It is the waltz of creators in the luxury and fashion

At a time when brands infinitely expand their territory, from clothing to the accessory, perfumes to jewellery, Sequoia Paris cultivates its difference. Is no diversification planned for the leather shoe or fashion. Not even the iconic ring of his bags declined jewellery online. "This is not or solicitations", admits the commercial Director, Florence Sisso, also in charge of the communication. Follower of zero compromise, it does not hide his irritation with "opportunistic marketing to surf the trends in the risk of losing all identity". It is, in the city, the wife of the founder CEO, Daniel Sisso, which, with Pierre Hardy, launched Sequoia Paris in 1988. After the bags, the mark is interested in their content, "all the Bazaar that women, who work and travel, leap with them". Winter 2009 will see output of boxes, kits and other pockets of storage for cosmetics and drugs, a logical extension of the luggage light nylon already in store and whose design required two and a half years. Six months more than the "gestation" of the first bag Sequoia at the end of the Decade fric and Sham (at this time, not told yet "bling bling"). "It was the fashion of golden chains." "With our sobre ring money, we have odd", remembers Florence Sisso. At the end of the 1980s, the handbag market purrs with, at the Summit, the great names of statutory luxury, Hermès, Dior and Vuitton, and the undifferentiated mass of the sold articles in traditional Leatherwork multi-brand retailers. Between the two emerging Lancel who had already given a fashion look to its products and the duo Lamarthe and Longchamp. Educated at Essec and by six years at l ' Oréal, her husband leaves nothing at random. He and his friend Pierre Hardy decided to treat the bag as an accessory of fashion and, as such, often renewed. Hence the initial choice of the (less expensive than leather) coated canvas declined in several colors. Very quickly, the large ring which gives one side jewel to its products, also a greater sobriety of style, became the signature of Sequoia Paris. Why Sequoia "It is the oldest tree in the world, symbol of force and the roots," says Florence Sisso.

"Tariff wisdom."

Two decades later, the company carries out EUR 20 million in sales, 40 for export. True to his "brief" of origin, she remained in the niche of the accessible with prices between 200 and 300 euros. "There where some competitors engaged in the spiral of luxury with lines up to 800 or 1,000 euros", notes Béatrice Morin, senior buyer for accessories to the Galeries Lafayette.

This "wisdom" tariff yet accompanied a rise in product range. The canvas coated debut, a little stiff, has given way to sophisticated Nylon "made in Japan" and hides, Italian, now represent 80 of sales. Example, sold Twenty model between 320 and 390 euros depending on the formats. Calf leather full flower, it is characterized by its geometrical construction which generous volumes take seamless by a set of folding and a few rivets. The color palette is extended also. Addition of red to the chic shades of beiges, white off-white and Brown and primary yellows, purples and Blues "trend", worth brand extra sophistication, or even a "sharp" image, in phase with the growing reputation of its artistic director.

A consistent style

It is that in twenty years the landscape has changed dramatically. The accessory became the locomotive of the mode exacerbating competition between brands. Each season, all hope to hit the jackpot with a bag in the rank of "must have", the pub and the "people". For its 20th anniversary, Sequoia also complied with this other ritual of marketing: the edition of a limited series of Gold, one of his bestsellers, a bucket bag made of leather braided in twenty different and from tartans 400 copies total. But Sequoia, whose advertising presence is unobtrusive, conveyed to the popularity of the Muses to seduce girls.

For Pierre-François Le Loüet, Director General of the Agency Nelly Rodi, singularity and the strength of the brand reside in "the permanence of the starting team with a manager and an artistic director who knew how to build a coherent style season after season. It is the waltz of creators in the luxury and fashion. Another lesson to be learned, according to him, this route: the vitality of the medium-high end segment "with brands such as Vanessa Bruno, Zadig & Voltaire, counters of cotton, in fashion were able to find the right mix creativity price, refuting those who thought that it was more than space to occupy between luxury and the rollers Zara and H & M".