French e-commerce site for men's clothing has launched

(courtesy of Ca reste entre nous)

A new e-commerce site, dedicated solely to men's clothing, has launched.

Ca-reste-entre-nous.com, the brainchild of four fashion-loving Frenchmen - Gaetan Goiran, Frank Garrone, Christophe Brun, and Alexandre Rouzotte - offers a wide selection of menswear brands including Fred Perry, American Apparel, Iro, Reiko and Artisan de Luxe. Seventy percent of its stock is made up of French labels.

Ca-reste-entre-nous delivers to any country in the world, but the website is available only in French. A dedicated English site is set to launch by February 2011.

Rouzotte says the site is geared towards busy urban professionals in their 30s who love fashion but don't have time to shop in stores: "The idea for the site came to us very naturally. The four of us are all busy working men, but we love discovering and wearing the latest styles." Filters on the site allow online shoppers to browse by size or brand, cutting down the amount of time spent in making a transaction.

E-commerce is a rapidly growing industry. Online retailers registered a 11.4% growth from October 31 through November 13, according to MasterCard. Yet there are relatively few e-tailers that cater only to men's fashion. Most e-boutiques are targeted towards women, such as the bevy of flash sales sites like Rue La La, Gilt Groupe, and HauteLook, and tightly edited luxury fashion sites like Net-a-porter.

"Websites that only sell men's clothes are virtually non-existent in France," said Rouzotte. "Our idea was modeled upon the successful Anglo-Saxon ones." The online menswear market in the UK is currently valued at one billion pounds ($1.46 billion), according to Kantar Worldpanel Fashion, an agency that tracks consumer spending habits. Over the past year, 12.2 million people have bought men's clothing online (a 25 percent increase compared to the previous year), but the Internet retail business for womenswear is still growing at a much faster rate.

Sites dedicated to men's clothing and accessories include Topman - which carries contemporary urban brands like Wesc and Ben Sherman - and Mainline Menswear - which carries designer brands like Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Ted Baker and Paul Smith. In January 2011, Net-a-porter - which boasts 3 million unique users per month in 170 countries - is set to unveil Mr Porter, a stand-alone site aimed at time-pressed, affluent men. Mr Porter will sell clothing, shoes, and accessories from 60 upscale brands, including Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Dunhill, and Mr. by Roland Mouret.

http://www.ca-reste-entre-nous.com/