TRIBUNE #8 - BRANDS&MARKETS SPECIAL ISSUE

BR ANDS A ND M A RKE TS E D I T I ON

2019

D ES IG N , C U LT U R E & LIFE ST YLE by ST YLE AND D E S IG N

TRI B U NE

Style and Design

S&D is a Leading French Design Agency specialising in all forms of Transportation.

“I think today the automobile is the quite exact equivalent of great gothic cathedrals: I mean a great creation from its time, passionately designed by unknown artists, consumed in its image if not in its usage, by an entire people who impersonates in it a perfectly magical object.”

Extract from La Nouvelle Citroën in “Mythologies”, by Roland Barthes, 1957

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rands&Markets is the division of Style&Design dedicated to Special & Limited Editions for the Automotive Industry

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myth, a cathedral, the car? It’s possible when you consider the way that cars are debated and re-created in the same way as collective beliefs and customs.

As the words of Roland Barthes illustrate, probably spoken following the automobile earthquake that was the presentation of the Citroën DS in Paris in 1955, it’s not anything new that a car faithfully reflects its era.

Throughout the years automotive design has always reflected social trends. The bio design “cocooning” was followed by the dynamic nature of the cab-forward, then came the serious edge design, neo retro nostalgia and finally the crazy “adventure” of the SUV. So it’s logical that car personalization should follow on, an incarnation of metallics, textiles and plastics with their own personality.

A desire for authenticity in style as well as unprecedented driving sensations is embodied by “Gothic cathedrals”: increased enthusiasm for vintage and “modern” cars.

And “peripherals” no longer has the same meaning…

In the age of car sharing, connectivity, an almost dematerialised world, the challenge for manufacturers is to prevent the vehicle being reduced to a mobile “peripheral” or a simple application that you can install or uninstall at your leisure.

So let’s continue to invent, celebrate, dramatize, experiment and invent the life that goes with the automotive industry so that new gothic cathedrals will rise from the ground, new myths that will continue to prove Barthes right and that faithfully represent their own contemporary period.

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Xavier Carpentier Brands&Markets

DIRECTOR .............................................................................................

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e will outline in the following pages limited editions by Brands&Markets, that follow 3 strong concepts: creativity, time-to-market and quality.

“Brands”: how to influence brand image The limited edition creative team are automotive designers as well as colour and material specialists. They have an enduring obsession with creativity, originality, feasibility and the need to stay current in their creations without ever losing sight of the original design. If they were to divert too far away from the initial design intention this would destabilise the creation.

“Markets”: how to support sales If a car manufacturer or importer is looking to work with us, it’s often because they require a rapid response to a short-term sales issue.

Our experience and know-how means we’re able to shorten timescales at the feasibility stage being able to take all constraints into account on receipt of the specifications.

As a result, our tactical solution “Brands&Markets” is the most “timeto-market” orientated, offering a possible 3-month implementation, from specification to arrival on the market.

Our mutual objective is certainly to develop profitable sales. Offering a global solution that captures the latest trends is the key to this. “&”: the link that unites people and quality With over 10 years experience in the development and production of special and limited editions, our manufacturing and quality processes have evolved, improving the final product.

If our products & offerings have progressed, it’s thanks to the quality of Style&Design’s human resources. Brands &Markets taps into Style&Design’s resources as well as relying on their own team.

The development and design teams, the project management team as well as the quality control and training teams, all together, contribute to daily progress in “B&M” product quality.

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INI, AN INCARNATION OF BEST PRACTICE

MINI was the instigator of B&M, the story began when we worked on the MINI MONTE CARLO in 2011. And the story continues today.

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Monte Carlo

Shoreditch Oakwood

Blackfriars Kensington

Heddon Street Longstone

GT

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MINI B&M with

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Limited Edition / 7,500 units

HEDDON STREET

SĂŠbastien Ferdinand

HEAD OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT MINI BMW GROUP FRANCE

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pecial editions are one of the keys to success for the MINI brand in France. As a result of this, Style&Design occupies a special place in the implementation of this strategy.

The partnership that we have developed over the years with Style&Design is crucial. They are not just a simple contractor that only acts as a supplier of decorative parts, they are in fact a team of experts in charge of the design concept through to production.

We have particularly high expectations on performance levels, so I appreciate greatly the way that the teams rise to the challenges that we set them.

In an industry which is in permanent mutation, it’s important to have reliable partners we can count on for the mid/long term.

Their quality of execution, the support from the Brands&Markets team and their ability to put themselves on the line, are undeniably part of the reason for the success of MINI in France.

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ntention and coherence are the first principles to analyse before we start the creative process. Should we be changing how the vehicle’s design is perceived? Highlight a strength? Or hide a weakness?

The specifications or the client brief enable us to work out the intention that the project needs to communicate.

Our professionalism, our experience and our automotive designers’ vision ensure the project stays coherent, even if, occasionally, we take a departure from the brief but never without a detailed reasoning behind it.

On the basis of this intention and coherence, we begin the creation, constantly “challenging” ourselves within our internal teams and facing the critical eye of the design team.

At the end of the day, the real measure of performance are both client satisfaction as well as commercial success that is visible on the street, that’s the part that makes us especially proud.

Simon Linot Brands&Markets

DESIGNER .............................................................................................

PROJECT LEADER

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HE DOUBLE CHALLENGE OF QUALITY AND PRODUCTION VOLUME

The Renault Group and its Renault Tech subsidiary, which took charge of the limited editions kits installation, are the partners having most influenced B&M Production, particularly due to order volumes and their own logistical constraints.

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Red Night

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RENAULT

B&M with

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Limited Edition / 35,500 units

STEEL / DUEL

Thierry Berthelot

DEPUTY PROGRAM DIRECTOR - TWINGO & CLIO RENAULT EUROPE REGION

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he added value we must first recognise with Style&Design during Clio Steel/Duel project management is creativity. We have seen a new approach, a fresh and interesting interpretation of our enquiry, allowing reinforcement of Clio’s identity, which is the limited editions’ challenge.

Then, their capacity to produce parts and elements of the kit, and their ability to do it in short lead times raised our interest. This ability to produce goes together with strong requirements linked to the fulfilment of validation plans (for security, reliability…).

We again found with Style&Design a partner involved not only in fulfilling the tests but also in integrally managing them and strictly following up.

I have to add we could rely on the reactivity of Style&Design who was able to adapt its production and deliveries capacity very rapidly to comply with the volume growth implied by the success of the edition in Europe.

When I underline the realization timing and the adaptation from Style&Design, it is important to put into perspective the homogeneity of the result, the production volumes variations and the project lead time including validation plans: from first meeting to putting the project on the market, only have passed 8 months, it is extremely short!

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A every aspect projects.

s Project Managers, we look after of Brands&Markets’ production

This includes feasibility, logistics and management of internal and external capabilities as well as planning.

The term “feasibility” includes putting our products through the manufacturer’s validation systems.

I lead this phase which can take several weeks, meaning thousands of hours accumulated for hundreds of samples since the tests are rigorous: UV and sunlight rays, extreme temperatures, tearing, chipping, high pressure washing etc.

One of my proudest achievements in the last few months has been to get the rim stickers through their testing. It’s an area that’s very exposed to road hazards, but our products were absolutely able to rise to the challenge.

In the next few months, the Project Managers will be running validation studies for some innovations that our Research & Technology team are developing. We like this type of challenge!

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Quentin Maugendre Brands&Markets

PROJECT .......................................................................................

MANAGER

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DAPTING TO LATEST TRENDS – CONSULTING ON COLOURS & MATERIALS

As a tactical and rapid operation to put into place, a special series has to seduce its clients in an efficient way. In order to keep up with current trends, Brands&Markets uses the expertise of the Colours & Materials team at Style&Design. Volvo Bus France came to B&M to produce a special series and special vehicles and regularly makes use of the “Coul’Mat’” team’s skills.

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Vo l v o H o m m a g e

Kor trijk

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VOLVO

B&M with

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Limited Edition / 10 units

KORTRIJK

Michael Lanez

DIRECTEUR COMMERCIAL AUTOCARS VOLVO BUS FRANCE

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brought in Style&Design to reinvigorate Volvo Bus’ range of buses in the French market. I could see how knowledgeable the team were and I particularly appreciated the Colours & Materials team’s sharp eye when it came to defining specifications for our cabins.

The materials and textiles used for bus interiors are generally specified as those that have the best durability when used intensively as public transport, often to the detriment of style or trends and sometimes it’s even a touch cartoonish. By working with our interior suppliers and suggesting to them new ideas, the Colours & Materials team has done wonders shaking up the status quo in this world of buses!

Off the back of this success with my clients and the consumers who really appreciated the leap in quality and product differentiation, I continued my relationship with Style & Design’s Colours & Materials working on the French specifications for the new Volvo 9700 and Volvo 9900

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o be an expert designer with Colours

& Materials, you need to be able to keep your eyes open while being mindful of industry constraints.

Keeping your eyes open means being able to analyse the latest consumer trends, looking at what clients are liking at the moment, and throughout the time they own or use a vehicle. For example, references that we use would be home interior design, advertising and fashion.

Our work consists of identifying trends from our main references which we find in “avant garde” environments such as contemporary art and the innovation and high fashion sectors when we tend to see them applied to the “general public” several years later. In fact, we sometimes study trends for projects that will come to fruition in 5 years’ time and will be on the market in nearly 10 years’ time….You need to be

Claire Bourguignon

looking far ahead in these cases.

Concerning industry constraints, these can be found both in the form of legislation (health and safety) as well as reliability/durability or weight on board constraints. As well as being desirable, we need to take care that our recommendations can be manufactured and are durable and adaptable. This is the real profession of industrial design!

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Brands&Markets

DESIGNER .............................................................................................

C&M LEAD

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PECTACULAR WORK

Even if it’s true that most of the time B&M work on tactical limited editions that impact directly short term sales, it can happen that a request is not in correlation with this direct link and instead, is a request to impact brand perceptions with a “PR stunt”. In this case we need to be spectacular, outrageous, striking!

Mercedes-Benz France Trucks came to B&M to help reinforce an image of close client relationships.

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Actros S

Actros Ultimate

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MERCEDES

B&M with

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Limited Edition / 1 unit

WOLF / BEAR

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ercedes-Benz

is

a

very

technological and technical brand a bit distant or impersonal. That’s why I wanted Mercedes to get closer to its clients and primary users, the drivers.

So, we based our strategy on brand closeness and warmth.

I approached B&M, not for a special edition, but to create a real program over several years, mixing events with extraordinary Show-Trucks and limited editions to reinvigorate the product sales cycle and respond to client and driver demand.

CĂŠdric Lebreton

HEAD OF PRODUCT MARKETING MERCEDES-BENZ TRUCKS

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The ACTROS WOLF Show Truck with its red windscreen and its wolf eyes that light up in the back of the cabin was a real success in our dealership network during the summer period. The ACTROS POLAR BEAR Show Truck had the same effect with its spectacular Yamaha buggy at the back during the winter events! During the same period, we launched a creative limited edition, although a bit more sober‌ By unbridling its creativity, B&M help Mercedes Benz Trucks’ strategy and sometimes go above even our own expectations!

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Product

Development

and

Training Manager in the application of the B&M products, I generally try to avoid needing to apply larger products in order to ensure the best quality application, long term reliability or at the very least the ability and ease to exchange or repair. The reality is, this is not always the case for event vehicles!

In these cases, we are faced with certain constraints imposed by the edition, but we nevertheless maintain our own quality requirements, for both the materials and their application. That’s why our results are so spectacular and in particular why they stay in place over several months, a necessity for one off pieces.

We enjoy these development challenges since it forces us to progress on several levels, in our skills as well as in our relationships with our partners and in the overall quality required to our suppliers with

Yohann Beauget

whom we share these incredible challenges‌.

Brands&Markets

DEVELOPMENT .......................................................................................

MANAGER

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T

HE “TIME-TO-MARKET” CHALLENGE

“Time-to-Market” is a commercial phrase which means an immediate response to market demand and logistically, the capacity to develop and deploy an action in the very short term.

Using the combined capabilities of design, research and technology, project managers, and prototyping, together with our network of partening suppliers and our own production unit, B&M is able to respond to a request for a special edition in only a few weeks. NISSAN WEST EUROPE (FRANCE) was able to experience this with its recent Navara X-Pedition edition.

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Logo Ideation Sketches

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NISSAN

B&M with

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X-PEDITION

Luc Bertrand

PRODUCT MANAGER NAVARA NISSAN WEST EUROPE (FRANCE)

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hen you’re in charge of a range

of products you need to position them in the medium term but also you need to be able to respond to issues that come up from time to time. Concerning these issues, it’s essential that all the parties involved are as reactive as possible. This is true both internally, and for the suppliers upstream and the dealerships downstream.

Navara X-Pedition was born in several weeks with a strong concept inspired by the desert and depicting the desertic conditions of the Navarra desert. Over and above the special edition, we were able to create PR and events around these themes.

Brands&Markets brought a reactive and creative response to our tactical problem. And since production was so efficient, we were able to roll out this global operation in only a few weeks!

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B&M Production

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anaging production with tight

time constraints is for myself and for the production team our day-to-day business. We need to be able to manage both requests from large volume manufacturers which can take up production full time, as well as stay reactive, which is our strength for smaller volume editions.

Sometimes these “one hit” production operations utilise only a couple of team members for just a couple of days.

Planning and ongoing dialogue with the project teams is essential in these cases, to make sure production stays on track and that best quality levels are constantly guaranteed, whatever the production timing.

It is equally essential that the B&M production lines work in close proximity with the design/development/ prototyping/quality teams….Something we make the

Bruno Le Lay

most of daily at Style&Design.

Brands&Markets

PRODUCTION

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MANAGER

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ERMANENT FOCUS ON QUALITY

Style&Design is committed to its approach of all round quality, focusing on this for the long term in all of its activities. In fact, everyone is devoted to this action, with Brands&Markets at the forefront of the subject, allowing us to work with the most demanding brands in this area. In accordance with its reputation, Volkswagen is one of these brands.

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California Origins

Caravelle Lounge Edition

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VOLKSWAGEN

B&M with

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Limited Edition / 6000 units

COPPER LINE

Jonathan Berrodier

PRODUCT MANAGER - VOLKSWAGEN VOLKSWAGEN GROUP FRANCE

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e ourselves and our clients

demand absolute quality. Why? A car is a very important purchase for our clients, one in which they are heavily involved. A car is used to project an image of themself over a number of years. By placing long term client experience at the heart of its strategic vision, Volkswagen Group has managed to embody the values of all round quality.

When we met Brands&Markets we saw that the team shared this state of mind, right from the creative stage when our requirements for a special edition were firmed up into a kit with real added value, with a quality of execution of the highest level (badges, cladding/jacketing etc).

I think we can continue the adventure with Brands&Markets since we share the same concepts of perceived quality, reliability, durability, technical and technological innovation, in short, all round quality, which inspires us mutually on a daily basis.

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t’s always very motivating to manage a

company’s approach to supplier management when it already has some maturity in the subject of total quality management.

My role involves both internal process improvement at Brands&Markets as well as ensuring we receive the best quality products and materials from our suppliers. It’s a constructive partnership which enables each of the parties involved to improve, which is beneficial in general, including for Style&Design’s other activities, but also for our suppliers’ other clients!

In summary from my side with Brands&Markets I am aiming for “zero defect” and on-time deliveries to

Laurent Le Razavet

our clients. They are the ones that count the most in this approach which was initiated throughout the company by Style&Design.

Brands&Markets

SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................

LEADER

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INTERNATIONAL

B&M with

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ONE MARKET

Special Editions have interested car manufacturers in Europe from the beginning and we have had the opportunity to grow Brands&Markets outside Europe.

With perspectives for widening our offer to car accessories and in an environment of struggling global new car markets growth, we feel we can support car manufacturers in differentiating themselves. We therefore have to be a support, right next to them.

Let’s have a chat with Alan Beazley, sales representative for the UK

I

have

been

associated

with

the

automotive industry for more than 40 years and I have seen vehicles evolve and grow from being purely practical into works of art in todays market.

I started my working life as a young apprentice at Rover, spending time in all aspects of the vehicle development and build process which today still helps me understand in some way what our customers need.

I moved into an engineering role and eventually decided to spread my wings and work in Germany and Sweden which provided me with my first experience of working with different cultures and languages.

This success moved me into a business development area for International Automotive Design, a company ahead of its time into the area of styling, design and engineering.

I covered the Far East and Europe which helped me understand the customers and cultures in those countries. I then moved into leading recruitment

a

team in the UK, focusing primarily

Alan Beazley

again on the automotive industry and built up excellent relationships with a number of automotive manufacturers and suppliers across Europe.

Now, I am really excited to have joined Style&Design and to work with its inspirational President, Olivier Meyer again. I strongly believe our products and offerings have a place in the UK market and look forward to seeing the first Limited Edition on the UK roads.

Brands&Markets

UK SALES .........................................................

REPRESENTATIVE

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As well as the UK, we will expand in the short term with sales representatives in Germany and Italy.

Within two years, Japan and American representatives will grow our network.

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utomotive companies should on

the one hand consider us as a solution provider. For their projects, we are here to manage the complete solution that frees the minds of the Marketing, Sales and Aftersales teams.

On the other hand, they should consider us as an Innovation Lab, able to think out of the box, innovating to create customer value and enhance product experience.

As a result, it is sometimes not so easy for Product Managers to “leave their baby with someone else" ; particularly when they don’t know and didn’t expect us at all. On the international market, we often are the said unknowns and that is why we are working hard internationally to establish our own legacy, through a wide professional network. With tens of special editions released and with more than a hundred thousand cars on the roads globally, our portfolio should speak for itself.

Thomas Mesnil Brands&Markets

EU SALES .........................................................

REPRESENTATIVE

I know from being a Product Manager in the past the issues Sales and Marketing teams are facing daily.

Despite creativity, at Brands&Markets, we remain firmly anchored to the ground, we always stick to what is important: brand & product image, reliability, customer and dealer acceptability and, ultimately, sales volume growth. Oh, and by the way, we always bring sources for additional profitability, too!

Our approach with B&M vehicles has solved many issues, believe us...

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ACCESSORIES

Clément Baudry Brands&Markets

R&T

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MANAGER

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rom 2019, b&m is diversifying into “genetic accessories”, a self-funded program to develop experience-enhancer accessories that will carry the styling DNA for each of our customers.

While developing over the last two years limited editions for our customers, it became obvious that the branding of the edition and the graphic style could not only be carried by fixed parts (replacement or additive) and stickers, but by nomad elements as well (such as lifestyle bags, key holders, etc). We therefore enriched our product offer with what we called “Accesstories” – these accessories being part of the storytelling. That was an easy first step though.

Our customers pointed out clearly the genuine accessories suffer from the “poor cousin” syndrome. Accessories is the most profitmaking business in the automotive industry, expectations for growth in revenues are high – but product offer is low. Additionally, limited bandwidth at Design with little time to handle “secondary” topics and limited bandwidth at Engineering with little money and resources to develop products makes things harder. On top of this, reliable expert Tier-one suppliers rarely get involved in the accessory business.

Finally, web players are gobbling the cake: car makers must compete with the Digital Nation!

We at b&m decided to build a Design/Engineer/Make route to sustain a strategy for our customers where they will be in a position to sell enhanced experience products that have better to offer. Accessories will no longer be something « additional to something else ». The accessories will convey the brand design story; they will address usage, not functions; they will address users, not drivers. Stay tuned!

Products release ahead – we will keep you updated on our social networks!

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Some blank space for you to draft your own Special Edition…

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‌ and then give us a shout!

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TRIBUNE

BY STYLE&DESIGN

S I E G E S O C I A L / C O R P O R AT E H E A D Q U A R T E R S 1, rue Marie Curie 7 8 3 1 0 M A U R E PA S FRANCE + 3 3 (0) 1 3 0 0 5 1 7 4 7 contact@styleanddesign.com www.styleanddesign.com PRESIDENT / CEO Olivier MEYER + 3 3 (0) 1 3 0 0 5 1 7 4 7 o l i v i e r. m e y e r @ s t y l e a n d d e s i g n . c o m

B&M DIRECTOR Xavier CARPENTIER + 3 3 (0) 6 8 5 8 9 0 2 7 3 x a v i e r. c a r p e n t i e r @ s t y l e a n d d e s i g n . c o m

B&M SALES Thomas MESNIL + 3 3 (0) 6 3 0 1 9 8 8 7 0 thomas.mesnil@styleanddesign.com B&M SALES (UK) Alan BEAZLEY +44 7812049079 alan.beazley@styleanddesign.com

B&M SALES (IT) L u d m i l l a PA R E E M A N E N + 3 3 (0) 6 3 8 5 0 0 2 1 8 ludmilla.pareemanen@styleanddesign.com

Dépôts légaux : mars 2019 ISSN 2275-0878 I m p r i m e u r C H I R AT 74 4 ro u te d e S a i n te - C o l o m b e 4 2 5 4 0 S a i n t- J us t- l a - P e n d u e N ° 2 01 9 0 3.0 2 8 4

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