French retail groups including Groupe Beaumanoir and Celio are bringing defunct clothing brands such as Jennyfer, Naf Naf, and Camaieu back to high streets across France by integrating bought-out names into existing stores.
The commercial revival comes one year after teenage fashion brand Jennyfer entered judicial liquidation, with retail owners seeking to leverage consumer nostalgia and established brand recognition to boost overall store traffic.
Shopper Samia rediscovered the teenage brand while buying clothes for her daughter on a Tuesday afternoon, according to a report broadcast on French television channel TF1 during its 20H evening news program. She recalled buying small items from Jennyfer at affordable prices during her own teenage years before noticing its return to shop floors.
Integration into Vib's stores
Jennyfer returned to market in late July under the ownership of Groupe Beaumanoir, which began selling new product lines at original price points across 50 locations. The items are sold inside Vib's outlets, a retail network of more than 260 stores in France that also houses clothing lines Cache Cache, Bonobo, and Breal.
Bertrand Bizette, the general manager of Vib's, told TF1 that the stores feature distinct spaces dedicated to each brand alongside the newly integrated label. Bizette said the owner expects the brand to attract new shoppers, adding that expanding the brand portfolio creates stronger overall commercial momentum for all existing lines within the stores.
Expansion of Naf Naf and legacy labels
Groupe Beaumanoir is extending the strategy to other historical apparel labels following its partial takeover of Naf Naf roughly a year ago. The group announced in early summer that Naf Naf items will become available in September across approximately 300 La Halle stores as well as online through Sarenza.com.
Thomas Hamelle, general manager of La Halle, told news agency AFP that the move represents a return to origins for the French brand, which was founded in 1973. Hamelle said the brand will offer everyday clothing, footwear, accessories, and nightwear at accessible price points.
Hamelle noted that La Halle is also incorporating prominent 1990s brands including Creeks, Liberto, and Mosquitos into its retail spaces. He added that recent commercial success has allowed the chain to open new physical store locations.
Savings on advertising and market entry
Other fashion labels facing financial distress in recent years, such as footwear retailer Minelli and denim maker Kaporal, have drawn strong interest from investors targeted at acquiring their retail branches or customer databases.
Beatrice Siadou-Martin, a university professor at Montpellier in southern France, explained that launching a brand requires heavy financial investment in marketing and visibility infrastructure. Siadou-Martin pointed out that acquiring brands with pre-existing consumer relationships enables companies to save substantial sums on advertising expenditure.
Celio's strategy with Camaieu
Menswear group Celio adopted a similar approach by purchasing only the trademark name of insolvent womenswear chain Camaieu. The acquisition allowed the men's clothing retailer to establish an immediate presence in the women's fashion sector without taking on legacy retail real estate.
David Teboul, general manager in charge of operations at Celio, said the company wanted to draw on Camaieu's brand identity from its peak years to establish a legitimate women's fashion offering in Celio stores. Teboul reported that introducing the mixed product catalog drove a 40 percent surge in customer footfall during the first two years of implementation.
