Paule Ka is a French ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...

 brand, created in 1988 by Serge Cajfinger.

Born in Lille in 1955, Serge Cajfinger spent his childhood in Brazil; he returned to France in 1968.At the age of 19, he opens with his mother and his aunt Paule a multi-brand store in Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

. In 1988, he creates in the Sentier, a Paris textile district specialized in cheaper ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear

Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...

, the Paule Ka brand, with an up-market

Luxury good

Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...

 positioning

Positioning (marketing)

In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization....

, close to but cheaper than Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel

Sonia Rykiel née Flis is a French fashion designer.Ethnically a Polish-Romanian Jew, Sonia Rykiel was born in Neuilly a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, the eldest of five daughters of a Polish mother and a Romanian father. At the age of 17, she was employed to dress the window...

, "very inspired by Jacky Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn". The brand's style is geometric and sober with some lasting characteristics such as black dresses and the use of bows.

A 350 m² flagship store opened in 2006, at rue Saint-Honoré

Rue Saint-Honoré

The rue Saint-Honoré is an ancient street in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.It is named after the collegial Saint-Honoré church situated in ancient times within the cloisters of Saint-Honoré....

, Paris.

In 2007, the Caisse des dépôts et consignations

Caisse des dépôts et consignations

The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations is a French financial organization created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Augustin De Romanet is the board chairman and chief executive...

, a French financial organization, took a 17% interest in the company.

French politician Ségolène Royal

Ségolène Royal

Marie-Ségolène Royal , known as Ségolène Royal, is a French politician. She is the president of the Poitou-Charentes Regional Council, a former member of the National Assembly, a former government minister, and a prominent member of the French Socialist Party...

and Cécilia Attias, Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

's former wife, are customers.

Other lines

Following the launch in 2010 of a small collection of evening dresses called Black Carpet, Serge Cajfinger has dressed Leighton Meester

Leighton Meester

Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. Meester first garnered attention for playing Blair Waldorf in the CW television series Gossip Girl...

, Rihanna

Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...

, Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...

, Julie Bowen

Julie Bowen

Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...

 and Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Leann Carpenter is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Emily Rose in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Debra Morgan on Dexter, and the lead role in the 2008 horror movie Quarantine.-Early life:...

. In 2010, he designed a capsule collection for La Redoute

La Redoute

La Redoute is the largest mail order company in France.The company is based in Roubaix. It was founded in 1875. It is owned by the PPR holding company. PPR was named "Pinault-Printemps-Redoute" until 2005. Thus the "R" in the acronym refers to La Redoute....

, the largest French mail order retailer, presented by Agyness Deyn

Agyness Deyn

Agyness Deyn is an English fashion model, actress and singer.-Early life:Deyn is from Failsworth in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester...

.