According to a message to partners and customers released earlier this week a new company has been formed with a capital of EUR100,000 – Societe Nouvelle Lejaby (SN Lejaby) – with joint ownership of Mr Podiono (owner of the Mirae Group), Indonesia manufacturer of lingerie products and the Chifflot family (of which Guy Chifflot is a well known industrialist in Lyon).
The lingerie brand Maison Lejaby , placed in receivership in January, was taken over by this Franco-Indonesian arrangement but only half of its jobs will be preserved (24 employees retained out of 49). The reorganisation will concern all sectors of activity at the headquarters in Rillieux-la-Pape (Rhône), in stores in Paris and Lyon, and in the corners of department stores, according to Olivier David.
Since May 8, the new buyers have been at headquarters to take possession of the premises. For the moment, they do not want to change the place of production which was at Isatex, a Tunisian group.
Having become a symbol of “made in France” in danger, the brand was then taken over by Alain Prost (former CEO of the Italian La Perla and former general manager of Chantelle) who kept 195 employees out of the 450 that the company had. Around three years later, the company, affected by the crisis in Russia and Ukraine which then represented 30% of its turnover (28 million euros), had to cut 30% of its workforce.
The entrepreneur-investor Thierry Le Guénic then acquired the brand in 2019. Maison Lejaby is not the only company bought by Thierry Le Guénic to have suffered a disastrous fate. He also took over in 2020, Habitat, placed in compulsory liquidation on December 28, 2023, the clothing brand Burton of London, in receivership and which has not found a buyer.
The Commercial Court of Lyon awarded the Franco-Indonesian venture the goodwill, tangible and intangible as well as all the trademarks of the Lejaby company. The Chifflot brothers stated:
We will work with partners who share the same values that Lejaby brings: the image of luxury, opulence and respect that this French brand has a strong reputation of almost a hundred years old. We are going to innovatve, expand and create our ranges of products with clear product communication. Our goal is to co-create together, build loyality and re-establish a brand new Lejaby together.”
