New Designs for Monoprix

French budget behemoth Monoprix has made an ultra-popular hit with its long series of collaborations with top French designers and brands, creating exclusive mini-collections of clothes and accessories that are slightly more upmarket than their classic in-house label Autre Ton. The chain has already tapped Bensimon, Lucien Pellat-Finet and lingerie diva Fifi Chachnil, and most recently the 100-year-old brand Le Mont St Michel and the textile label La Cerise sur le Gâteau (cherry on the cake).

Although Le Mont St Michel has been around awhile, the label became a contemporary hit in 2001, when Alexandre Milan, scion of the company’s founding family, took over with a line of chic ready-to-wear, mining Breton themes from classic fishermen’s sweaters to the sportswear common in his native Pontorson, just a few miles from the spectacular Mont Saint Michel Gothic abbey on its tidal island in the sea. Milan’s upbeat and affordable Monoprix collection includes lightweight, brightly striped cashmere sweaters and an adorable boxy raincoat with epaulettes and patch pockets.

La Cerise sur le Gâteau is designer Anne Hubert’s runaway success story, putting her talents to the test with textiles that use “basic elements from grandma’s kitchen sprinkled with flashy touches and quirky images”—brightly colored tap shoes, the Eiffel Tower, a wedding cake. For Monoprix, Hubert has branched out into women’s and kid’s clothes, tote bags and pillows in a cheerful assortment of summery flowered prints. Highlights include a beautiful western-cut blouse and string bikinis all in bright florals, and the charming junior line includes a smocked bikini, sundress, shorts and a skirt with an adorable matching sunhat. Ideal for spring-starved shoppers, the collection arrives in stores on March 16.

Monoprix shops are found throughout the country. www.monoprix.fr

Originally published in the March 2011 issue of France Today