Justine Leconte (Master 2008) launches her ready-to-wear label

EDHEC Alumni: Can you tell us about the label and how it was born, in a few words?

 

JL: I graduated from the first year of the intercontinental track. After several years in innovation marketing at a large cosmetics company and some time working in the key account team at Google, I wondered: what is the life I want to have for the next 20 years? It put my career upside down. I quit my job, moved to New York and started new studies - not an MBA or a PhD: a fashion design major at Parsons the New School for Design (which is famous thanks to the TV show Project Runway).

Now I live in Berlin and I created the label JUSTINE LECONTE in May 2015: it is dedicated to ready-to-wear for women and made entirely with knitted fabrics. My double training in business and in fashion allows me to question the "rules" of the fashion industry: I don't do runway shows. I don't bring out collections on a regular basis, 18 months ahead of the seasons. I rather do "projects", and I launch them in the season for which they are intended. Each "project" will be different from the previous one, maybe I'll do jewelry or handbags in the future, for instance, depending on the concept of each project. I have everything produced in Europe, which doesn't make sense from a financial perspective but it is so much more rewarding. I sell online-only for now, on www.justineleconte.com, and I use my YouTube channel (link below this article) as well as social networks to reach a broad audience interested in seeing what happens behind the scenes and how the "final result" is created. 

 

EA:  A few months after the launch, what are your impressions and learnings about this entrepreneurship experience? 

 

JL: My first project has only been live for a few weeks. On the launch day, I thought "What is noone likes what I made?..:" but I received the first orders on the same day and I even had to move the production phase earlier in order to be able to deliver faster! Reactions to the project have been extremely positive, women do appreciate the quality of the pieces and the fact that everything is produced in Europe. Through the YouTube channel, I get very precise questions like "How do you generate your ideas?" or "Do you work with mood boards? Or do you prefer to drape fabrics on a dress form?". It is an intense discussion and if it can inspire other people to take a more creative path, then it is fantastic. 

 

EA: Have you been able to take advantage of the EDHEC Alumni network?

 

JL: Graduates who create their companies have always impressed me. You meet them in Alumni meetings, you read about them in newsletters... all that is inspiring and I remember I thought "One day, I'll do the same". I admire people who create their companies right after school but I wouldn't have done so myself: I felt I needed to gain experience, self-confidence and to pay back my study fees first. Now the time has come for me and the desire to create my company came naturally, as a logical consequence of what I have experienced so far. 

 

 

JL: Taking over a company is probably a bit easier than creating a concept from scratch, writing its business plan and then trying to convince investors that the concept has business potential. But it surely requires a careful analysis of risks, the financial situation and the current liabilities of the company... Even when taking over an existing, profitable company, you inherit also the debts, contracts, employees etc - even if you disagree with those past decisions. Ask experts for advice and do hire good lawyers to help you out. Taking over a company is not something one can assess and decide alone. 

 

EA: What are our next steps? 

 

JL: My first project is financed and backed up. Now my objective is to generate enough margin to finance at least the production costs of the second project. My business plan aims for break even after the third project, which is quite ambitious but doable. Right now, I take care of marketing and sales, but I would like to delegate a large part of it as soon as possible, so that I can focus on strategy and on the next projects from the creative point of view.

 

EA: What do you expect / wish from the EDHEC Alumni community?

 

JL: Encourage and support "potential entrepreneurs" who want to create a company, but haven't done so yet, for whatever reason. They need a push. Aiming for a traditional career at a multinational company after graduation, and then climbing up the ladder is one possible life option... but there so many more options!