kering. However, there are myriad success stories of smaller labels surviving on their own terms. Some lean into FHCM’s Sphere showroom scheme, while others have totally re-appraised whether seeking validation from the big dogs is actually all that.
But it’s not just Parisian problems designers face. The global gripes that irk every designer – inventory management, image consistency, cash flow issues, messy partnerships and simply being a founder – are a big part of contemporary struggles in the French capital. Fortunately, we know a fair few of the contenders battling it out on Gaulois soil, so we asked them the same question we asked our London friends a few weeks ago: if they could start their brand again in 2026, what would they do differently?
Vincent Pressiat
“I would build slower but with stronger foundations. Today, I understand that a strong brand is not only built on visibility but on its ability to last without losing its identity. Watching Pressiat grow quickly taught me that you have to protect your vision as much as the business itself. Fashion school taught me how to build a vision, but business is something you mostly learn in real life. Running an independent brand forces you to become both a creative and an entrepreneur at the same time. In fashion, the real challenge is not only creating desire but staying consistent under pressure.”
Emeric Tchatchoua, 3.Paradis
“In the beginning, like many designers, I was almost entirely focused on the product and storytelling. While those elements are essential, I’ve learned that creativity can only thrive long-term when it’s supported by solid operations, financial discipline and the right people. I was eager to build complete collections and create a fully developed universe from the beginning. Looking back, I think there is a lot of value in growing more gradually, focusing on a smaller number of products, refining them season after season and building a strong foundation before expanding. Every product category brings its own challenges, from development and production to inventory management and cash flow. By growing product by product, you can better understand your clients and improve quality. I would also spend more time defining what success truly means for the brand. It’s easy to chase visibility, wholesale accounts or opportunities that seem prestigious. There were moments when demand grew faster than our infrastructure, moments when opportunities looked exciting on paper but weren’t necessarily right for the brand and moments when cash flow realities forced difficult decisions.”
Marie Marot
“I would spend less time expanding the collection and more time understanding how customers discover brands. Today, there are more brands, more products and more content than ever. A good product is essential but it is rarely enough on its own. I would think earlier about distribution, customer acquisition and brand awareness, and spend more time understanding where customers shop, how they discover new brands and what makes them remember one brand over another. I would also spend more time defining a clear point of view. A good product gets attention. A clear point of view is what people remember. People don’t only buy products. They buy into a vision, a sensibility and the people behind a brand. Customers don’t experience a brand the way founders do. They don’t see the months spent developing a product. They experience availability, delivery, fit, service and consistency. Some of the best decisions I’ve made came from conversations with other founders, manufacturers, retailers or logistics partners who had already solved the problems I was facing. I underestimated how generous people can be with their knowledge. There is no reason to spend six months solving a problem alone if someone can help you understand it in 30 minutes.”
Théodore Famery, Carne Bollente co-founder
“For a long time, we looked at large brands and corporate groups as business models to follow. But over the years, we realised that the ‘classic’ fashion business model has changed so much that we probably should have trusted our own intuition and ideas more from the start. It would have been faster and more adapted to our needs. Recently, we’ve seriously questioned the idea of growth at any cost. Profit and economic growth are important, but they are no longer the only metrics we want to optimise as they can quickly turn a company into a burnout factory. Today, we try to make decisions based on the quality of our work life: defining what is sustainable, protecting the time needed to develop meaningful creative ideas, maintaining a team size that allows for strong human relationships, and avoiding unnecessary overproduction.”
Kévin Nompeix and Florentin Glémarec, Egonlab
“We would invest earlier in storytelling, community building and long-term independence, while maintaining the same creative radicalism and spirit of experimentation that have defined Egonlab since the beginning. In the early years, like many independent brands, we focused primarily on creating collections, gaining visibility and finding our place within an established system. Over time, however, we understood that long-term relevance is not built solely through products or seasonal momentum, but through the strength of a brand’s universe. Fashion school gave us a strong creative foundation, but it did not fully prepare us for the realities of building and running a business. Designing a collection is one thing; managing production, cashflow, distribution, team dynamics, partnerships and long-term strategy is another. Running an independent brand requires constant adaptation, and many of the most valuable lessons come from trial and error, conversations with mentors, collaborations, and exchanges with people from different industries.”