1905
The story of the brand starts in 1905, when Henri HONNET, a commercial clerk, founded his own workwear clothes shop from scratch in the north of Paris.
He opened his shop at 210 boulevard de la Villette, PARIS.
The location was wisely selected; on the one hand the shop was easily visible from the elevated railway put into operation two years ago; on the other hand the shop is in front of "Rue d'Aubervilliers" underground station (now called “Stalingrad”). In 1910 the station grew in importance with the junction of another underground line. Thus many Parisian passers-by and blue-collars came across the shop.
The direct visibility on the shops from the subway allows an easy and very effective advertising, the paintings and big signs bloom quickly. Henri HONNET immediately had a large sign made with a very simple but effective name for a workwear store: "A l'Ouvrier" ("To the worker" in French).
|