Speaker

Agnès TROUBLE

Founder - agnès b.

Agnès b. was born in Versailles, one of four children. She often says that the pure lines of the Chateau de Versailles and its classic gardens had a great influence on her taste. Her father, a lawyer, shared with her his taste for arts and music and her childhood dream was to become a museum curator.

She established her own clothing label in 1973. She created her company and gave it the name of agnès b. – CMC. Together with Jean-René de Fleurieu, her husband and the father of her two younger daughters, she opened the first agnès b. store . This little store quickly gained a strong following and the company expanded rapidly. In 1980, agnès b. created her first subsidiary in New York. In 1981, she opened her first men’s store and children’s store in Paris. From 1984, the success was extraordinary; more than fifty stores were opened in only a few years. Other subsidiaries were then opened in England (1987), Hong Kong (1995), Singapore (1997), Taiwan (2001), Shanghai and Beijing (2004), not to mention stores in various countries around the world. In 2004, agnès b. bought back the Japanese subsidiary from Sazaby and today she is sole owner of the agnès b. brand in Japan.

She is proud that her clothes are mainly made in France, and she makes a point in choosing her suppliers on quality, as well as social criteria. She also stayed faithful to her decision of refusing to advertise, a choice that journalists have always respected.

However, the agnès b. story cannot be defined by the success of her designs alone. Today, agnès b. is known not only as a designer, but also as a patron of the arts, gallery owner, filmmaker, and art collector. As an international, privately-owned company, agnès b. has 10 subsidiaries worldwide, 287 boutiques, and 2,100 employees.

In recognition for her success and personal ethic commitments, agnès b. received the Ordre du Mérite in 1997. In 2000, she was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. In 2008, agnès b. was promoted to Officier des Arts et des Lettres, whose purpose is to recognize significant contributions to the arts and literature. This ceremony took place at The Grand Trianon at the Chateau de Versailles. In 2016, French President François Hollande awarded agnès b. the Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur.

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