Camille Riou is difficult to catch.
This 30-year-old entrepreneur, self-proclaimed “leader of the pack” of the Lou Yetu costume jewelry brand, which she created in 2015, spends her time chasing time.
"I'm sorry to call you back now," she apologized on the phone, after our multiple reminders.
I am on the war footing from morning to night.
"
A few days later, we meet her on rue Volney (Paris 2nd), a stone's throw from the famous Place Vendôme, epicenter of French fine jewelry.
This is where, since last October, the lair of “wolves and she-wolves” has been located, that is to say the forty or so employees who work with it.
A flamboyant 19th century mansion with a majestic glass roof.
Nothing to do with a sinister den deep in the woods!
The shop, here just before confinement, is located close to Place Vendôme.
LP / Arnaud Journois
On the ground floor, a boutique welcomes loyal and ultra-connected customers seven days a week.
She can come and pick up an order placed on the brand's website, discover the latest models and have them personalized at the engraving stand.
"I designed the wooden counter where the jewels are exposed, taking inspiration from the bar in the kitchen of my studio, when I was doing my sales at home", remembers this gifted, who had her baccalaureate scientist at 16 and dreamed of being an interior designer.
An early vocation
The jewels are assembled on site by about ten people.
LP / Arnaud Journois
At the age of 20, Camille Riou began to assemble small ribbon bracelets with a poetic phrase and a charm.
“I owe my passion for jewelry to Renée-Louise, my paternal grandmother.
She loved to melt the gold of old pieces to design new ones, which craftsmen made for her.
”Little Camille spends her summers at home in Brittany.
“I used to buy my jewelry from drugstores and then, with my little brother, we sneaked it on the market.
“A hobby that the young girl maintained in parallel with her business studies in Lyon, Rome and Shanghai.
“My travels have nourished my reflection and my inspirations.
"
In 2010, she worked as an intern at the luxury jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels and sold her creations on weekends, in a café in the capital.
“The boss opened especially for me on Sundays.
My clients, who followed me on Facebook, came to buy my jewelry and took the opportunity to have coffee or hot chocolate.
There were about 40 people each time.
Six months later, she moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where she joined the Procter & Gamble group, leader in consumer products.
“I accepted a marketing manager position without knowing which brand I was going to work for.
It was only after signing my contract that I learned that I was going to take care of dog food!
»She says, laughing.
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Despite this slight disappointment, the young woman persists and gains the maximum experience.
At the same time, she goes back and forth to Paris for her jewelry sales.
“But after a while, I didn't really find any meaning in working in a company.
I saw my bosses hesitate to start a family, for fear of being placarded.
In 2015, I decided to resign to find a balance.
With 5,000 euros in her pocket, she returned to Paris and devoted herself full time to her brand, expanding her catalog with charm necklaces, rings and earrings.
A booming turnover
The young woman is refining her style - now identifiable!
-, which consists of wearing several fine jewels by varying the associations according to the mood.
In addition to the success of her home sales and at markets, she sees her “community” growing on the Internet.
“One of the keys to my success is that I share my life a lot on Instagram.
My clients like this closeness.
The photos of the beginnings are still visible on Facebook because, for me, Lou Yetu is not just a digital brand, it is the result of a long history ”, she analyzes.
The brand is distinguished by its affordable prices (generally less than 100 euros per jewel).
LP / Arnaud Journois
In 2016, she hired her first employee and rented a shop near her home, in the 3rd arrondissement.
The place quickly becomes too cramped.
The following year, she found a second room, just below her apartment.
“I am attached to this boutique, which resells the furniture that we find every season for our shots, as well as the jewelry from our old collections,” she says.
The company grew very quickly, it's pretty crazy!
In five years, we have moved and tripled our turnover every year.
"
Impossible to extract a precise amount from him - we will only learn that the average shopping cart on the site is 70 euros.
Ditto for the rent of its incredible head office, which we guess is exorbitant.
“I remain cautious because I know that we are very watched by the competition.
Not a day goes by that I don't receive a buyout offer from an investment fund.
But I want to maintain my independence, even if that means controlling the least of our expenses.
"
About forty employees, gathered in the premises of rue Volney (Paris 2nd), bring Lou Yetu to life.
LP / Arnaud Journois
With its 562,000 subscribers on Instagram, the "team of wolves" is struggling to meet demand.
“The products are regularly out of stock, the last collection flew in barely twenty-seven minutes.
It takes two days on average to be able to put the products back online, and our customers are informed by e-mail of their availability ”, underlines Nicolas Lodolo, production manager, in front of the ten employees busy mounting stones. semi-precious on brass chains.
Two floors up, customer service responds to hundreds of community comments and emails sent out daily.
A few meters away, Judith Combémorel is preparing the content for the Instagram account.
"We published three photos every day, not counting stories
(note: images and videos that fade after twenty-four hours).
"Camille Riou is never very far:" I am the one who establishes the publication schedule.
We noticed that the photos that I had taken myself generated three times more "likes" than those from our lookbook.
"
The next step, gold jewelry
With these multiple hats, how not to burn-out?
“I must admit that I passed very close at the end of December.
I couldn't get out of bed anymore.
With the strikes, we made a lower turnover than expected at Christmas.
I went to recharge my batteries for a week in Morocco and I recruited a right arm to relieve me.
Because, if I collapse, it's the box that collapses.
"
The Covid-19 was not right about its success either.
Digital sales soared during confinement and the workshop has since resumed its activity.
Reassured, Camille can now tackle her new challenge: soon to launch a line of fine gold jewelry.
"My grandmother has been asking me for a while if I'm finally going to make
'real'
jewelry, and I wanted to do it while she's still here.
This time, Place Vendôme will really shake!