From HR director to CEO: how Catherine Gallais's people-first approach made RougeGorge a success story

Paris - This is a profile of an unconventional leader from a human resources background, for whom stability never meant stagnation.

17 years. In fashion, where general management often changes as frequently as collections, Catherine Gallais's long tenure at RougeGorge Lingerie is an exception. She herself says she did not see the time go by. “I feel like these 17 years have flown by because there have been so many changes,” she told FashionUnited, a few days after handing over to Elya Hasson, who has been the chief executive officer since October 1, 2026.

The northern France-based brand she leaves behind has over 235 stores in France and Belgium, approximately 1,000 employees and a consumer turnover of 120 million euros. When asked which moment best summarises this journey, she goes back to the very beginning, to a risky gamble: changing the name.

A constraint turned into a company project

When Catherine Gallais took over the brand in May 2009, it was still called Cannelle. Founded in 1992 as Phildar Lingerie, it then had 130 points of sale and was coming out of a no-growth year in 2009, under pressure from low-cost players. For legal reasons, the company had to abandon its name.

“It was not at all the whim of a new CEO who wanted to rename the brand. Changing a name is actually very risky,” she emphasised. Rather than seeing it as an obstacle, she used it as leverage: “We turned a constraint into an opportunity to rally the company around a corporate project, giving it meaning.” The change was prepared with the teams and was accompanied by an overhaul of the image, communication and product offering. The stores switched to the RougeGorge Lingerie brand in 2010. “It was truly the foundation stone,” she summarised.

The name itself was not her idea. She had dreamed of a short, international name but a graphic design agency and a team vote decided otherwise. “Red is the colour of womanhood and passion, and ‘gorge’ refers to the bust,” she smiled, before adding: “A name is nothing. It is the personality you give it.”

From human resources to the CEO's chair

Catherine Gallais's career path is unusual in a sector where brand leaders more often come from finance or marketing. A graduate of Sciences Po, she discovered retail while working at Auchan to finance her studies, before being hired there. She spent over 20 years there in human resources, then joined Pimkie in 2005 as international HR director before managing the brand's North-West region.

“I know I am atypical, both in my longevity in this role and in my background,” she acknowledged. This HR background, she said, has “certainly coloured” her management style, which is based on a high level of trust in her teams. She refuses to see it as a limitation: “In human resources, we know how to read an operating statement. And I really like numbers.” The role of a CEO, in her view, lies elsewhere: “You are more of a conductor than an expert in each specific field.” She is keen to pay tribute to those who propelled her forward: “I met people who trusted me beyond the conventional boxes.” She also says she shares the human values and long-term entrepreneurial vision of the Mulliez Family Association ecosystem, in which RougeGorge operates.

A local network with an omnichannel design

Under her leadership, the retail network grew from 130 to some 236 stores. The brand claims a local focus: “We are a company from the provinces, which does not mean we are provincial, but we have a strong connection with many local stores.” Its stores, 55 percent of which are directly owned and 45 percent are affiliates according to the director, cover medium-sized towns and shopping centres.

The launch of the e-commerce site in 2013 was immediately based on an omnichannel strategy: directly owned stores and affiliates are evaluated and commissioned on total turnover, without pitting digital against physical stores. This choice, according to her, allowed for strong online growth. To keep her finger on the pulse, Catherine Gallais established several rituals. In addition to her regular store visits, for the past ten years she has held a direct meeting every two months with a committee of regional managers, one from each region. “I bypass the chain of command,” she admitted. “I pick up on the weak signals through these discussions.” Each new store manager also spends three days at the headquarters and has dinner with the chief executive officer, a tradition she maintained for 17 years.

Commitment to women as a raison d'être

Over the years, the company's project evolved into a raison d'être: “to support femininity in its free expression,” with the “ambition to become a brand, a company more committed to women”.

This commitment was notably expressed through the creation of a first post-operative collection, launched in 2017; support for a Lille-based association fighting violence; and the launch of a RougeGorge prize rewarding a female entrepreneur. In 2024, the brand also took control of Elia, a young French brand of menstrual underwear sold in pharmacies.

Internally, Catherine Gallais created a position for a head of social and societal engagement around 2020. The director also specified that each head office employee must dedicate working time to a charitable cause once a year. “You can have commitments on paper. The important thing is to be able to live them out for real, with concrete proof,” she insisted.

An eye for beauty

While she never designed a collection herself, Catherine Gallais ensured their coherence. When faced with new products, she avoided personal preferences, instead asking if the product aligned with the brand's positioning, particularly its very wide range of sizes, a real management headache. Her red line was: “It must not be a caricature, it must enhance.” Upon her departure, the teams even gave her videos where they poked fun at her rejections: “Oh no, not that photo, Catherine won't approve!”

A new chapter

Catherine Gallais has no plans to retire. She intends to divide her time between board positions, mentoring young entrepreneurs through networks in the Nord region, and charitable work, convinced that “female entrepreneurship still needs to be supported and valued”.

Regarding her longevity, she has a firm conviction: “The stability of a CEO gives a company robustness, provided it does not turn into immobility.” She added with a laugh: “The teams will tell you, it is not in my nature to be too stable.”