A story of a young girl who didn’t like itchy sweaters…
Chloé de Bailliencourt clearly remembers what she liked and what she hated as a child. To her liking were swirling skirts and endless play on the beaches of the Basque coast as well as moments spent with her mother hunting for an unusual object or unique toy. True treasure hunts these searches gave her a taste for weathered objects, things that have lived, and particular materials.
Chloe has always loved drawing and making clothes, it's her passion, and a second nature. Although this passion ran in her family for generations, as a young child she could not imagine that one day she would create her own fashion label. Yet later on she took on the challenge and enrolled in the Superior School of Applied Arts in Paris and then Duperré Saint Martin's School of London. Here she learnt a commitment to excellence and a technical mastery that gave substance to her instincts.
In 2000 Chloe joined Petit Boy, and took artistic direction of "Contre Vents et Marées." Following this great experience, she decided in 2005 to stand on her own feet by establishing her brand for kids. This decision proved a return to her roots, as Chloe moved close to the port of Ciboure into a former machine shop warehouse. It is in this improbable environment, Spartan, crowded with large machinery that Chloe began the development of Arsène et les Pipelettes
A first collection of children’s clothing was born, and starting with a handful of customers in France, the adventure began. A baby collection was born only 3 years later upon the birth of her first child. Before she didn’t dare not knowing how to approach such a collection. Motherhood made everything easier for the now mother of 3...
In 2011 Arsène et les Pipelettes opened its first boutique in the Basque country in the city of Bayonne. In 2012, a second boutique opens in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, in the former library of the city. In 2015, 3 cities join the party, Bordeaux, Toulouse and San Sebastian in Spain. In 2016, à nous Paris ! After a pop up shop on the left bank, the brand stays for good in Paris in the lively Batignolles area. The 7th boutique is now open in Neuilly-Sur-Seine.
Today, the brand has over 100 outlets worldwide. In France, of course, but also throughout Europe: London, Brussels, Madrid, Milan, as well as in Asia, and newly in 2012, the United States! It’s Arsène et les Pipelettes peaceful and playful version of the Wild West.