How french shoe brand Carel internationally exports Parisian style

Business|Interview

Maitrepierre PE25 Credits: ©Launchmetrics/spotlight

"Putting Paris on your feet" is the promise made by the French shoe brand Carel. Seen on Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl), Lady Gaga and Jisoo (of Black Pink), it is causing a sensation among celebrities. Its success is due to its "Parisian chic" style that is exported beyond borders. For FashionUnited, the company's CEO Frédérique Picard looks back on its international expansion, driven by a strong influencer marketing strategy.

In 2010, Frédérique Picard joined the management of Carel. Since the beginning of the new century, the brand had suffered from an aging image. Convinced of its potential, she decided to implement a rejuvenation plan. The brand became embodied by the figure of the trendy and elegant Parisian woman, personified by fashion personalities such as Carla Bruni and Alexa Chung. A successful bet: a decade later, 50 percent of the brand's customers are under 30. Frédérique Picard also decided to simplify the catalog in order to focus on its low-heeled baby shoes, now the brand's bestsellers.

Exporting your offer abroad through image boutiques and renowned ambassadors

Carel has built up an international clientele, so much so that today six out of ten orders are made from countries other than France. Frédérique Picard explains that the number of foreign customers leaving its Parisian addresses with products has pushed the brand to consider opening points abroad. It has just opened a boutique in Brussels, located on Avenue Louise, and plans to open a store in Milan in early 2025.

The company is also expanding its presence in the Asian region, which is seeing significant demand and growth. Driven by K-pop groups, including the girl band Black Pink, and by renowned content creators, Carel has managed to attract customers attracted by shoes deemed "very Lolita, in a very regressive style," underlines Frédérique Picard. While China has long been its main market in the region, it has now been supplanted by its neighbors, Japan and Korea. It is therefore quite natural that the brand has decided to establish itself in Itaewon, one of the most chic districts of Seoul. It plans to strengthen its presence in the country by opening a store in Gangnam, also known as one of the flagship shopping destinations of the South Korean capital.

The brand, which has long been designed for France, has therefore turned to the international market, which represents 60 percent of its sales. Across the world, consumers are seduced by the brand with its Parisian spirit. "For them, the brand embodies France, it is associated with a whole imaginary world," says the director of Carel. It is therefore not surprising that the strappy shoes and the iconic black or red models represent 70 and 50 percent of sales made abroad.

Beyond its retail park, Carel can also count on public figures to participate in its influence on the world stage. The brand has been seen on the feet of Emily, in the series Emily in Paris, but also of Lady Gaga in the role of Alice for the film Joker: Folie à deux or in the television show Game of Thrones. It has collaborated on numerous occasions with Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl), notably by imagining two collections alongside the actress, which has allowed it to gain visibility again.

Reviving a heritage rich in more than 70 years

In the 1980s, when very few luxury houses were producing accessories, Carel would accompany them by designing shoes specially designed for the fashion shows. At the time, the company signed partnerships with labels such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Mugler. However, from the 2000s onwards, the brand ended up stopping the collaboration model, which it finally reintroduced more than two decades later. It is now alongside young emerging designers – although it worked with Gucci three years ago – that the brand imagines more cutting-edge collections. We find MaitrePierre and more recently Charles de Vilmorin, who reinvented the design of two Parisian boutiques for the end of the year.

Created in 1952 by the couple Georges and Rosa Carel, the brand has come a long way, confides its director. Today, the heirs of the brand continue to play a major role in management, while the Mirabaud Fund holds minority shares, up to 40 percent. In 2024, Carel recorded a 10 percent increase in its turnover. It has around sixty employees.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.FR, translated and edited to English.

It was translated using an AI tool called Gemini 1.5. .

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