PARIS — Until the sale of her label in July of last year, Isabel Marant was among the rare independent designers at the head of a large business who resisted pressure to open stores and expand into new categories.
Since Montefiore Investment bought 51 percent of its capital, the brand has undergone a quiet revolution, marked by the arrival in November of Anouck Duranteau-Loeper as deputy chief executive, working alongside Sophie Duruflé and Nathalie Chemouny, Marant’s two original business partners and managing directors.
Together, they are mapping out the future of the brand credited with inventing the bohemian Parisienne hipster-meets-tomboy look favored by celebrities such as Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
In an interview in Marant’s spacious new showroom on Place des Victoires, Duranteau-Loeper and Duruflé detailed the initiatives they are putting into place, which include launching an e-commerce site in June and bolstering the label’s handbag assortment.
The brand is streamlining its operations by bringing retail and wholesale under the purview of Jean Keller, who has been named vice president of global distribution, a new position. Meanwhile, it has grouped accessories for Isabel Marant and its secondary line, Isabel Marant Étoile, into a single collection.
Duruflé noted that with 2016 wholesale revenues of
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