Behind the scenes
Our Story
Bonjour, Belle. I’m Cecile. I like my coffee black, my tights seamless and my spirit unstifled. I’m a mother, fashion lover, former lawyer and proud founder & CEO of Les Belles.
Back in my lawyer days, I wasn’t my whole self, hiding certain quirks to better fit in. I craved more space to be me—my strong, curious, creative self—so I launched a norm-breaking brand that stands for self-love, self-expression and the freedom to just be.
Born and raised in France, I’ve been wearing collants (that’s French for tights) for as long as I can remember. They’re a French woman’s wardrobe staple and central to my own fashion story. I wear them for me, for my own pleasure, to add power to a suit or sensuality to my sneakers. And I want every body to experience the same freedom. At an affordable price.
Mission
Can a great pair of collants really set you free? Oui, 100%. Think smooth, buttery-soft (recycled!) Italian material moving with you, not against you, melting into skin to lift your spirits and worship your derrière. Made to outlast all pairs you’ve ever loved, loathed or longed for at a doable, pocket-friendly price.
Quality
We make ’em like they used to—ultraluxe and robust—but with sustainability, inclusivity, affordability and social responsibility in mind.
Quality’s top priority. We’ve spent months testing our tights on dozens of women and men over and over again to build a superior, matchless product at a direct-to-Belle price that won’t break the bank.
And with 3D-knit technology, recycled materials and innovative designs, we’ve merged science and fashion to create cruelty-free collants that not only look good and feel amazing, but last longer than your first heartache.
You’ll never find single-use in our vocabulary. Durability is key to sustainability, and we will always strive to do better.
Factory
Sustainability
Ever buy tights while shopping for toothpaste? No judgments here (we’ve all been there), but did they last? We wanted something better, to rid our wardrobe of unsustainable, run-and-done tights forever. So, as a love letter to Mother Earth, we created longer-lasting, eco-loving collants that come in 100% recyclable packaging. And we craft them with cruelty-free, recycled materials in a zero-waste factory that conserves and reuses water and energy and never uses hazardous chemicals or heavy metals (aka OEKO-TEX certified). Seriously. We don’t mess around—our latest sustainability initiative is an upcycling program for your well-worn tights. Let’s do this, Belles!
Upcycling Program
As you probably know, we’re (a lot) obsessed with the 3 R’s of sustainability: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. And we’re doing everything we can to lessen our tights-print on the environment. But we need to do better because billions of planet-polluting tights end up in landfills every year. To up our eco-conscious game, we’ve instituted an upcycling program that gives back to the community.
Currently, there’s no way to make new tights from used tights, but there is a way for your old go-tos to go from well-worn fashion essential to modern art masterpiece. In every Les Belles package, you’ll find a label addressed to Materials for the Arts, a creative reuse center that provides free materials to NYC’s arts nonprofits, public schools and city agencies. Throw your old pairs in the (recyclable) mailer, attach the label and voila! Set your tights free to be imaginatively transformed.
Meticulously crafted for every gender, size, shape and personality in an ethical, eco-conscious factory that won’t let Mother Earth’s resources or your money go to waste.
