French footwear brand Nomasei is dipping its toes into physical retail stateside, opening a pop-up store in New York’s SoHo.
Nestled in Elizabeth Street, the space opened on Wednesday and will run until Oct. 22, continuing a streak of retail activations the indie brand kicked off in its home country last year.
Testing the American market with a direct-to-consumer approach was the natural next move for Chloé alums and cofounders Paule Tenaillon and Marine Braquet, considering that U.S. accounts between 50 percent and 60 percent of the sales of the brand they established at the end of 2019 and that has carved out a niche of consumers with its responsibly-sourced and wearable shoes ever since.
Last year, the company totaled 2.5 million euros in sales, which are expected to reach 3 million euros in 2024, when the duo focused “on controlling our growth and prioritizing more on building processes and reinforcing our strategy,” said Tenaillon.
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According to founders, Nomasei’s sustainable approach to luxury is among the features American consumers appreciate the most, joined by “our ‘French aesthetic’” and the fact that the label “creates shoes by women for women that are both fashionable and timeless.”
These assets turned out to resonate particularly well with customers in New York, as 35 percent of sales coming from the U.S. this year were generated from the New York area alone. Tenaillon and Braquet aim to further build on this momentum with the physical outpost, which mirrors Nomasei’s eco-oriented approach and the simple and clean aesthetic of its Paris showroom and previous, longer-term pop-ups.
“Our focus is to get some real face time with our U.S. customers and hear from them directly,” said Braquet, underscoring that in general “direct communication is our most valuable asset: we have built a strong community through our newsletter, social channels, Paris pop-ups and other outreach that we have worked hard to maintain in our own voice.”
“Here we want people to hang out, try on shoes and feel at ease. We rented vintage furniture and are using existing images for any additional visuals… It will be intimate but warm and we are setting up everything ourselves,” said Braquet ahead of the opening.
The brand debuted the format in the French capital in fall 2023, running a space for three-and-a-half months in the Marais district to test Nomasei’s retail potential, and replicating the project this year.
“Both were great and have made us feel confident about our next goal: a flagship store in Paris,” said Braquet, eyeing the opening within the next two years, to be followed by a permanent location in New York.
France and the U.K. are Nomasei’s top markets after the U.S., and the brand is also considering popping in London, according to Braquet. “The [goal] will be having free-standing store locations in these key markets, but we’re also considering small pop-up partnerships in Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux in spring 2025.”
The New York space carries Nomasei’s fall 2024 collection along with its best-selling styles, which include the Nono loafer. Defined by a squared toe, chunky heel, arty hardware and chic color-blocking, the design has been seen at the feet of the likes of Bella Hadid, Blake Lively, Nicole Kidman and revisited in limited-edition collaborations, including the buzzy one with stylist Julia von Boehm launched last year and that boosted the brand’s international visibility.
Founders revealed the style will be reinterpreted for an upcoming special drop in collaboration with Red, the nonprofit organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS. It will mark the second chapter of the tie-up, after that earlier this year Nomasei released a red version of its Taxi sandals and donated part of the sales to support the cause.
The day-to-night Taxi design, along with the Baghera and Adora sandals, are among Nomasei’s other top-performing shoes in the U.S., while overall key styles from the label include the Frenchkiss strappy platform sandals and the Aria and Whisper stretch boots favored by the likes of Katie Holmes and Kelly Rutherford.
“Customers at the pop-up will be able to try on styles but in order to reduce excess waste, Nomasei will process orders online and ship products from their dispatcher in Paris,” said Tenaillon, underscoring how the brand mostly introduces new drops via pre-orders to limit excess production.
This attitude and the price point — which swings from 375 to 820 euros — contributed to the growth of the brand, which has recently completed a friends and family round and raised around half a million euros to further invest in new sustainable processes — such as a full scale repair and recycle programs, in addition to boost its marketing resources.
The sustainable mission is etched in Nomasei’s DNA since the beginning.
Braquet and Tenaillon – who met while working at Chloé in Paris and have a long-time experience in the industry via previous stints at fashion houses such as Dior, Jil Sander, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Givenchy – launched Nomasei after witnessing the fast-paced fashion timelines and wasteful production processes. They were determined to change the status quo by slowing down the fashion cycle with a responsible brand.
Based and designed in Paris, the company produces its footwear in a family-owned factory in Montopoli, Italy.
