Carel

Imparfaite and Carel, it's much more than a meeting, it's a story of friendship... Two committed women who share a sense of humor and lightness, an aesthetic with 60's & 70's accents and a no-holds-barred personality. Since 2020, and the release of its CAREL CARES program, the brand for Parisian thirtysomethings has been committed to recycling and giving new life to its dormant stock, notably through a line of shoes made from upcycled or alternative materials. Today, Carel takes its desire to slow down the production of new products a step further, and entrusts us with its archives at sweet prices.

100%

MADE IN EUROPE
75%

OF OUR MODELS HAVE A CAREL CARES LABEL
80%

OF OUR ICONIC DESIGNS HAVE AN UPCYCLED VERSION
500

PAIRS OF SHOES WERE DONATED TO THE CHARITY SECOURS POPULAIRE IN 2023

"Carel and I really found each other. I've always loved things that are well done, but also fantasy in life, color, the little detail that makes a difference"

Can you tell us about Carel in your own words?

Frédérique : Carel is the brand for thirty-something Parisians, the benchmark for the French art of living. An art of living that is the envy of the world, from New York to China to Korea. Carel knows how to offer "quiet luxury" models that are easy to wear, but also much brighter, pop models to enchant everyday life. That's what Georges Carel, the brand's founder, wanted to do right from the start.

Tell us about the origins of Carel.

Frédérique : Carel was born in 1952, just after the war. The Carel family were refugees. Georges Carel met his future wife, Rosa, on the streets of Paris. They both came from fashion backgrounds: Georges' father was a shoemaker in Oran, Algeria, and Rosa's mother came from Eastern Europe and was involved in the fur trade. They fell in love and decided to create a brand of shoes under their own name, Carel. Right from the start, the distinctive feature was the little heel called the "trotteur". It's a heel a few centimetres high, Cuban, square-shaped, which makes it stable and allows women to run around without getting tired or injured. They also wanted very cheerful models, because after the war everything was sad, in grey or black. They wanted to do something very different and flexible to accompany the development of women in society. At that time, women had become very emancipated, and in fact have had the right to vote since 1944. There was a need for a shoe that was elegant and sexy, yet practical and comfortable. This need is still very much alive today, which is one of the reasons why Carel has stood the test of time.

What triggered the launch of the brand back then?

Frédérique : Georges and Rosa set up one of their first boutiques at the foot of the Sorbonne. That was the beginning of success. It was a very colourful, cheerful little boutique, and all the young students and their teachers flocked to it. Carel is still very much a part of this literary and academic world. In fact, we give away a paperback book with every purchase of a pair of Carel shoes.

You took over Carel in 2011. How did the handover go?

Frédérique : I bought Carel 13 years ago, directly from the family. They didn't want a competitor to take over, they wanted someone different with new ideas. I'd come from L'Oréal, so I didn't know anything about shoes, but I remembered the Carel boutique that I'd seen as a little girl in Grenoble, which had made a big impression on me. I remembered a very pretty brand, well made with quality products. I liked the idea straight away. I really learnt the trade on the job with Michèle Carel, and now Emilie, Georges' granddaughter, who still works with me today. I think they chose me because they liked my vision for the brand. The company was ageing when I took it over, and I wanted to put design back at the centre of the debate. I knew that there were treasures to be unearthed in the archives. Tony, one of the Carel brothers and the most creative, had worked with all the top designers of the day: Jean-Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Thierry Mugler and others. They made the shoes for their fashion shows. So there were gold mines in the brand's archives! So when I took over the brand, we worked really hard, but we had all the foundations we needed to succeed: a fine established brand with a fine history and well-made products from historic suppliers in Italy. All that was missing was some new energy and fresh blood.

How does the creative process work at Carel?

Frédérique : With Hubert Canard, the creative director, we talk a lot. We draw a lot of inspiration from the brand's archives, but also from everything we can find. Vintage and history play a central role. There are 3 main sources of inspiration. The first is the vintage Carel pieces that we actually own. In our outlet boutique "Sabotine" there were over 15,000 pairs of shoes of all kinds, straw shoes, spartan shoes, incredible things that are often impossible to import! Secondly, the images and press of the time. Firstly, all the Carel campaigns by Jean Loup Sieff, who did all the Carel advertising campaigns for over 20 years. But also press articles from the 60s and all the best-selling pairs photographed over the years. Finally, the last source of inspiration is the drawings, by Jean Paul Gaultier for example, that we find in the archives. Sometimes it's just a line, but you can see the creative intent behind it.

What is the current model that came out of this research?

Frédérique : The Kina was born out of this creative process! Contrary to popular belief, our famous Babies Kina is a very recent model, we brought it out 6 or 7 years ago. It's simply a model that has THE Carel grammar: small Cuban heel, very stable and wide, Georges Carel straps, pop colours and varnish. It was a journalist from Elle who told us one day, totally by chance, about a model of Carel babies, so we took a closer look. Emilie and I went to see the factories in Italy with a very precise idea of what we wanted and we perfected the model with them until we found the perfect combination. At first the model worked well, but it was only after 2 or 3 years that we realised it was THE model that would mark the brand's revival. Then Alexa Chung fell in love with the model, and everything accelerated. She even wore her Carels to the Chanel catwalks! The model was a phenomenal success, even in Asia, where KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) snapped them up.

What role does vintage play in your personal wardrobe?

Frédérique : It's simple, I hardly buy anything new. Everything I own has either been in my possession for years or I've bought it at auction at Drouot. My wardrobe is essentially vintage. You can find some absolutely fabulous things at Drouot. It's true that it takes a bit of time, but you get some crazy bargains, like these Emilio Pucci shirts I found at an auction. They're in perfect condition, in gorgeous silk, Made in Italy, and I got them for a song. I also really like this Yves Saint Laurent jacket that I'm wearing. It's the piece I always wear to any formal event where I want to feel comfortable and confident.

How do you make your teams aware of the environmental issues involved in fashion?

Frédérique : To be honest, I haven't had to do much. Everyone wants to do better. On the other hand, women are much more sensitive to these issues than men. I don't know if it's our relationship with children or the future we have in store for them, but it's true that the women in the team are the driving force behind our change. Camille Rachon in particular. Camille is our CSR manager. She started when Hubert and I were creating the company, and she was always asking questions about how things were done and suggesting ways in which we could improve. I really wanted Carel to turn a corner on these issues and Camille became our sustainable development manager in 2020 and she delivers a lot.
She mobilises every department across the board on the ecological issue.
Collection, logistics, packaging... everything is audited in order to gradually improve the way we consume and design our collections.

What are your CSR objectives for 2024?

Frédérique : We still have a long way to go, but we have set ourselves some ambitious targets for 2024: Firstly, to carry out our first carbon audit: we are embarking on the great adventure of a carbon audit in order to quantify our emissions accurately and comprehensively. This will enable us to identify measures and levers to reduce our impact. Secondly, to improve our traceability: as part of the AGEC law, we are setting up a QR code system in the boutique and on the e-shop, which will enable people to discover the stages and places of manufacture of their shoes, as well as their precise composition. Finally, vegan certification: we want to label our line of trainers as 100% made from alternative materials, in response to growing consumer demand for ethical, leather-free fashion.

What does Carel Cares stand for?

Frédérique : We created the Carel Cares label to make our actions more easily identifiable. There are 3 key areas for more sustainable shoes: made in France, upcycling and alternative materials. Since its inception, Carel has been developing long-term partnerships with small-scale workshops in Europe, mainly in Italy. But we are also keen to promote French know-how, by developing partnerships with living heritage companies for very specific products such as espadrilles. For 3 seasons now, we've been designing a line of espadrilles every summer in collaboration with a traditional workshop in the Basque country. We are also incorporating more and more recycled materials into our collections in order to limit the use and waste of resources. We recover production scraps and other forgotten premium quality skins to give them a second life, creating exclusive series in very limited quantities. We also work in partnership with Parisian showrooms such as Adapta, to source stocks of dormant leathers from major houses that are destined for destruction. We are also testing alternative materials to traditional leathers with our workshops. We have created a whole line of shoes using Uppeal, a material made from apple skin from the food industry. After various tests, this material has proved its worth, enabling us to offer iconic shoes reinvented for customers looking for vegan materials.
We carefully select the leathers we use, giving preference to certified Leather Working Group tanneries. This label aims to promote sustainable and responsible practices. The tanneries are audited on a number of environmental and social criteria, which guarantees that the leather we use is manufactured in good conditions.

"We draw a lot of inspiration from the brand's archives, but also from anything we can find. Vintage and history play a central role"

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