Two of the 12 boutiques located throughout France (Lille, Bayonne, Valence, etc.) and in Belgium (Brussels) will be solely dedicated to be camaïeu, whose collections are intended to be “everyday”.
Present internationally
“Known by all women in France”, Camaïeu “was the leader” in 2020, with 8% market share, “ahead of Zara, H & M and Kiabi”, recalled Mr. Bismuth. “Celio needed to expand its range (…) All international brands today make men and women,” he explained, citing Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Gap. “We already have 25% of women who come to Celio to buy products for their husband, friend, brother or family (…) we will be able to offer them a women’s line,” rejoiced Sébastien Bismuth who defines Camaïeu as “the ‘alter ego of Celio’, both in terms of style and price. The announced objective is to offer around fifty stores in this format in the “three or four years to come”.
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Founded in 1978, the men’s ready-to-wear brand Celio currently has 320 stores in France and is also present internationally in Spain, Belgium and North Africa.
Judicial liquidation
The president of Celio did not wish to communicate either on the investments necessary for the operation, or on the turnover but maintained that the company “had been growing for three years, profitable” and “gaining shares of walk”.
In December 2022, Celio bought the Camaïeu brand for 1.8 million euros (1.7 million francs at today’s rate) during an auction. Formerly the flagship of women’s ready-to-wear in France, Camaïeu was placed in compulsory liquidation in September 2022, two years after its takeover by a subsidiary of Financière Immobilier Bordeaux (FIB) of businessman Michel Ohayon.
The brand founded in 1984 in Roubaix (North) was disrupted by the health crisis and a costly cyberattack. This liquidation led to the dismissal of more than 2,000 people, the closure of more than 500 stores and caused a stir in the world of fashion and politics.
CVs of former students
“There are a few that I know who have found work,” Laurent Gunst, former CSE elected official, told AFP. “Others are in training or retraining” because “people have not necessarily found work in their sector,” explained the manager.
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According to a former CFDT employee from Camaïeu in Dunkirk, “around half of the former employees have not found work to date”. “Some of them are still in the lurch, these were people who did not yet have all their quarters for retirement,” denounced the one who also did not find work.
In the immediate future, around fifty positions will be created in the stores and 25 at the headquarters, said the boss of Celio. “We will study all the CVs of Camaïeu alumni,” promised Sébastien Bismuth.
