Back to school, we rethink the fundamentals - 2022 review (part 3)

Rethinking the fundamentals

The first important event that awaited me at the beginning of September was 3 days in the countryside with Florian and Bertrand to take stock and (re)think the BonneGueule brand .

(This is sometimes called a “management seminar”)

More specifically, Florian and Bertrand were determined to bring out the very essence of BonneGueule in me: why I loved BonneGueule so much, what was my vision, my mission, and where I wanted to take the brand .

That's good, because these were subjects I had thought about a lot during my little summer trips, to my beaches in Normandy, to Houat and Lacanau.

And I'll tell you what I told them: BonneGueule, for me, is above all a great love of texture, relief, of the mottled, in front of the eye and under the hand . A taste for beautiful materials, with stories, because I love hearing stories and I love sharing them.

Rich materials to enrich the moments we love , whether it's everyday life, a wedding, a date, a dinner with friends, an afternoon at home, or a weekend getaway.

With a “contemporary” style, this somewhat catch-all word means that we will not be doing workwear, sportswear or first degree vintage, without denying what these styles can bring to a modern wardrobe .

However, I always like to keep a touch of elegance, especially with the shirt collars that we have started to rework and, dare we say it, a very light touch of sensuality in the men's wardrobe .

And of course, with a few nods to highly technical materials from the outdoors and high-end military clothing: I'm thinking of our use of Polartec Alpha and Climashield in particular . And since my summer, I've wanted to embrace it even more. The outdoors also inspires me for the functionality of our clothing: you may have noticed that we always try to put inside zipped pockets or fleece in our coat pockets to keep our hands warm.

Yes, we build bridges between these universes rather than opposing them .

BonneGueule is also more than just clothes . It is also content with passion. Because deep down, I love sharing this passion and nothing makes me happier than receiving messages like: “thanks to BonneGueule, I discovered…”

This is a very general vision of BonneGueule, but this review article is already very long, so I think I will write another article specially dedicated to the evolution of our branding .

More specifically, I became (again) interested in this notion of the good, the true, and the beautiful . A notion that I discussed… 8 years ago in an interview on BonneGueule ! As it turns out, everything is connected.

I've reworked it a bit, but for me, in an ideal world, a BonneGueule garment should tick 3 boxes:

• be right : that is, be a truly useful garment that fully fulfills its function. Are the pockets practical for everyday life? Is this garment truly breathable even when it’s hot? Does the hood provide sufficient protection?
• be in the right : here it is simple to understand, it must have a positive impact (or the least negative possible) on the living and the non-living: it must be manufactured in good social conditions, and in the most environmentally friendly way. The human adventure must be successful behind each of our clothes.
• to be in the beautiful : it is a garment that must be beautiful to see, to touch and to wear. This is achieved through the fall of a collar, or the richness of a textured material, with harmonious lines.

“When are we having fun?”

At the request of Alex Dana and Luca (yes, yes, the Luca you are thinking of ) during the summer, I am organizing a hike between entrepreneurs in the Basque country for mid-October, because for me these are the best conditions: no one in the mountains and very mild temperatures, characteristic of the Basque Indian summer .

For the more curious, the goal is to do two stages of the legendary GR10 , over two days: Ainoha → Bidarray → Saint Etienne de Baigorry.

And then I told myself that it would do me good to get away from my intense Parisian daily life for a few days. These are also good times to take a step back.

So it is with a funny and joyful team that we leave from Ainhoa, a charming Basque village, with:

• Alex and Anaïs, co-CEO of Live Mentor
• Victor, former Live Mentor, and YouTuber on specific subjects
• Antoine and Blandine , a couple of friends in fitness
• Colette , who produces very beautiful erotic podcasts (yes, yes!)
• and good old Luca who even allowed himself the luxury of doing this hike wearing Jacques Marie Mage glasses.

For the parenthesis, I wore a Hill People Gear Umlindi backpack, Canis Athlete pants, a Primitive Outdoor base layer, a Sitka lightweight mid-layer and a Paramo Outdoor windbreaker on both days. And for the symbol, I had a titanium water bottle, because from now on, I always try to have a titanium object for my outdoor outings .

I really enjoyed exploring these small Basque mountains with this equipment.

“Good gear for good times” : this thing obsessed me more than ever .

As we had just passed the small peak of Astate, with a slowly decreasing sun, and as usual, I was immersed in my thoughts of “the right gear for the right time”, Alex told me about his company and asked me “ but Benoit, in all this, in entrepreneurship, in our companies, when the hell do we have fun? ”

I don't know if it was the reflective power of the vast spaces, if it was because I felt good in this nature, protected from the elements, but this question hit me hard .

“That’s right, when have I laughed in the last few months?”

A sentence from François, our first coach/business angel and (very) experienced manager, then came back to me: “ when you go through big moments of adversity like that, it’s super important that the team continues to enjoy what they do .”

Without realizing it, Alex had just brought to light a valuable questioning about the pleasure I had in my work .

What can I put in place in 2023 to keep my daily life enjoyable? And besides, what do I really like doing day after day?

Thinking about clothes, writing about clothes, telling the story of clothes, telling the story behind the scenes: it doesn't change!

We continued our hike, with Alex walking in front of me, in Goruck pants, a Thrudark base layer, a Tilak mid-layer and a Savotta backpack (it's crazy how well I remember these kinds of details), promising myself that I would never forget the "but when are we going to have fun?"

Now all that remains is to embody it on a daily basis...

In short, I really loved this format and these discussions between entrepreneurs/content creators literally on the move and I would like to do it again 2 or 3 times in 2023, because it was one of my best moments in 2022.

And then I returned to Paris, refreshed to face the winter, which is an important season for BonneGueule .

On the business side: a winter 2022 as we could

As I said, our new 2023 outerwear items were late in arriving. We did have our Carisio down jacket in English tweed, but it quickly sold out.

That said, we released a very nice collaboration with ABCL, on a coat entirely made in Italy.

But the very pretty parka with a removable lining that was due to arrive in November was hit hard by the war in Ukraine .

In fact, it is manufactured there, in a factory very close to the Romanian border, therefore very far from the front, but which is still subject to power cuts all day long .

It should therefore arrive between mid and end of February if all goes well.

But this missing outerwear has undeniably weighed on our turnover.

And it's impossible to talk about our winter 2022 without talking about our collaboration with Bleu de Chauffe , with this bag made in France in X Pac canvas and with its Cobra buckle which sold out very quickly.

Without realizing it, this collaboration has done me a lot of good internally for two reasons:

• critical and commercial success restores confidence
• and being a fan of backpacks, Cobra buckles, and X Pac, this bag was a breath of fresh air!

And I would like to thank Alexandre, the founder of Bleu de Chauffe, for playing the game to the fullest .

For the rest, and thanks to our Milo overshirts and our knitwear, we were able to have our best December. And I remain as proud as ever of what the product department has imagined, with blends that are rarely or never found elsewhere, composing over the years a varied and luxurious proposition in its materials.

But it was a little broken by all these recent adventures that I returned to my parents' house at Christmas in the Basque country, my Goruck GR2 backpack and my BonneGueule Ventile jacket on my back, for a handful of days, thinking back on my decision concerning Christophe.

I realized that I remained weakened by these last few months and that I had to continue to take care of myself, it was a necessity .

And so it was with Valentin, Maria, and Victoria that I spent my December 31st in Paris, nestled in an apartment belonging to Etienne Marcel, and which I wanted to be as peaceful as possible.

2023 was now before me , and it was time to think about my intention, or rather my intentions, and that is what we will see tomorrow.