In 2024, the fashion landscape seems to be dominated by two extremes. On the one hand, luxury groups keep becoming more powerful and influential, increasing their profits and global presence. On the other, fast fashion hasn’t stopped growing, despite tangible awareness from consumers regarding ethics, environment and sustainability.

This means that there isn’t much room left for mid-range fashion brands, which offer good quality at a reasonable price. In Belgium, Rue Blanche is one of them. Despite being founded in 1987 by Marie-Chantal Regout, the brand has managed to keep its relevance throughout the years and paradoxically did well during the pandemic, thanks to online sales.

In 2017, Aude and Astrid Regout decided to take over their mother’s business and bring their own expertise. Aude Regout is in charge of the design and image parts, while her sister Astrid focuses on business development and strategy. Rue Blanche is known for its elegant, urban and slightly minimalistic collections. We caught up with Aude Regout to discuss the evolution of the brand, her take on international sales and why she thinks Rue Blanche speaks to different generations of working women

What made you decide to get involved in Rue Blanche?

My mother launched the brand by herself and was highly creative as an individual. After a while, she started to get tired of the commercial aspects and had an open discussion with us. Both Astrid and I did not plan to work in fashion, but we had certain skills that could be of interest for the brand. My sister is more business-oriented and my own background was in communication and marketing. We decided to get together and had a fresh vision in mind for the brand.

How old were you back then?

I was 27. Astrid was 28.

How did Rue Blanche handle the pandemic?

The brand was not doing great at the time and we had been looking for investors right before the pandemic started. Strangely enough, when the pandemic hit Belgium we managed to retrieve a fund, which helped us develop online, as well as global sales. We increased our turnover during that time and that kind of saved us in a way.

Which clientele does Rue Blanche speak to?

We dress women from the age of 25 to 75. It’s a very diverse and eclectic group, but many of our clients are working women who care about style, but do not want to look like fashion victims. They recognize quality and care about how -and where- the clothes are manufactured. We work mostly with Italian and Japanese fabrics.

I remember that Rue Blanche used to be present in Asia, particularly in Japan. How’s the situation today with those markets?

We used to have great sales in Japan, but the market is much more challenging now and independent boutiques are cautious when it comes to buying new brands. I guess the recent fluctuations of the yen do not help either. Within Europe, we are doing well in the Netherlands and thinking of opening a store there. We would like to focus on the United States and develop our sales there as we see true potential for the brand. Lately, we have been working on our image and hired Brussels-based photographer Merel Hart to shoot our campaigns. We are aware that image and storytelling are both important in order to attract international clients.

I think there are not many brands like Rue Blanche delivering timeless, stylish and qualitative items at an affordable price.

That’s true. We are price-conscious, but quality is very important for us. Belgium remains our biggest market, and our clientele is quite faithful. At the same time, I am not sure if they see Rue Blanche as a fashion brand and would be willing to pay more for special pieces. Perhaps we could try with some capsule lines and see what happens. Belgian customers are not the easiest to please, as they tend to be averse to change, but at a certain point we want to have a global presence and work with the best boutiques.

You cannot please everyone anyway.

Exactly. We have been around for almost 40 years now, so we have a place in the market and credibility as well. I think that’s one of our best assets and there are not many brands doing what we do now. I’m actually quite optimistic -and hopeful- when it comes to the future of Rue Blanche