Sezane, Balzac, Jacquemus and Rouje are just some of the fashion players who have managed to hold their own in a market that is, to say the least, gloomy. To understand their success is to outline the contours of a new business model dominated by in-person relationships. 

The first observation is that these names are more brands than retailers, since their store numbers don’t allow us to speak of networks. A brand has far greater power to trigger imaginations than a chain. The sales assistants are “girlfriends”, close friends and accomplices, the stores are called “apartments”, and the clothes are arranged as if in a dressing room. Words matter.

Each of them is also embodied. Not by an adulated artistic director, as in the luxury industry, but by a person with whom we can identify, associated with a strong storytelling based on a territory, a lifestyle or a state of mind not always foreign to us. Stories enriched over time by cleverly thought-out events, behind-the-scenes reveals, calculated revelations and buzz-worthy partnerships. They are “soap opera” brands, we’re always waiting for the next episode. 

Last but not least, the success of these brands is due to their offer, which is paradoxically less central than that of the sector’s traditional players: lots of basic twists and timeless pieces that are regularly updated. Easy, desirable clothes combined with an including wide price range. The question of whether this offer is mid-range, access premium or top-of-the-range no longer arises, as accessibility is measured not by price but by desirability. Another special feature is that, unlike traditional brands, sales periods are rare and renamed “archive sales”. Words are definitely important.  As for belongingness, the ultimate Grail of all brands, it’s more a matter of recognizing a singular detail, a shape, a color, rather than an overly obvious logo. More subtle. Likewise, their communities are not measured by the number of followers or likes, but by the experience of sharing the same universe. So it’s hardly surprising that these brands are always looking further afield: accessories (leather goods, eyewear, shoes), beauty and even the home… Their ambitions don’t stop at the dressing room.

In these times of sustainability, as all forms of bags and packaging are gradually disappearing from the landscape, it’s hard to believe that cardboard boxes are resisting, despite being threatened by their green and lasting equivalents, made to accommodate bulk products or home-made meals that will make up workers’ lunches.

The world of pizza is leading the resistance. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine it without a cardboard box, such is the importance of this iconic item. Ordering a pizza, then proudly carrying it still warm in its box where it will be cut up and finished, is certainly part of one’s personal mythology. The cardboard box also appears at lunchtime, in the form of a lunchbox (with its transparent lid) carried like an offering by employees deprived of bags and in search of a place to sit, topped with a calibrated piece of bread (not two) and another small box, round and plastic this time, containing the sauce without which the offer would be incomplete. The ultimate avatar of the lunchbox, the meal box can accommodate a selection of sushi as well as a healthy pasta salad.

Beyond these two ritualized moments of consumption, the cardboard box also has a place, surprisingly, in the world of donuts. Considered finger food, they often come in boxes of six or twelve. Cheaper individually, of course, but that’s not the point, because in these boxes, donuts acquire a new status. From objects of individual desire, they become treats to be offered and shared, gathered together in a “discovery box”. Arranged side by side, their harmonious colors and materials become décor, a further sign of the evolution of “everyday” into “beautyday”.

From slightly trashy foods, they’re now dreaming of becoming Sunday cakes, buoyed by their iconic status and ready to join the tribe of éclairs and millefeuilles. A form of ennoblement. Here, box packing helps reinvent the content. A promise for the future. Particularly when you consider that the word case is already at the starting line to premiumize the offer. Who could resist a case of donuts?