On December 7, 2022, in Vendeville (North), two months after the legal liquidation of the brand, Celio bought the Camaïeu brand at auction for 1.8 million euros. This is the starting point for the rebirth of this name in women’s fashion created in 1984.
A year and a half later, Celio, a ready-to-wear brand originally 100% men’s, presents the outlines of its project. “We are going to launch, at Celio, a women’s collection which will complement our men’s collection and will be called Be Camaïeu », Reveals Sébastien Bismuth, president of Celio. With “Be Camaïeu”, the group creates the feminine counterpart of its masculine offering “Be Normal”.
From August 29, eleven stores of the chain in France (Lille, Cergy, Anglet, Rosny-sous-Bois, Creil, Metz, Valence, L’Isle-d’Abeau, Évry‚ Vannes, Valence) will offer clothing alongside for men, collections for women bearing the “Be Camaïeu” logo. The new offer will also be available online on the Celio website.
However, two stores will be exclusively devoted to “Be Camaïeu”. In Compiègne, in Oise, where the old Camaïeu store has been preserved, and in Vélizy, in Yvelines, where a pop store will be installed for six months.
Basic and essential products
This new strategy responds to the group’s desire to create a new business model to sustain Celio’s future. “We needed to expand our range. Today, all the leaders in the textile sector offer collections for men and women,” explains the company manager.
The new collection will offer products adapted to women’s daily lives, basics and essentials available in several colors and will include 700 models. “Modern, sustainable and inclusive are the main characteristics of our collection. With Be Camaïeu, we want to be a transgenerational brand that dresses all women,” insists Mikaella Abittan, deputy general director of “Be Camaïeu”. The products will be featured in the new stores developed by Celio over the past three years with average prices of 30 euros.
Celio is a brand that is doing well, according to its president Sébastien Bismuth: “If we take 2019 as a reference year, our company experienced double-digit growth in 2023 and it is this good health that has allowed us to make this investment with Camaïeu”.
Of the 320 stores that Celio has in France, the brand aims to transform 50 of them over the next four years into men’s and women’s stores. Ultimately, the company plans to hire around fifty people for the 13 stores which will house the Be Camaïeu collection.
