Marie, is a passionnant lover of travel and new cultures, she has named each product the nice fleet of a visited or dreamed destination, with a particular atmosphere, here she speak to us about his amazing
interviewed by Fatiha Idrissi
1. How did your passion for inflatable accessories start? and why?
After studying Art History and then 15 years in the fashion world in Paris, I wanted to be independent, to undertake and propose something new. 5 years ago, I then had the idea of a collection of cool & chic inflatable accessories that would complement the existing offer, often kitsch and not very durable. I noticed that kids wear ugly armbands with their pretty swimsuits, or in a nice garden with a great pool, quite often there is a ugly inflatable. We have a family house in South of France and I experienced that myself so I knew that was something new and nice to do.
2.From a stylistic point of view, how would you define Nice Fleet brand?
The nice fleet is a collection of elegant accessories for all the holiday and travel lovers. I imagined the inflatables with simple shapes but exclusive patterns quite often with watercolor effects. Usually inflatables are in plain and flashy colors but for The Nice Fleet, I really wanted this watercolor designs evoking the sea. Since 2 years, we develop also other accessories like handmade fans, handmade beach mats and bags, beach chairs in rattan and some new products are coming for next Summer.
The nice fleet is a way of life, beyond holiday.
3. How do you apply the concepts of eco-sustainability to your brand ?
Pvc is the only material for now whose properties combine waterthightess and flotationfor this type of use. Our pvc is recyclable, phatlate and spa free. We use different pvc thickness according to the product to make them comfortable and resistant (some customers have our floats for 3 years)
For the beach mats and bags, we use raffia and recycled t-shirts : we go to factory to buy defective cotton t-shirts and instead of throwing them, we make them new products. Also, when we can produce in France, we do it, this is the case of upcoming deckchairs for this winter and next summer.
4.Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
It comes from the travels, the places I visited and the know-how I discover from my trips abroad.
Each product has the name of a vacation spot and the pattern is inspired from a place (city, beach, or holiday area etc..) like Hamptons in the USA, Bahia in Brazil, Santorini in Greece, Ramatuelle in France etc…
The know-how inspires me as well. Our fans for example are hand made in a small village in Cambodia but usually they are totally natural color. We had the idea to dye it with colors to make them joyful and become a real fashion accessory.
5. Where do you sell your accessories?
We sell our collection to selective retailers worldwide like Le Bon Marché in Paris, Mode Operandi, Goop’s pop up in the USA (this is the brand of the actress Gwyneth Paltrow), also in concept stores and hotels.
We also have our own e-shop proposing our collections but also a nice selection of other summer and winter brands: www.thenicefleet.com
