It was obvious in the advertisements of the 80s, Damart customers had white hair, but Grandpa has just given way to a new generation. Today Damart, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2023, is for the whole family. Children’s sales even doubled during the winter of 2023. This is the transmission, indicates Émilie Vermersch, director of the offer for Damart. Parents who knew our product when they were young want to equip their children. We worked on a whole range with small visuals, colors to meet the children’s market.
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The group also present on marketplaces
There is no question of abandoning the over 70s and the good old paper catalog. Some 40% of sales are still made by mail or telephone. Nevertheless, a little over two years ago, the group entered the marketplaces La Redoute, Amazon, Decathlon, soon Zalando and now 20% of purchases are made online.
The customer who orders in the marketplace is between ten and fifteen years younger than a classic customer at Damart, notes Loïc Bouquet, director of new markets. It’s very interesting because today, we’re aiming for 55 plus. We know that we reach millions of users.
The flagship of the Damart brand remains thermolactyl, it sells five million a year. (SOPHIE AUVIGNE / RADIO FRANCE)
These new customers want sustainable fashion. The objective is to achieve 100% recycled fibers for the flagship of the group, Thermolactyl. Synthetic yarns are full of beautiful performance. Their very big flaw is that they should not be thrown away, analyzes Guillaume Boussaroque who leads the research team.
We managed to make 100% recycled yarn. The second step today is ongoing trials to obtain threads totally identical to the thread made with virgin material.
Guillaume Boussaroque, research team for Damart
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There is strong reason to think that in a few years, a few big months, we will have commercial products from a recycling loop, analyzes Guillaume Boussaroque.
The objective of the Damart brand is to reach 100% recycled fibers for thermolactyl before 2030, in July 2023. (SOPHIE AUVIGNE / RADIO FRANCE)
A new product for winter 2024
Innovation remains a question of survival. We know that despite inflation, despite the occasional lack of love for textiles, we will be able to bounce back on the evolution of increasingly responsible consumption, assures Christophe Guilly general manager of the Damart brand. We are also very proud to announce a new product that will be launched this winter, which adapts to temperature changes throughout the day.
And that, 70 years after its invention, five million beneficial heat underwear are still sold every year.
Despite the textile crisis, Damart celebrates its 70th anniversary – report by Sophie Auvigne
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