Out goes Façonnable Jeans, the brand’s line for younger consumers, in comes Façonnable Tailored Denim. “The idea (to change the name) is to distance ourselves from the image of traditional denim maker, and affirm our identity as a tailoring brand, which we have been since the start,” said Bruno Pfalzgraf, the line’s managing director and former executive at VF Corporation and Levi Strauss.

The collection is in line with Façonnable’s move towards a more neo-classic style. It uses the group’s “savoir-faire” in shirt making, while blending in more contemporary codes such as the types of cuts and a more casual look. Jeans are priced between 125 to 200 euros, while shirts cost around 95 euros. “Our starting prices are 20% lower than those of the main line”, said Bruno Pfalzgraf.

Façonnable Tailored Denim thus seems to be aiming to position itself on the same level as brands like Bellerose and Hartford. It will also be competing against the other brands located on the second floor of French department store Citadium, where it will be selling its collections as of Summer 2012. “We are going to have brands like Barbour, Fred Perry and Levi’s Vintage right next to us,” said Antoine Tinel, Europe sales manager. Façonnable Tailored Denim is currently distributed via more than 200 independent retailers (more than 50 in the United States, between 60 and 65 in France, and some also in the Middle East). Its turnover for 2012 is expected to reach around 10 million euros. The line has also just opened a corner inside department store ENK in Stockholm.

Façonnable Tailored Denim also inaugurated in April a monobrand store in Nice, France; the same city where Façonnable was first founded by Jean Goldberg in 1950. Next February, the line will also have its own store in a shopping centre in Dubai; a franchise opened by its partner from the region, UAE-Trading. Paris may also be seeing the opening of a Façonnable Tailored Denim boutique, although the exact location is not certain yet.