Géraldine Guyot, cofounder of Destree, has revealed that investors range from the Sequoia Capital, at the behest of Angelica Cheung, to such bold-faced names as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Reese Witherspoon, Gisele Bündchen and Gabriela Hearst.
Disclosing the transaction exclusively to WWD, Guyot said the list of investors also includes Venezuelan businesswoman Carmen Busquets, actress and beauty entrepreneur Jessica Alba, Glossier founder Emily Weiss and venture capitalist Amy Griffin of G9 Ventures — all of whom contributed a like amount.
Cheung is the former editor in chief of Vogue China. Since she arrived at Sequoia, the firm has taken stakes in luxury retailer Ssense and fashion brands including Ami Paris and Seoul-based We11done., touted Destree’s French savoir faire and its business model, with 60 percent of revenues already coming from direct-to-consumer sales.
“This fund-raise will allow us to gain control of our distribution and control our clientele much more. We are targeting over 80 percent of directly controlled sales,” she added. “We are thankful for and honored by our female-only funding round. So many of our role models are participating.” By all accounts, Guyot seemed destined for a career in the art world, not fashion. Her mother is on the board of the Pompidou Museum and has been collecting mainly German and American art from the second half of the 20th century.
Guyot listed among artists she appreciates as Donald Judd, James Turrell, Kenneth Noland, Wade Guyton, Jadé Fadojutimi, Cecily Brown and Bridget Riley, whose striped and optical works seem to vibrate when viewed from a certain distance. She seized on the word D’Estree, plucked from a familiar street in Paris and sounding very French, and decided she would start with hats, sensing the marketplace was too crowded with leather goods and jewelry.
The entire product range will be showcased in Destree’s first freestanding boutique, slated to open in June at Rue du 29 Juillet in Paris, across the street from the Saint Laurent Rive Droite flagship on Rue Saint Honoré that used to be Colette, and among a clutch of trendy stores that will soon include Danish brand Ganni.
Beyoncé was among the first big celebrities to carry a Destree bag. Guyot had sent a few on a lark through the music star’s stylist Zerina Akers, and roughly a year later the singer was pictured during New York Fashion Week toting her Alvar style on one shoulder. “We were so excited!” she recalled. “We are still headquartered in Paris,” she noted. “I go back and forth as much as I can and am acting as head of the U.S. market.”
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