After having started by making bow ties, the company founded by three young entrepreneurs launched into the eco-responsible label.
In the Balzac family, there is Chrysoline de Gastines, her husband, Victorien de Gastines, Charles Fourmaux, the latter’s best friend and… Chrysoline’s brother-in-law. Balzac is a story of friendship and entrepreneurship, supported by siblings who never stop growing, then a hundred collaborators soon, and thousands of customers. In the heart of the 10th arrondissement, in the workshop of the Balzac brand, Chrysoline smiles when we talk about this family adventure, so obvious is it.
This company started one evening, ten years ago, on an idea of three friends: to make custom bow ties made in France. Balzac, the name they adopt, is a reference to the “Treatise on Elegant Life” written in 1830 by Honoré de Balzac. “There is a tiny passage in which he advises men on how to wear the bow tie. He was pretty fashionable! Their hand-sewn bow ties in France are a hit. Chrysoline and her two associates decide to evolve. In 2014, sweatshirts were launched, 100% embroidered in France, and adorned with the first names of famous literary couples. The brand is becoming more feminine with dresses and bustiers. Full box. With in 2021 a turnover of 19 million (+ 30% compared to 2020). And the focus is on sustainability. To this end, Balzac has been granted the national status of a company with a mission.
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We are committed to an association that helps farmers transform their production into organic farming
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The manufacturing is 100% European, part of the production taking place in particular in Portugal but also in France, in Tourcoing or in Saint-Malo for the knitting of sailor tops. “This year, we got involved with an association that helps farmers transform their production into organic farming. It is the TerraTerre company, through the Ensemble project, which donates 10% of the productions involved,” explains Chrysoline, before talking about her collaboration with the Tricolor collective, which has been in place for three years. Its goal ? Reindustrialize the wool industry. “Today, the wool is shorn from our sheep and sent to China for paltry sums. We must refocus on a value chain, from shearing to the making of the sweater, to its knitting, to have French production within a radius of less than 200 kilometers, ”explains Chrysoline.
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The brand is now hoping for B Corp certification, a highly demanded international label which also takes into account well-being at work. Here, it is “slow” and durability that matter. Balzac is also working on the second life of his clothes. And it works. The fashion market, undergoing profound change, is moving away from fast-fashion brands and is increasingly interested in a world where “the desirable is durable and the durable desirable”. A creed signed Balzac, who recycles and takes his time.