Caroline Kromwel (EDHEC, 2016) launches Papiline, her own customisable fashion brand

Caroline Kromwel (EDHEC Intl BBA, 2016) is the founder of Papiline, a customisable ladies fashion brand. 

Tell us briefly about your project. How did it come about?

This adventure is a story that goes back to afternoons I spent as a child sewing with my grandmother. She handed on age-old skills to me as well as her love of textiles. Back then, “consuming responsibly” was a concept that was an integral part of daily life.

The problem nowadays is that we often fall for items that we wear very little, especially when the sales are on. At the same time, we keep our everyday clothes for years, sometimes until they are worn out. That’s what made me decide to give these clothes the importance they deserve, to play with fashion trends in a unique way. So I created Papiline, a fashion brand you can accessorise. 

My first product is a white tank top with a buttonhole system that allows you to attach removable collars and sleeves. The idea is to have a top you enjoy wearing, one that will resist the passage of time and evolve with trends and the style you are looking for. The accessories are all handmade, with a preference for high-quality materials. Textile cuttings are reused and the brand benefits from the contributions of talented people like textile designer Camille Pianel.

I chose to work primarily with firms based in the Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France regions: manufacturers, factories, workshops, suppliers, etc. I appreciate their expertise, and working with local businesses is a way to stick to my values and those of my customers.

What drives your motivation in this entrepreneurial adventure? 

My vision of entrepreneurship is about having the opportunity to be useful to society by offering a service or product, thinking about the good it can achieve.

I also consider much broader perspectives, such as offering this product to pregnant women who have to refresh their wardrobe for just one year (pregnancy and breastfeeding). I also think about DIY workshops. There are wonderful possibilities for development. It makes the adventure exciting.

The pre-orders campaign on crowdfunding platform Ulule.com got off to a great start. That tells me I’m not the only one who believes in this project, which is a help!

Initial feedback, encouragement from those around me, support from strangers ... all of that also drives my motivation on a daily basis!

How has your experience at edhec or with the network of graduates helped you achieve this project?

Following a course on entrepreneurship definitely developed my passion for projects and commercial development and gave me a better understanding of the business ecosystem as soon as I graduated.

My time at EDHEC also involved a 6-month internship in London, where I worked for an environmentally responsible fashion brand and discovered a market ripe for development. 

From the beginning of the pre-orders campaign, I was able to rely on the EDHEC network for messages of encouragement from classmates, a few contributions and shared posts via social networks. Thank you all!

What is your initial assessment of this entrepreneurial adventure? Do you have any advice for others from edhec interested in becoming entrepreneurs? 

I now realise that it takes time to launch a project. I tend to be impatient and headstrong and I sometimes found it frustrating when things didn’t move as quickly as I had imagined. Ultimately, I now understand that everything happened at the right time (even challenging contingencies!).

I would advise others from EDHEC to listen to and surround themselves with the right people and carefully prepare the project’s foundations.

What’s next for your business? What are your expectations from the community of EDHEC graduates?

The fundraising campaign will run until 15 July. More than 80% of the target has already been raised. 100% is the minimum, and I would like to double that figure by the end of the campaign. 

Preparations for delivery and the launch of the e-shop are already underway for September. 

I’d like to use this interview to reach out to the community of alumni for their help. I call on them to contribute to the campaign by pre-ordering items for themselves or women they know.

You can also simply make a donation, which will enable me to develop the brand with greater ease and more quickly.

In exchange, I promise to offer special promotions to alumni following the campaign, so be sure to let me know you are a community member when placing your orders. 

I am also open to discussing partnership proposals.

More info about your business:

Click here to check out the campaign and help the business get off the ground!

You can also find Papiline on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram

Finally, to see visuals of the brand, visit YouTube