Yeah and so: the brand created near Rouen, landed on the Croisette, in Cannes

While Laëtitia Henry from Saint-Jacques-sur-Darnétal near Rouen, was having a good time at the swimming pool with her daughter, who has Down syndrome, a couple kept staring at them and making muted comments. Touched, the young mother wanted to respond strongly: “’Yeah so what?’ But my education blocked me,” she says.

As she found herself at that time, professionally, in a difficult period, she had the idea of create a range of clothing with this slogan“to raise awareness about the weight of views, to create an impact on differences in order to reverse roles, to refuse to blame ourselves”.

Yeah and so: “everyone can put their story there”

“Clothing is what everyone wears, show it off! This speaks to as many people as possible. And not just for the handicap: I’m curvy, ‘yeah so what’! I’m greedy, ‘yeah so what’! I’m homosexual, ‘yeah so what’! I’m a woman and I work in construction, ‘yeah so what’! Everyone can put their story there,” explains Laëtitia Henry. This is how the Oui et là brand was born, in November 2020.

Clothes made in France

Totally invested in inclusion, Laëtitia Henry, vice-president of the Trisomie 21 Normandie association, and co-founder of the restaurant le 21, in Rouen, therefore designed her collection and chose her suppliers.

“Apart from cotton, they are all French. The production is made in the eco-responsible Lemahieu workshops, in Hauts-de-France, the sweatshirts are sewn in the Paris region, the embroidery is done in Barentin and the flocking, here in my workshop, loaned free of charge by the town hall from Saint-Jacques-sur-Darnétal,” explains the mother, who specifies that all her products are sold via her website.

At first, people didn’t take me seriously, but today it makes an impression. It calls out. Clients write to me to tell me their stories and anecdotes. There’s something going on.

The link with Artus, director of the film Un p’tit Truc en plus

After hearing Artus, the director of the film Un p’tit Truc en plus, the hit of the year, with nearly 3.5 million admissions in a few weeks, remark that no luxury brand has wanted to dress the actors of the film for the rise of the steps of the Cannes Film Festival (ultimately the Kering group responded), the Norman designer offered her collection.

It seemed obvious to me to be there, because the film moved me. It conveys our message perfectly. As Down syndrome is a small community and I have been in contact for some time with the mother of Mayane-Sarah El Baze, the young actress from Lyon in the film, she put me in contact with Artus’ agent.

Clothes selected with the film crew

And two days later, the costume designers contacted her to tell her that the director had happily validated the idea and had accepted.

“With his team, we selected the products and for some, personalized the messages. Mayane asked, Yeah and then #a little something extra,” explains Laëtitia Henry.

In any case, the package arrived in Cannes: the actors all had to wear the clothes, but off the red carpet, because there is a Dress Code to respect. “It’s an immense pride for me and also for all these people who work for inclusion,” concludes Laëtitia Henry.

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