Clergerie to Launch E-commerce Site

SHOE BIZ: Looking to spark a virtual stampede to its e-commerce site due to launch on Friday, Clergerie creative director David Tourniaire-Beauciel has whipped up an exclusive men’s and women’s sneaker in woven black and natural raffia, one of the house codes.

The site will carry the house’s men’s and women’s collections and for now will deliver to the euro zone and the U.S. market. The house has also redesigned its main web site.

Clergerie chief executive officer Perry Oosting, who joined the First Heritage Brands-owned house in April 2017, said the e-commerce site will serve as a digital window into the work of Tourniaire-Beauciel, who succeeded Roland Mouret a month after Oosting’s arrival. (Tourniaire-Beauciel also designs the shoes for Balenciaga.)

The site will also be integrated with the brand’s social media platforms, and will serve to increase revenue by rendering collections available “24/7, 365 days a year,” Oosting said. The brand previously had an e-reservation system.

Future features for the site may include a personalization service and pre-order options, he said.

In a recent interview with WWD, Tourniaire-Beauciel described his take on “the new Clergerie” as a remix of key signatures: the play on masculine-feminine, architecture, comfort and craftsmanship. “[Founder Robert] Clergerie was known for the architecture of his shoes, but for the uppers, he didn’t care; a simple upper in one color was fine. Now it’s not only about the structure, the heel, the wedge, everything should be interesting, with more elaborate uppers. But it mustn’t be decorative as Clergerie has never been decorative.”

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