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Graduating from ESSEC in 1989, I was drawn to operations and direct customer contact. This is why, even though this sector was not very popular at the time, I chose retail. I became part of the first class of business school graduates to join GALERIES LAFAYETTE. There, I worked as a lingerie buyer, then a ready-to-wear buyer, gaining the basics as well as a deep understanding of fashion.

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In 1994, I joined the ETAM group, where I stayed for 11 years. Initially, I worked in the ETAM READY-TO-WEAR division as a product manager and later as a group manager until 1999. I then took on the role of Director of Purchasing, Style, and Quality in the ETAM LINGERIE division, managing markets in France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. This experience was highly formative for my career. At the time, the group was a leader in its market, and it taught me all the fundamentals of retail performance, including purchasing management, supply chain, and sourcing. Additionally, I developed a managerial culture focused on performance, responsiveness, and innovation.

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Next came the VIVARTE adventure and my meeting with Georges Plassat. I was one of the 12 managers who worked alongside him during the first LBO in 2004. Initially, I served as number two at KOOKAI alongside Jacques Levy, where we led a successful brand turnaround starting in mid-2005, with a return to profitability by 2006.

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In 2007, following its acquisition by the group, I became CEO of NAFNAF, a company with a turnover of €240 million and 1,600 employees, and became its president in 2009. My challenge was to succeed the two founding brothers, reposition the brand, modernize the organization, and ensure profitability by focusing on retail performance since the wholesale activity was declining. By 2009, the brand had regained its unique position in the market, and EBITDA grew by €10 million. This experience was perhaps my greatest human and managerial adventure: a stellar executive committee and enthusiastic, confident employees who helped us move forward quickly. I also had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of international markets, particularly Eastern Europe and South America.

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I left Vivarte in July 2013 to join GERARD DAREL as president, with Advent as the investor. I chose this project because the brand is beautiful and international, but it hadn’t adapted to the new competition in the affordable luxury segment. It was losing 10% of its customers annually, had aged, and its EBITDA had dropped from €35 million in 2008 to €12 million in 2013. Gerard Darel was also heavily indebted and in breach of covenants since 2012. I formed a new executive committee in three months, and we quickly implemented the company’s transformation, all while dealing with tense negotiations with creditors.

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In the end, we ran out of time, and to protect the company, I had to file for bankruptcy. Under the guidance of Maitre Bourbouloux, a divestiture plan was implemented, resulting in three offers that preserved 85% of the workforce, refinanced the company, and wiped out the debt.