Page 27 - #184 September 2023

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The founder certainly never thought she would be doing trunk world, it is quite refreshing when Marie France explains that she feels this
shows in San Diego and Nashville, but it has become apparent it is medium does not play a pivotal role in her business. While Marie France
an effective way of engaging with a new audience and this is what the Van Damme may not be a trendy brand, many people instead refer to it
next few months has in store for the founder as she goes on the road as quiet luxury or a ‘niche brand’, which itself happens to be a trend of
to meet customers. its own right now.
“We are currently exposed to a wide market with our existing “Our social media strategy is to have a platform where we can
retail and wholesale outreach and while we may not have a presence communicate effectively with our audience on the aesthetics and brand
in Mainland China, our Chinese customers buy us in Hong Kong while values. We are currently producing more content catered for social
Dubai highlights us to the rest of the Middle East, as Singapore does to media to immerse the audience into what happens behind the scenes,”
Malaysia and Indonesia. Meanwhile our presence at Le Bon Marche in she highlights.
Paris means we have a global beacon,” Marie France comments. With sustainability playing a more important role in retail than ever
Moving forward, the company is looking to establish a stronger before, the company plays its part in this environment by making sure
presence in holiday destinations such as St Barth’s in the Caribbean in their fabrics are made mostly of natural fibres and that production is in-
the winter and the Mediterranean for the summers. They are also in house, applying a just in time manufacturing strategy to avoid producing
talks about a possible new store in Doha, Qatar. additional and unnecessary stock. The founder also encourages her
Having her atelier in-house, Marie France is in the fortunate position audience to value what they possess and to buy less and wear more.
of being able to make new garments and experiment with ideas day As the interview draws to a close, we discuss the key drivers behind
in and day out to assist in maintaining her market position. This also the success of the company; Marie France explains that they are a small
allows her to be very reactive, in just a few hours an idea can be become family business with a distinctive aesthetic. They are not a corporation
a wonderful garment and then that garment can even be in-store the driven by shareholder value, their proposition is uncomplicated and it is
very next day. She explains to us that if she feels something is missing fashion made with integrity. It is not driven by trend, instead it sets its
from her wardrobe, then it may also be missing from her customers own trends and the brand is feminine and aspires to women who seek
wardrobes as well. elegance with ease.
As the discussion turns to ‘brand experience’, we ask Marie France
how the business engages with its customer base?
“We have many different ways of engaging with our customers. I for
one invite Hong Kong VIPs to my atelier in Kwun Tong as not many
people have the opportunity to see how my collections and designs are
put together. We have tea; talk about life, talk about fashion and my
customers enjoy trying on all the clothes.”
While the brand cannot complete with super brands and they do
not have the budgets of the LVMH and Kering’s of this world to curate
experiences that everyone raves about, it is instead small touches like
this that keep the brand in the thoughts of its customers.
While social media is a major outlet for many companies around the

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