Behind every brand there is a story. Here is ours
Stories often begin with an anecdote... This will become the starting idea for the La Pantoufle à Pépère brand. One Sunday in December 2012, Barbara, the designer, lent a hand to a friend in a ready-to-wear boutique. She has the unfortunate idea (or ultimately the happy idea) of wearing heels.
Having too much pain in her feet, she abandons her pumps for a pair of Charentaises on sale in the store. And then discovered the incredible comfort of this shoe that she had never worn.
But not being convinced by her sad look, she sets out to find a pair more to her liking.
After some research, not finding “charentaise to her liking”, Barbara decided to launch her own line, her own brand of charentaises . And to restore their letter of nobility to these ancestral slippers neglected for too long by modernizing them.
Pépère Slippers, we want to have them, wear them but also show them off... For the first time, we are no longer ashamed to show off our slippers .
The brand, with its quirky and French name, plays on the double meaning of the word “Pépère”.
Still used in the North of France, pépère is a word that we use in a positive and jovial way for a person we like. My “grandfather”, we hear here and there. But pépère also means grandfather and the charentaise is the slipper that our ancestors wore.
And in another register, “cushy” also means “cool, no fuss”. A cushy plan is a cool plan. And it would still be incongruous to get confused in the world of slippers !
Pépère slippers are handmade by passionate workers who still master the ancestral know-how of stitching and turning , a know-how that almost fell into oblivion... And which La Pantoufle à Pépère has helped to preserve .
The partners have been the same since the first collection.
Today, La Pantoufle à Pépère is distributed in nearly 100 stores in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Mostly in concept stores but also in high-end ready-to-wear boutiques.
The audience is very large and varied. And younger and younger.
Another product then joined the Charentaise: the cap made in France of course. Then, the newsboy, including the now famous Shelby from Peaky Blinders. The headwear is entirely made in France. By a Living Heritage Company ( EPV ).
Then more recently La Pantoufle à Pépère set its sights on the French-made espadrille , the little Occitan sister of the Charentaise, made in the Pyrenees-Atlantique.
When asked why do you buy Pépère slippers?
We are told:
- Because they are beautiful.
- Because it's French.
- Because they are more durable than other slippers.
- Because it is part of a sustainable development approach.
One day, we were told: La Pantoufle à Pépère, it tears up his mother ;-)
