The small French lingerie brand Indiscrète, which has struggled for several years to survive and develop after being placed in receivership in 2018, caught the eye of one of the highest institutions of the state. Its managers Christelle Bois, Béatrice Mongella and Michel Gouzon, accompanied by collaborators, are invited to the Elysée Palace for the second edition of the Great Exhibition of Made in France open to the public.
The company based in Chauvigny, in the Vienne department, was one of the 106 companies selected from 2,300 candidates to be honored under the golds of the Republic in May 2021. Indiscrète was chosen to show visitors how a bra is made in real time: “We are incredibly lucky. There are only six companies that have been chosen to do workshops, says Christelle Bois to the magazine ‘1:15 p.m. on Saturday’ (replay). We will say that we have a star that has been with us for three years so that this company raises its head.”
“It takes 70 to 72 mins, 12 different machines and 42 parts”
“It’s a great revenge for our know-how, especially in sewing, because it’s a profession that was on the way to extinction. Today, sewing is coming back and there’s really a craze, even in the young generation”, adds the co-founder. The retired entrepreneur and buyer, who had been touched by the fight of the Indiscreet, explains that day to the curious: “It’s work on a bra that makes 42 pieces. It takes 70 to 72 minutes and 12 different machines.” President Emmanuel Macron received a tricolor boxer as a gift for the occasion: “We hope it will be the right size, that he will wear it and think of Indiscrète daily”says co-founder Béatrice Mongella.
Does she have a message for the Head of State? “Help French companies, because it’s really not easy, she answers. As long as they do not understand that the charges are monstrous and that they are enormous burdens for companies, unfortunately, there will always be companies in liquidation or receivership. And this know-how, if we don’t want it to disappear, well, it has to fight alongside us.” Since the beginning of its adventure, the brand has relied on a high-end positioning that is 100% “made in France”, with the particular objectives of making itself better known and conquering new markets.
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