French label Bonheur Du Jour expertly mixes refined shapes, quality materials, exuberant colours and pretty prints. The result: collections full of unique charm, poetic detailing, energy and above all happiness.
Time for an interview with Catherine, the owner of Bonheur du Jour!
Bonjour! I am Catherine Dufossez-Devianne from the French brand Bonheur du Jour. Our brand is proposing collections for girls ; we do have a collection for babies 3m to 2 years but our focus is for girls 2 to 16 years . Our collections display a use of noble materials, fine embroideries and details, embellish with a touch of colour for everyday use.
I am from a family where fashion, prêt à porter, is a passion as much as a job. For the last 5 generations it’s been the family business. My father ran a retail chain for women and men with more than 50 shops. So it was in my blood from a young age, my grand father, at that time was living above his shop : on Sunday, with my sister I was trying all denim pants and I decided at the age of 14 years I would work in prêt à porter … !!!
I was having sewing classes and was creating my own dresses and then 4 years ago after having worked for kids fashion for French brands over 25 years I created the Bonheur du jour.
When my 3 boys were young, I decided to focus on design. So, I attended the ESMOD International School for one year whilst also working as a free lance designer for other brands.
Then 13 years ago, finally I had a girl. Having a girl was such a gift after 3 boys. It gave me even more inspiration and the sensibility for designing girls fashion.
The name of « bonheur du jour » was first and foremost to carry a French message, and feel, we export about 90 % of our French touch collection, and secondly , I wanted it to carry a message of happiness as « bonheur » means « happiness » …
A « bonheur du jour » is a small desk in 17th century on which women were writting their correspondances …
On next summer season, we ll have a poetic story mixing gold checks, flowers print with fluo touches and blouses and dresses with fluo flamingo embroideries. We ll also have a bobo chic story inspired by Mexican details in the embroderies, delicate « Indian » block print , cactus prints/embroideries and my last story is a cruise story, with blouses kaftan , ice cream prints/embroideries.
We have developed instagram and facebook communications : it’s so cute when we discover our dresses and blouses worn by small Corean or Japanese girls on their social networks !!….
Creating the fashion stories as well creating our colour palettes are my favorite sequences in the season …
What do I love most about my job? I like building the team around the collection : a good collection does not come from only one persons ideas. It is a collective effort. I have hired one young designer 6 months ago and also work with some free lance designers who help us for either in the collection or on the graphic illustrations (embroideries, all over print…) moreover. I really enjoy fair exhibitions as we meet our customers in 3 days. It’s like a consecration having their enthousiasm while you have spent so many hours on the collection the key word of our customers is to give them a premium service, if there is some defect (in embroidery design for example) , our main worry is to apologize first, and to send back a new.
Strengths and weaknesses? Creativity and attention to detail: playing with colours as well as fabrics, and shapes are my key strengths and I am a perfectionist. If I do not feel any enthusiasm after a creation then it’s no use for me to develop a sample. I believe it’s important to challenge ourselves, everyday and Ii am always thinking of surprising ways to make something, be that details, fabric , technique embroider, the list goes on.
My weakness: Self doubt, especially on the uniqueness of the collection but that’s the constant battle for creative people. To make sure things get better and better. I was not born of the computers generation, so excell and programs are not my cup of tea.
Where can you find our collection? The first place to check is on our website. It opened 6 months ago and has the whole collection. We are also in some of the most beautiful shops in NYC and LOS ANGELES , such as Sweet Williams, yoya … Lost and found. As well as some of the top shops in Korea, Tokyo, Japan, Dubai, and of course in all European countries.
Website Bonheur du Jour – www.bonheurdujourparis.com
*photo’s of the Bonheur du Jour SS16 collection found on Miss Puppet*
