What assessment can be made after 6 months of recovery?

Six months ago, Sara and I took over the Peau-Ethique brand. What an adventure! We decided to share with you the review of this beautiful journey's beginning.

Increased turnover?

Let's talk about it right away so there are no taboos. Our turnover has increased, even if we haven't reached our targets yet (but almost, we believe in it!). Given the current climate where many VSEs have been severely impacted, we can't complain.

We realize that, unfortunately, summer is a rather slow season for us as we don't offer seasonal products and we don't release new collections every two months. Reducing our production to offer sustainable products is a deliberate choice. We also don't have sales, because why have sales when we offer fair prices?

Don't overconsume

More and more brands are developing pre-orders to produce only ordered items. We don't practice it, but we try to reduce our volume so as not to end up with unsold stock. Space is sometimes starting to become an issue!

From now on, we manage our finished product and fabric stocks more reasonably. All our unsold items are 100% donated to a local association.

With the fabric scraps from our EVA collection, we launched bralettes that were a real success. This was a great way to use up the blue and pink fabric we had for a couple of years.

New product?

Our big breakthrough this year was the period panty. Even though there are many brands in this niche (anything and everything, and a new brand launches almost every month through crowdfunding), we've received only positive feedback. We are proud of our product. We tried to offer a quality product that is accessible to everyone. And thanks to these panties, we are able to contribute to endometriosis research, a cause close to our hearts. It's a disease that is not talked about enough.

You loved the bralettes! We also realize that habits have changed. The lockdown undoubtedly led to many women ditching their bras! Bralettes are a great alternative.

What's the overall takeaway?

Six months is a bit short for a full assessment, but it does allow us to see trends and review areas for improvement.

This year (and since 2020, despite everything), we're thinking more and more about what comes next. Recycling, second life, reducing packaging. We also try to be more and more transparent about how we work. We already were from the beginning, but we seek to be even more so.

We're redeveloping our boutique section; we realized that COVID changed mindsets and that people are looking for a return to physical stores. We're setting up in regional boutiques, initially for menstrual panties, but also with our socks. Expect us in other regions in the new academic year!

Areas for improvement? Probably!

First and foremost, our way of planning collections. We've been talking about men's pajamas for 2 years, and we hope they'll be ready for September (let's be honest, they'll be with us in October!).

Morale has, nevertheless, been impacted by COVID. Some projects won't see the light of day in 2021, but it's only a postponement. We try to manage our cash flow well because we don't have investors; all our cash flow is 100% self-financed.

We will launch new bralettes at the end of the year, and they will be more chic with more sizes to be better suited for 95 C/D cups.

And our priority in this second half of the year is to reduce our impact.

But there are positives: Sara and I get along very well (even though no one had any doubts!). We've improved our communication on social media; we've become experts!!

We've had press coverage! Even on TV!

See you in 6 months for the rest of the review!

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