Hymn to life & thank you
Hold on, I've never been able to keep it short..... €9,746 is the amount of donations that we have been able to donate to the APHP since March 1st. These gifts resonate a thousand thoughts that I have difficulty channeling (emotion obviously, then pride, no doubt):
the first thought will be for those who for 2 months donated their sense of duty and their skills to calm and/or save our lives. The sneaky virus always remains in ambush and forces us not to let our guard down. But he lost ground in the face of the wave of good people who faced him. To you, caregivers, cashiers, firefighters, police officers, road workers (...) what can I say other than THANK YOU. How can we ensure that our 8 p.m. applause does not become diluted in time and space when our daily routines take over? I then think of dear Camus, in the Plague obviously: “what is natural is the microbe. The rest, health, integrity, purity, if you like, it is an effect of the will and a will which must never stop. We will need willpower, and we will have it, for our GRATITUDE to have a useful and lasting effect. What a marvel, gratitude! For my humble part, I know that the effect will be lasting, for a very simple and stupid reason! This feeling of wonder and joy that gratitude and recognition give me makes me happy and creative. The Grail is not so high up, it is made up of fun things, everyday, full of meaning, tiny perhaps, but so essential to our lives.
the second thought will go to you, beloved community which continues to grow alongside us. We were driving with our headlights off on March 15th with only our famous “grocer's common sense” as our compass, as Astrid and I have so much fun calling it. 2 months ago we made the decision to stop deliveries so as not to put our team, the delivery people and obviously you at any risk. No visibility to know where this decision was going to lead us, and then the weeks passed, with the only driving force being you/us to change our minds with Happiness Therapy coming out of our confined minds, full of jumbled ideas to share... and then, the opportunity to reconnect with Blanche our favorite pen that we had forgotten to remember.
And then came the time of frantic lives, this invisible, virtual link which nevertheless united us all so much. We, although so far from each other, it brought us so much closer. There was panic too, the consequence of so much work being put aside without notice, such as our shooting projects with Marla, Fatou, Marie, Cécile, forced to cancel everything, to finally return to basics, pick up the phone and “shoot” in an artisanal way the first collection to be reserved which was entering the good weather, and to make the best launch since the creation of Mister k.
the third thought will obviously be for our team, our Dream Team, which you know, with troubled connections, blurry and jerky FaceTimes, fear sometimes in the voices or in the misty eyes... however we have weathered this storm more united and stronger than ever. Small ones will become big, Agathe who is gaining ground, responsible for all digital and analytical strategy, Audrey who is drowning in your emails, and who, in addition to pampering our beloved community, will take care of setting up the service essential logistics before we are overwhelmed, Mathilde fresh out of school who from July will brilliantly continue all product development, thanks to her eagle eye. Our child is getting a little older, it's time to recruit 2 new gems to complete our team which is overflowing with feverish ideas.
And then there is you Astrid, my partner against all odds, thanks to this sneaky, invisible intruder who united us more than I thought possible, our adventure unfolds beyond what we could have imagined.
now comes the time to take the measures accurately, we are not going to reopen fully to begin with, this peasant instinct pushes us to be vigilant without rushing too much. We will start again, tentatively, but resolutely.
Next Monday, May 18, we will make the first shipment of orders in stock, placed since March 15, which will take us 2/3 days to prepare and send everything. For the rate of dispatch then we will send your orders twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. As for the reopening of the Showroom, it will only be by appointment to pick up your orders, no fitting scheduled for the moment, we will keep you informed.
In the midst of all this, we are not so sure about the nuisance capacity of the invisible intruder, but one thing is certain, if it were to come back to bite, we know that not just any threat will make us waver. , because we are so united.
We are what we do, you are what you do. This 5% which went, thanks to you, to the APHP, by ordering your favorite item of clothing, is the measurable part of the extra soul that is in you. We don't know how to save lives but we at least know how to compose the pretty little notes that give meaning to life which persists!
Count on us to continue to do it with heart and a lot of agility. We will perhaps grow more, it is not an obsessive objective, it would be the happy result of your wishes, but we will never forget the essential, the human core will be the only fuel for our engine!
Take care of yourself more than anything!
Charlotte and the dream team