Archiduchesse

Archiduchesse was founded in 2009 in Saint-Étienne by Patrice Cassard, an early figure in French e-commerce who had previously founded the site Lafraise.com. The company was sold in 2012 to the Auvergne-based Seguin group, which in 2017 ceded 51% of its shares to Camille Zamo; that year the brand also relocated its base to the Paris region while retaining Saint-Étienne as its founding story. Manufacturing has stayed constant throughout: every pair has been knitted in the Limousin region by Broussaud Textiles, a family company founded in 1938 and described as a historic partner of the brand. In 2017 Archiduchesse earned the Origine France Garantie label, an official certification of French-based production. The brand today produces more than 130,000 pairs of socks a year, fulfilling around 18,000 online orders annually, with over 5,000 hours of knitting and more than 700 hours of quality control behind that output. Its range has expanded from socks into tights and sneakers, built around a stated catalogue of more than 100 colors.