As a teenager, David Tourniaire-Beauciel cycled past the Clergerie factory in Romans-sur-Isère, in Drôme, every morning on his way to high school. Often, he found himself dreaming, imagining what was going on behind the walls of the studio, with the irresistible urge to push open the door. Fashion, then far from him, already attracted him. Some mornings, he happened to come across the founder of the brand, Robert Clergerie, a historical figure of this high place of footwear in France. We were in the 1980s and the man wore both Madonna and Lauren Bacall. Fate does things well: since 2017, it is David Tourniaire-Beauciel who decides what Clergerie clients will put on their feet.
Forty years ago, Romans-sur-Isère and its industrial basin had more than one hundred and sixty shoe factories, including those well known to Stephane Kélian and Charles Jourdan, two major competitors of Clergerie who have since stopped production on square. All the biggest fashion brands had their shoes made in the region. At the café-théâtre La Charrette, you could see Karl Lagerfeld, Claude Montana, Jean-Paul Gaultier or Issey Miyake seated, coming to follow the development of their collection in the factories.
“We are not a podium brand”
Today, this world has disappeared from the Drôme landscape. The Clergerie factory is the last of the Mohicans, the only shoemaker to survive mass relocation to countries with lower manufacturing costs. This is to say the responsibility of David Tourniaire-Beauciel… The designer has no right to disappoint, starting with Mr. Clergerie himself, now 88 years old, who continues to watch the grain even if he no longer owns the mark. After several sales sessions, it was finally bought, in 2020, by the holding French Legacy Group, chaired by Jérôme Espinos, determined to preserve the know-how made in France.
“I met Robert Clergerie several times. His presence is still palpable at the factory. It’s like a kind of ghost that prowls. Once, he said to me: “Looking at you, it’s as if I saw another man with my wife!”, says David Tourniaire-Beauciel with a smile. Of course, it’s important to respect your DNA, but you also have to surprise and innovate. Wake the house without startling it…”
Initially, Clergerie were men’s shoes designed to be worn by women, hence the men’s derbies with notched platform soles that can still be found today in a collection – one of the best-sellers of the Mark. Comfort is paramount, the house is first known for its trotters (small square heels), which does not prevent it from creating more fantastic shoes, such as these boots in Stretch fabric developed by Robert Clergerie with a silky Lyonnais or these models with a metal heel, made hand in hand with its coachbuilder.
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