Officine Generale Eyes Global Expansion

PARIS — Following the opening of its first stand-alone store here last year, Officine Generale is moving full steam ahead with its international expansion plans, fueled by investment from Bpifrance. The French bank has taken a minority stake in the men’s wear label via Mode et Finance 2, a fund established in December 2014 to support young, up-and-coming brands, WWD has learned. The amount of the deal was not disclosed, though Pierre Mahéo, creative director of Officine Generale, said it was “substantial.” “Competition today is pretty stiff. You reach a point when achieving organic growth becomes very hard. You need a lot of cash, and I believe in retail. So the idea behind the investment was to build a team with a clean agenda and make sure that the company continues to grow,” Mahéo told WWD Monday. The brand’s first step was to hire Vanessa Bonnefoux as financial director, a post which previously did not exist within the company. “She joins us from [Paris concept store] Merci, where she worked as financial director and also headed the women’s buying team. This means she is good at both — numbers and products,” said Mahéo, who launched the brand in 2012. Next on the firm’s busy agenda:

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