May 19
Magazine #5

At SMCP, the month of May is a bit like the sweet candy of the year!

Obviously, some may contradict this theory, but let's not forget that May rhymes for many with: early summer, return of flying dresses and silk shirts and especially, presentation of new collections! Some rather pleasant news that should give a boost to the teams. On the menu of the month, festive news came straight from New York and Cannes, Hong Kong renews its commitment and a very trendy Coffee-Break with Maje. Editorially, yours.

1

Global News

1 — Cinco de Mayo in New York

The Social Committee of our North America teams organized a Mexican-style fiesta to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Originally, this date (May 5th, 1862) commemorates the victory of the Mexican forces of General Ignacio Zaragoza on the French forces of Emperor Napoleon III. Rest assured, no grudge against the French…

The Latino community being very important in the United States, this date has become very popular and is celebrated with parades and festive celebrations!

2 — My Learning Launch in North America

Since the beginning of the month, all head office & network employees in Canada and the United States now have access to the MyLearning platform. Thanks to this deployment, the training becomes accessible to an additional 900 people with brand modules updated regularly.

15 “champions”, one per district, were also nominated to be MyLearning Ambassadors at a Workshop in New York on March 19th with the District Managers. Their mission is simple: make their teams the best thanks to training!

3 — Our VIPs at Cannes Film Festival

Bella Hadid or Pedro Almodovar? The Cannes VIPs are obviously fans of the latest collections of our three Brands!

  • Belle Hadid wearing Sandro Homme
  • Pedro Almodovar wearing Sandro Homme
  • François Civil wearing Sandro Homme
  • Elle Fanning wearing Sandro
  • Amber Heard wearing Sandro
  • Sara Forestier wearing Claudie Pierlot
  • Luma Grothe wearing Maje
  • Chloé Simoneau wearing Maje

4 — The Hong Kong teams renew their commitment!

On May 8th, 23 colleagues from Asia headquarters and Hong Kong stores volunteered to clean the Starfish Bay at Ma On Shan, Hong Kong. Thanks to their work, more than 65 kg of plastic waste and debris have been collected.

A special thanks to the Green Council for making this action possible and to team leader Winkie Ahmat for organizing such a worthy volunteer action for the Group.

Against winds and especially rainy tides, the teams were able to show commitment until the end! Congratulations to them for this beautiful example.

2

Creative Update

Our best sellers in ready-to-wear

3

Entrepreneurs Stories

Coffee-Break with Nathalie Baup

Whether in summer or winter, the light shines bright on the open-air shoowroom of the Parisian House, here and elsewhere. Between two flowery dresses dancing on a rack, we see a curly haired woman run towards us, phone in hand: Nathalie, stylist for Maje since 2009.

When Nathalie evokes Maje, she does not speak of a Brand or a style.

he speaks first of a meeting, of an inspiring person, of a singular woman: Judith, the founder. After several years spent in prestigious luxury Houses, she naturally chose to go back to the one who, 5 years prior, had offered her a position in the Artistic Direction team. 

While as a child she dreamt of becoming a criminal lawyer, Nathalie says with discernment: “I have no good story to tell about my beginnings. It was not a vocation when I was little, and yet today it is my whole life. “ 

« I must walk about 10km a day in our headquarters.  »

Nathalie Baup,
Stylist Maje

Always on the move, in time and space, she considers her job a full-time sensory awakening: to feel materials by the hundreds, to observe the clothing habits of people, those that work and those that match with the Maje DNA, be attentive to the latest trends but also the latest flops. 

Although the mission is common to all the stylists in the world, their way of working is rarely the same. “In my opinion, there are as many ways to be a stylist as there are Houses. At Maje, we are lucky to have an atelier and it changes the way we create the garment” she says. Far from the perfect picture image of designers, the stylist tells us about a more diversified daily life, punctuated with model fittings, fabrics sourcing, suppliers’ appointments and constant questioning with Judith and her stylists. 

« I have to mix trends with commercial success, but always keeping in mind the .  »

To turn a creation into a commercial product, Nathalie must coordinate the stylists, the studio, the atelier and the production. It is a marathon both physically and mentally. Back and forth on patterns, cuts or quantities are numerous, but necessary to reach the widest audience, because Maje addresses both the grandmother and her granddaughter. 

« Now when we create a dress, we don’t produce 400 of it anymore but 7000.  »

Now present in 20% of the world’s countries, the Brand has to learn to conjugate its type of client in the plural. The Maje customer is no longer a Parisian, but a woman of the world.

When the SMCP Group was formed in 2010, the issues took on another dimension: the style & the atelier must think broader, and the production must think bigger. Finally, this geographical propulsion has changed the creative approach of stylists because from Shanghai to Mexico City, climates, morphologies and Maje ideals of women are no longer the same. We must adapt! 

4

Digital Elegance

1 — The Tops Posts

2 — SMCPress

3 — The best clippings

  • Sandro - BRIGITTE WOMAN
  • Sandro - Gad El Maleh GALA
  • Sandro - GINGER CHINA
  • Sandro - GRAZIA FRANCE
  • Sandro - L'EXPRESS DIX
  • Claudie Pierlot - BQ CHINA
  • Claudie Pierlot - GRAZIA FRANCE
  • Claudie Pierlot - HARPER'S BAZAAR UAE
  • Claudie Pierlot - HARPER'S BAZAAR UK
  • Claudie Pierlot - MARIE CLAIRE CHINA
  • Maje - GRAZIA FRANCE
  • Maje - MARIE CLAIRE FRANCE
  • Maje - VOGUE FRANCE
  • Maje - VOGUE RUSSIA
  • Maje - VOGUE THAI
5

Made with Passion

10 openings & 3 renovations in May

Sandro

France – Levallois, Levallois So Ouest (Unisex)
France – Saint Germain en Laye (Women)
Spain – Madrid, Sanchinarro (Women)
Switzerland – Zurich, Globus Zurich Department Store (Men)
Switzerland – Bale, Globus Bale Department Store (Women)
Hong Kong – Hong Kong IFC Mall (Unisex)
China – Beijing Surprise Outlet (Unisex)

Maje

France – Levallois, Levallois So Ouest
Spain – Madrid, Sanchinarro
sweden – Stockholm
China – Beijing Surprise Outlet
Hong Kong – Hong Kong Times Square

Claudie Pierlot

France – Paris, Saint Germain des Près