SEATTLE, United States — Digitally native French fashion brand Sézane is bolstering its physical retail footprint via a new partnership with Nordstrom.

Nordstrom — Sézane's first US retail partner — will carry the label’s Spring collection from April 11 in five select stores across Seattle, Chicago, Costa Mesa, San Francisco and Austin. The collection will also be sold on Nordstrom’s e-commerce website.

Each pop-up will be merchandised in the style of a French apartment. “It was very important for us to be able to offer the Sézane experience,” Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory told BoF. “We accepted to do the Norstrom collaboration because they allowed us to create our own little world.”

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“The experience is such a special part of what the brand is,” added Tricia Smith, executive vice president of women’s apparel at Nordstrom. “To let it come to life in a unique way, we think that customers will really appreciate the experience and get to know the brand a little better.”

Founded in 2013 as an online-only, accessibly priced collection of pieces that embody quintessential French style, the brand has recently been delving deeper into brick-and-mortar retail: in 2015, it opened "L'appartement," a 3,000-square foot boutique in Paris inspired by a Parisian apartment, which was followed by an apartment-style concession space at Le Bon Marché in 2016. Last September saw the debut of its first international outpost with a similar 2,000-square foot space in New York. The brand has also been experimenting with pop-ups in other markets, including London and Los Angeles — cities in which it is looking to roll out more appartements in the near future.

Unlike its arrangement with Le Bon Marché, the Nordstrom partnership is a wholesale one. Sézalory insists, however, that “it’s a very unique case” and that Sézane is not exploring a move away from its direct-to-consumer model. “It’s a huge chance for us to be able to move easily in the US and to meet our consumers,” she explained. “The way we approach retail and physical space is not to sell more, but to spread the word about Sezane and the values we have.”

Sézalory declined to provide revenue figures for the business, but said that last month, when the Spring collection became available, it did 100,000 orders in the first two weeks — a testament to the brand’s dedicated cult following. “[Today, brick-and-mortar] is as profitable as the website,” she said. While the tie-up is currently just for Sézane’s Spring collection, both parties are confident the collaboration will resonate with consumers and are hoping it will turn into a longer-term partnership.

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