PARIS — Meet Françoise, the new act of Johanna Senyk, who has decided to put Wanda Nylon on hold following her recent separation from partner Guillaume Befve, the brand’s cofounder.
For her new venture, Senyk has partnered with the Mantova, Italy-based manufacturer Castor Srl to develop, produce and distribute the women’s collection. The bags are licensed to Italy’s Siloe, which produces leather goods for a number of leading luxury brands.
“When I met the all-woman team behind Castor, we hit it off immediately,” Senyk told WWD. The designer, who scooped the main ANDAM prize in 2016 with Wanda Nylon, also read the fact that Castor had produced Martin Margiela’s collections around the time he won the ANDAM award in 1989 as “a sign.”
Johanna Senyk
Julia Champeau
Senyk said the aim was to combine old school Italian know-how with French taste. For the new brand, she dreamt up an imaginary character, based on the idea of an ultrasophisticated French woman who is more into creating her own look than following trends.
“She’s not too young, she’s a working girl who buys her clothes with the money she owns, she drives, she’s free. She is extremely feminine — she would never wear a fanny pack, even if
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