Chantelle has a new brand identity.
The French lingerie brand has hired Renaud Cambuzat, a French fashion photographer, as chief creative officer, a newly created position. Cambuzat has been tasked with rethinking what lingerie and underwear marketing for a 142-year-old brand should look like.
“As lingerie-makers, we do have the responsibility in how we portray women,” Cambuza said. “We want to redefine how lingerie is portrayed and how women buy it. We don’t want to speak for them. They can speak for themselves much. We want to speak to her on different levels and reflect her complexity.”
Cambuzat has changed the logo, which is now a bit heavier and Millennial-friendly, and produced brand visuals he believes are more soulful than traditional lingerie advertising. The images are bright and crisp showing models wearing Chantelle bras and underwear with ready-to-wear in natural landscapes as opposed to a dark bedroom.
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Sonja Winther, president of Chantelle North America, said the re-brand wasn’t a direct play for a younger customer, but an effort to make imagery that’s accessible to all types of women and helps increase brand visibility.
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“We have always had an issue where not enough people know who we are and I think in this digital era we have realized that we need strong imagery that people notice,” Winther said.
The re-brand is aligned with new product categories that focus on comfort and ease. Chantelle has launched its Soft Stretch underwear that comes in sizes XS-XL and Soft Stretch Plus runs from 1X to 4X.
To promote the Soft Stretch line, Cambuzat has created a campaign titled “Overthrow Underwear” that is meant to go against conventional underwear design and marketing and features creators including Rebekah Campbell, Lila Cardona and Louise Follian. They’ve given each of the subjects the ability to create their own visuals that reflect how they relate to lingerie.
The French company, privately owned by the Kretz family, counts six brands, including Chantal Thomass, Passionata, Darjeeling and Femilet, a Danish group it acquired around six years ago.