Le blog de Nestore

The genesis of Almé: an awareness

Before Almé, you had two experiences: one in finance, and the other in a textile group. Was that what made you end up in Almé Paris or was it because of feeling?

It happened completely by feeling. Market finance suited me at the time. Then, I had a burn-out, I stopped for a year, I raised my first daughter. I went back to the south, to the family business and I learned textiles. I came to this company as if, in the end, I had always been there. With my second daughter, I gained 25 kilos. I didn't find myself in plus size fashion at all. I left the family business to create Almé.

You can't make decisions like this in a hurry. All of a sudden, I saw a light come on: in fact, I was born in textiles, and that's what I want to do. It is very important to let it settle. Whatever the weather. It's a bit like a glass of water full of dust. Letting things rest allows you to see more clearly and to make the right choices.

A daily struggle: to move the lines

You speak with a lot of honesty and simplicity about a subject that is quite sensitive and not necessarily obvious. In what way is it key?

There is several approaches to plus size fashion.

• One where we don't talk about it, and we don't even take pictures of the models. There is just the possibility of buying large sizes.
• Another one that is hyper body positive, thoroughly, a bit raw sometimes.
  

I did not recognize myself in either one or the other. The brands I like to dress in stop at size 42. So, I wanted to create a fashion brand that goes from 36 to 54. It is the canon of Ancient Greece that I find sublime in a woman and that we try to highlight on Almé.

A woman lives. As someone who had two pregnancies, my body changed, my morphology changed. It can be the same when you are going through an illness, or menopause, or burnouts. The relationship we women have with the body is a bit like an echo of our emotions.

It's important for me to tell women, to tell our customers: no matter what happens in their lives, no matter what they go through, there will always be their size with us. My mission is to change the rules and so that women can have the opportunity to have a wardrobe with brands, and not only at Almé.

How does the path to reconciliation with your body animate you in creating and in what you do on a daily basis with Almé?

I gained 25 kilos after giving birth for the second time. On my birthday, I didn't have anything that suited me. So, I go to a store where I usually go, and the chick says to me: “There is not your size here”, very elegantly but the background was terrible. In the evening, I had dinner with my husband and I wanted to feel like a woman after two pregnancies. I was very dizzy. At Kiabi, there was “woman, child, plus size.” I ended up finding a silk blouse in my grandmother's attic.

It was the day that marked and changed my life. The simple fact of finding a nice blouse, putting on makeup, finding myself beautiful in my size 46 was the beginning of accepting my body. Accept that I was doing a 46 and that I was still me. And what I am telling you now happens to all my clients. That's what's incredible about Almé.

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Emmanuelle and her clients: a burning emotional bond

How do you think this experience shared with your customers binds you?

We all go through that moment, when we don't want to finally accept that we've changed size, that we're in a fight with our bodies. It's a corporate culture. All the people who join Almé feel they are on a mission. Because we all understand that it's not fair for fashion to stop at 42. It's a headache to climb to 54. But for me, it wasn't even an option not to do it. It's strong for the customers; it's strong for the employees.

Is assuming your vulnerability what makes it possible to connect with people?

Yes. People who have a lot of strength are also those who know how to be vulnerable. When I need help, I'm going to say it. That is my philosophy, as an entrepreneur and even in my life. This self-confidence comes from within and not from outside at all. So, the fact of feeling good in my clothes, and to accept my difference, that's what helped me to regain my confidence.

Why is this connection through emotion a motto for you?

I am a fairly emotional person who has fought a lot with my emotions. One day, I told myself thatyou have to be one with them. They are part of us, part of our personality.

Physical, a channel for improving the customer experience

You started retail with Printemps, can you tell us about it?

They asked us because they could not meet the needs of customers who cut beyond a 44. Every year during Almé's existence, we had ephemeral stores (L'Exception à Paris, Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, finally Marseille).

But the physical is very complicated, if only in terms of mindset. It was by wiping away the plaster that we realized all this. Our 4th store is finally starting to look like us.

But there are also things you can't do digitally. We want our physical C.A to be a growth driver for digital. Our desire, today, is to look for stronger levers to create emotion, link with our community to boost the site.

Is the physical store an issue of acceleration compared to digital and the creation of emotions?

I experienced a scene that left an impression on me at the point of sale. A lady was looking for the same things. Slowly, I brought her to clothes that were totally different from what she had in her closet. There was some kind of magical thing. She left with everything. And now I see her husband, who had tears in his eyes:

“Thank you, it's the first time my wife has bought color.”

We will never be able to do that on the Internet. My customers are injured customers, frustrated at not finding their size. The idea is to get them into something where We leave this store and the self-confidence slider has gone up a notch, or even two, or even three, or even ten. Try to change the codes a bit, if only in terms of makeup, hair, perfume.

Balance at the heart of the brand: the “Why” and the “flow”

What is it that motivates you?

Repairing the injustice. I can't stand it, it's visceral. This moment I went through, I thought it was unfair. It was really a feeling where I was dizzy. Afterwards, I did a very long guided meditation. And I realized that finally, it was not the end of the world. This vertigo changed my life.

Are you familiar with the concept of “Why” and Simon Sinek's “Golden Circle”?

Yes. This is what differentiates us from a Mango or a Zara. It's important to say who you are and why you're doing it. This partly explains our customer loyalty rate: the fact that we really communicate this “Why”. Almé means experiencing self-confidence. We take care of the packaging. It's a gift. I really see it as a magical little thing that, when you open it, sparkles, and when you put it on, envelops you in that confidence.

You explained to me that in the way you do business, there was always a form of acceptance, of flow. Can you tell us more?

I practice Kundalini yoga. You hold positions for a very long time. At some point, your mind gives up and you feel supported. It was that moment that allowed me to understand that everything on Earth is in balance. If, at some point, you have to have a bad day, it is because in fact it was not the right day to do this, this and that. It is a powerful tool to tell yourself that you are in fact part of this cycle.

I have stopped valuing the objective, and I am thinking more about the path. And I know that you need a goal. Visualization is a magic tool. But at the same time, I am more of the type to sing along the way and dance.

If you had to recommend someone to invite to this club, who would it be?

I would have thought of Shanty by Shanty Biscuits. She and I talked a lot about accepting her body. She revolutionized a cookie with a whole universe. And in fact, she had a model shanty. And I thought it was great.