When you think of Parisian menswear, it may evoke thoughts of high luxury houses, elevated suiting and the finest accessories, with a price tag to match. But away from the high luxury market — which continues to meet challenges as shoppers pull back spending — there’s a contemporary Paris menswear label quietly bucking industry trends. Enter Lafaurie, an artsy direct-to-consumer (DTC) menswear business run by brothers Théo (31) and Pablo (24) Lafaurie, which opened its 14th store in France last week, on rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais. The store, which is the first time the duo have curated a gallery-style space, marks a new chapter for the label, as it continues to scale at home and abroad. With contemporary pricing (from €100 for a cotton shirt to €650 for a lamb leather jacket), Lafaurie is finding its niche as a premium, more accessible menswear player. And it appears to be one of the winners as menswear consumers move away from luxury spending and seek high-quality, more reasonably priced clothes, alongside contemporary European labels like Ami Paris, Our Legacy or Mfpen. Between the Zaras and H&Ms on Paris high streets like the Champs-Élysées and the high luxury boutiques on rue Saint Honoré or Avenue Montaigne, there were very few contemporary or independent boutiques serving the premium customer, says Pablo. "When we took over [from their father Pierre after he died in 2018], the market in Paris was completely bipolar between luxury and fast fashion. We wanted to be somewhere in the middle, in what we call ‘smart luxury.’" Founded by Pierre in 1991, Lafaurie was originally a series of small, curated multi-brand stores in Paris, featuring a small collection of Lafaurie pieces alongside other Parisian brands. "When we took it on, it was not really a brand. It was more commercial," says Théo, speaking on Zoom from the brand’s HQ in the affluent, artistic Saint Germain neighbourhood. "But when our father passed away, we decided to convert it into its own thing." This meant focusing on its own brand, developing a new creative language rooted in the art community, with elevated photography, artist collaborations and gallery-style stores; launching e-commerce to take aim at an international consumer and investing in technology on the back end to accelerate expansion. Pablo and Théo Lafaurie lean on the loyal European and North African supplier network established by their father to produce high-quality garments at lower cost. When it came to infrastructure, Lafaurie had a strong foundation. In its 30 years in business, their father had opened seven stores across Paris. And to produce clothing, Pierre had established a loyal network of artisans, including an Italian knitwear supplier, a Portuguese jersey supplier, and other factories across Estonia, Romania and Morocco. "It was like a shortcut, having this [infrastructure]," says Théo. "From there, we could build the brand that we really wanted." The key is the positioning. "Working directly with suppliers, we could have a really good price, style, quality ratio," Pablo adds. While the range is broad, the majority of garments, including the brand’s hero item, the cotton painter’s jacket, come in at under €300. Their father had built a solid supply chain, and sales grew from 2010 to 2014. However, in 2018, Théo and Pablo inherited a brand meeting some serious headwinds, with fierce competition from online DTC brands and new-age contemporary menswear and streetwear labels. Under the brothers’ leadership, Lafaurie returned to growth from 2018 to 2020, with annual revenues nearing €4 million just before the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Like many, the business was impacted during Covid, but it has since rebounded, with 2024 revenues at around €8 million, up 20 per cent year-on-year. The business is projected to grow by a further 25 per cent in 2025. While luxury brands and groups continue to face losses and consumers broadly pull back spending, it’s an impressive trajectory. Théo and Pablo design all Lafaurie pieces in their grandmother’s old lampshade atelier in Saint Germain. These roots inform Lafaurie’s Rive Gauche, artsy style, focused on everyday clothing with a “creative twist” in terms of fabric or colour, Théo says. For example, this summer, they created their signature painter’s jacket, but with a different denim wash on each side and different, mismatched buttons. Other twists might include a subtle pattern applied on a classic shirt. "We develop our own patterns and prints that we draw in our studio. So it can be these small things that make the difference," Théo adds. This approach chimes with general trends across menswear, as consumers continue to move away from the logo-heavy, loud luxury of the pre-pandemic streetwear boom, and men’s consumers focus more on design, quality, fabrication and fit than ever before, with small design signatures to give a sense of “if you know, you know.” "We are really influenced by how artists are dressed. The idea is we do something called alternative suiting. It’s not formal suiting. It’s unstructured jackets with matching trousers: a uniform that you can wear at an evening event or in your atelier or studio. We love this duality," Théo says. Creative clients make up the bulk of Lafaurie’s consumer base, including editors, artists, gallerists, authors and filmmakers. Lafaurie stores feature 20 per cent carryovers and 80 per cent newness, to keep driving customers to come back and explore new colours, patterns or “creative twists” on their favourite styles. When it comes to menswear trends, the Lafaurie duo explain that their consumer base is increasingly seeking more casual designs and laid-back silhouettes. But they’re also experimenting with colour and patterns more than ever before. "That’s why in our shops, we have 20 per cent timeless pieces and 80 per cent newness every year," says Théo. "Consumers keep coming back to us for the same silhouette in different colours." After investing in international expansion via digital, e-commerce now represents 25 per cent of the business. And over half of this revenue comes from the US, representing a huge growth opportunity, but also a major risk for the brand, considering the potential US import tariffs proposed by President Trump. Lafaurie’s US revenues grew 50 per cent in 2024. So, like many European labels with strong American user bases, they’re holding their breath for the tariffs decision deadline on 5 May. But they’re still confident in the growth potential of the US business. "Nothing is done for yet. [We’re waiting] the 90 days [until a decision is reached]. But we are confident. We really have a dedicated and loyal US customer base," says Pablo. "Obviously, if we need to adapt the logistics structure, if we need to adapt from an operational perspective, we’ll do what we need to do. But we will continue to invest in the US market, because the US market is growing so well for us. We’ll make the choice when the final decisions are made by the US administration." That said, they’re also eyeing new markets, in the context of the socio-political climate, to try and find new avenues for growth should US tariffs end up being high and affecting profits. "We’re starting to look at Asia, to balance our international business a little," Théo explains. The plan is to hold a New York pop-up next year, to test out physical retail in the US, but Lafaurie will also solidify an undisclosed retail partnership in Asia-Pacific department stores. "We’ll open more shops and be present in more department stores," says Théo. "But without going everywhere all at once," Théo adds. Lafaurie’s 14-strong store network includes six stores in Paris and seven in French cities including Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier and Lille. But the brand plans to scale its bricks-and-mortar retail footprint further in the coming years, the brothers explain. The new store in the Marais is the first time they feel the store design is “totally aligned with where they want to take the brand.” Designed with their friend, architect Corto Boutan of Corto Architects, the Vieille du Temple outpost is a nod to the brand’s 90s roots with minimalist design. The store will sell vintage art books on Picasso, Calder, Kandinsky, or issues of the vintage magazine Egoïste. And on the walls, every six months, the brothers will feature an artist that they love. For the opening, it’s a painting from French artists Jacques Soisson, which people can buy. "There are also objects that represent our history, with small pictures of our family; business cards from our grandmother’s [lampshade] business," says Théo. "We wanted to have kind of like an art gallery, and at the same time to develop all our products and our collections. So this is really like the first shop, let’s say that is at the same time classic, timeless, but at the same time creative and arty, which reflects our design philosophy. We want to implement that in all our shops." Elsewhere, the brand has acquired a new space in Paris for brand events, exhibitions and photo shoots, to help forge stronger connections to the Paris art scene, Théo adds. "It’s a hybrid space, an ecosystem for the creative industries, which allows us to speak through Lafaurie and connect with people." Under the surface of their curated, artsy stores and contemporary designs, the duo are also investing heavily in technology to bolster the business and streamline processes for their 50-strong team. "When everything is unpredictable, we need to rely on the best tech," says Pablo. This means building a brand operating system powered by proprietary AI, to automate everything that is possible, from administrative tasks like filling in Google Sheets for suppliers. To continue their growth trajectory, it’s about balancing the creative and the commercial, Pablo adds. "Lafaurie is a creative brand, but also a brand with a smart, industrial approach, and this is what we try to implement. There aren’t many brands in France doing that.
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