THE BRAND : la pantoufle a pepere
Many stories start with an anecdote, and this anecdote will mark the beginning of the brand. In December 2012, Barbara, the founder of the brand, gives a hand to a friend in a ready-to-wear shop on a pre-Christmas Sunday. She unfortunately (or fortunately) wears high-heeled shoes.
After a while, she decides to change shoes and wear a pair of charentaises, which is on sale in the shop because her feet hurt too much. She then discovers the amazing comfort of those old-fashioned slippers.
As she is not keen on the dull look of the slippers, she decides to look for a more trendy pair.
But she doesn't find any that suit her. That's why she makes up her mind to launch her own collection, her own brand.
The Pantoufles à Pépère, we want to get them, wear them and show them as well. For the first time, we are no longer ashamed of wearing slippers.
Still used in the North of France "Pépère" is a word used in a positive and cheerful way for someone you like. "Mon Pépère" can be heard here and there.
But "Pépère" also means Grandpa... And the charentaise is an old traditional French slipper that was worn by our ancestors. In another vein, "Pépère" also means "cool, quiet". Un plan pépère is a cool, quiet plan... And is there anything cooler and quieter than wearing soft charentaises ?
Les pantoufles à Pépère are handsewn by passionate workers in a small workshop and they still use the ancestral know-how called the sewn-back technique, which almost fell into oblivion... Before La Pantoufle à Pépère has decided to bring to light again.
The partners are the same since the first collection.
Today, La Pantoufle à Pépère is distributed online and in around 100 shops. Ready-to-wear and concept stores, in France, Belgium and the Netherlands
The clients are varied and younger and younger!
A few years later, another product has joined the charentaise : the cap. And the gavroche... The now famous Shelby gavroche from the Peaky Blinders is a standard in our collection.
More recently, La Pantoufle à Pépère has set its sights on the espadrille, the little sister of the charentaise for the summer time. It is made traditionally as well in the Pyrénées.
When we ask our customers why they buy des Pantoufles à Pépère ?
They answer:
- Because they are French.
- Because they are more solid than other slippers
- Because the production is part of a local sustainable development approach
- And above all, because they are much nicer than other slippers!