“We only bought the Camaïeu name, not the stores, without the teams, with the idea of launching a women’s line at Celio,” Sébastien Bismuth, the president of Celio who acquired Camaïeu at auction, told the press. in December 2022.
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The objective is “to create large-area stores, between 700 and 1,000 square meters”, in particular by expanding the existing Celio stores, which in addition to the usual men’s offering will offer women’s collections under the “be camaïeu” brand. explained Mr. Bismuth.
Two of the twelve boutiques — located in France (Lille, Bayonne, Valence, etc.) but also in Belgium (Brussels) — will be solely dedicated to “be camaïeu” whose collections are intended to be “everyday”.
The brand is offering its “final clearance” from this Friday: “The remaining 300,000 pieces of the brand will be available one last time”, a 50% discount on prices!
“Celio needed to expand its range (…) All international brands today make men and women,” explained Mr. Bismuth, citing Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Gap.
The announced objective is to build up a fleet of around fifty stores in this format in the “three or four years to come”.
In the immediate future, around fifty positions will be created in the stores and 25 at the headquarters, said the boss of Celio.
Founded in 1978, the men’s ready-to-wear brand Celio currently has 320 stores in France and is also present in Spain, Belgium and North Africa.
The president of Celio did not wish to communicate either on the investments necessary for the operation, or on Celio’s turnover but maintained that the company “had been growing for three years and profitable” and “earned market shares”.
In December 2022, Celio bought the Camaïeu brand for 1.8 million euros during an auction.
Once the flagship of women’s ready-to-wear in France, Camaïeu was placed in liquidation in September 2022, disrupted by the health crisis and a costly cyberattack.
This liquidation resulted in the layoffs of more than 2,000 people and the closure of around 500 stores.
