Camille Zouari

Ready-to-wear for millennials

Inspired by her father, who worked in the fashion industry in Paris, this young Edhec graduate now has her own brand and clothes shop at Polygone Riviera in Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Hope Award  

Dossier réalisé par Eve Chatelet

It's not easy starting your own business while you're studying or just afterwards. Nevertheless, a small handful attempted the challenge in Camille Zouari's year. The young woman enrolled at Edhec Business School after finishing secondary school in Nice and went to Canada as an exchange student in her 3^rd year, where she learned how to build e-commerce websites. “When I got back, I thought I might as well set up my own business straightaway, given that my father has worked in fashion since I was born. And that's how I came to set up my ready-to-wear e-shop in January 2020, an online shop
I designed myself. Nowadays, you find bags of low-end brands selling clothes that quickly get damaged or very high-end brands for which you need a large budget. I wanted to offer mid-range, good-quality, well-tailored clothes,” says Camille Zouari. In the summer of 2020, this home-grown entrepreneur rented premises for three weeks to evaluate her designs in a shop, meet customers, and gauge their reactions. Her summer dresses were a real hit and a real shot in the arm for Camille!

E-shop and shop

“It was August. I was finishing my studies and managing my e-boutique, but
I realised I needed to open a permanent shop. At Edhec, I had to do an internship in my final year, and it was quite unusual to do it in your own company. I gave it a go, went through an incubator, and they said yes, right out of the blue.” Camille has even had a stand for six months at Printemps Polygone Riviera to showcase her collections. She has since completed her dissertation on gender inequality in business start-ups, and you can now find her in her permanent boutique at Polygone Riviera. 

Despite the stress of running a business, she is determined to go all out and make a living from her passion: “When I was a little girl, I loved going into different showrooms to give my opinion and choose the collections. I've always loved it, and I'm delighted to be able to continue. As much as I love corporate finance, something I studied at school, I'm also immensely proud to work every day in this shop I've shaped with my little hands. It's been a struggle as a young woman, particularly because they put obstacles in my way and, at first, even refused to give me a loan. But it’s made me strong.”

Hoya

What's the blockbuster for the brand created by Camille Zouari? Dresses. “I don't design them, but I buy them from specialist suppliers, some of whom have worked for brands such as Sézane,” she explains. It's a mad scramble to find a pretty dress for a summer wedding or baby shower, plus loads of tourists come to the Côte d'Azur. Camille always buys her printed designs in small quantities to avoid customers finding the woman standing next to them wearing the same dress. She offers something new every week, sometimes even three times a week. The aim is to remain a human-scale brand while expanding into other shops and concept stores in the region and throughout France.