Podcast: Barbara Werschine on preserving & promoting the French savoir-faire at Eric Bompard

By

Emma RUFFENACH

Translated by
Cassidy STEPHENS

Published
Dec 19, 2022

The newest guest on the LuxurynsightXFashionNetwork podcast is Barbara Werschine, general manager of Eric Bompard, a cashmere specialist since early 2020. In this new episode, Barbara Werschine sits down with Olivier Guyot, FashionNetwork.com's editor-in-chief France, to talk about Eric Bompard's loyal customer base, their products, as well as their alterations and remodeling service, called "Long Life Cashmere," which was launched last February. 


Luxurynsight X FashionNetwork · Ep 59: Barbara Werschine talks to Olivier Guyot about “Preserving French Savoir Faire” FR

The brand's talented team offer an exeptional repair service and bring back to life sweaters with unraveled sleeves or snags, said Werschine in the podcast. On the other hand for customers who have grown tired of their knitwear, the label also offers an upcycling program to exchange their old products for vouchers.

Werschine, the former Zadig & Voltaire vice-president, who has also worked for Louis Vuitton, Celine and Hermès, as well as for the consulting firm McKinsey, explains how she finds a balance between preserving the French know-how and the brands international development.

Eric Bompard, champion of slow fashion

For the head of Eric Bompard, it is crucial to market clothing with fully traceable raw materials, all the way to the cashmere fiber combed from the goats neck . A winning strategy because it is the first French company to have obtained the "made in green" certification from Oeko Tex, with 99% of its catalog labeled. The making of products with ethics and respect for the environment translates the brand's commitment to slow fashion, a more sustainable and responible approach to fashion.

"When we are perceived by our customers as a reference for cashmere and knitwear, we must be exemplary by offering them useful, sustainable products in reasonable quantities," says Barbara Werschine. "In terms of CSR we obviously work on our sourcing, and as soon as the energy sobriety plan was announced, we made a point of turning off the lights in our windows every day at closing time."

While the brand currently has 65 stores in six European countries, the majority of which reside in France, Eric Bompard's CEO has ambitions to develop the label's network internationally, particularly in London. "To develop brand awareness, you need to have 5 or 6 physical points of sale in addition to department stores, that's the strategy we're adopting right now," smiles Barbara Werschine.

The Eric Bompard label, which has a turnover of around one hundred million euros, is also looking to develop in regions, where it is not yet present, in the coming seasons. Scandinavia for instance, with its cold winters, is a market with great potential for the cashmere sweater specialist.