Jacqueline Riu, leading figure in modern ready-to-wear fashion, dies aged 91

Jacqueline Riu, founder of the eponymous brand that became Riu Paris, passed away on 28 October at the age of 91. From the opening of her first boutique to the sale of her brand to the Deveaux group in 2013, she was both a driving force and a witness to the transformations of French fashion since the post-war era.

Born on January 21, 1934, Riu began her career by opening a franchised multi-brand shop, “La Gaminerie”. Located on Boulevard Saint-Germain, her selection included names such as Max Mara, Infinitif, Théorème, Georges Rech and Cathy Mini. It was during this period that she developed a strategy focused on more frequent range refreshes, more accessible pricing and rigorous stock management.

She put this approach into practice in 1971 with the opening of the first shop under her own name, in Thiais, within the Belle-Épine shopping centre. Together with her husband, Michel Riu, she also capitalised on the rapid development of shopping centres—then an innovative concept in France—to popularise her collections, which were manufactured from the Maghreb to Asia, via Turkey and Eastern Europe.

“Jacqueline Riu is a witness to the transformation of retail, from multi-brand shops to accessible fashion chains, integrating product design teams and diversifying production sources around the world according to the expertise developed by each country,” her daughters, Sabine Chiche and Véronique Jouary, said in a statement.

Both joined their mother at the company in 1999, when a management board and a supervisory board were established. During this period, the brand gradually grew from 60 to 250 stores, notably with the creation of a subsidiary in Poland and the development of franchises in Saudi Arabia and Réunion.

In June 2013, employing 2,000 people, operating 220 stores and generating €120 million in revenue, the company was sold to the Armand Thierry chain, owned by the Deveaux group, which aimed to make it the cornerstone of a leading French ready-to-wear group.

In 2016, part of the network took the name Riu Paris. The company, which communicates sparingly, is now said to have around a hundred locations across France, as well as an online shop. To this day, the brand remains true to its founder’s vision of accessibility, offering creative pieces in sizes 36 to 48 and maintaining a mid-market positioning.