Table of Contents

1. Key Highlights
2. Introduction
3. Store Design: Glass, Leather and a Garden of Handcrafted Details
4. Craft at Work: Personalization, Workshops and Customer Engagement
5. Sustainability Through Materials: Upcycled Flooring and Circular Practices
6. Ubrique and the Spanish Craftsmanship Behind Polène Bags
7. The Strategic Significance of South Coast Plaza for West Coast Expansion
8. Polène’s Global Retail Trajectory and the Role of Investment
9. How Polène’s Approach Fits Consumer Demand and Market Trends
10. Comparing Polène’s Strategy with Peer Brands
11. Operational Considerations: Training, Quality Control and Scalability
12. Marketing and Digital Integration: Extending the In-Store Moment
13. Broader Industry Context: Why Experiential Retail and Material Storytelling Matter
14. What the South Coast Plaza Opening Signals for Polène’s Next Steps
15. Real-World Comparisons and Examples
16. Risks and Considerations
17. The Customer Experience: What Shoppers Can Expect
18. Financial and Brand Implications
19. Looking Ahead: Where Polène Might Go Next
20. FAQ

Key Highlights

• Polène launched a 1,300-square-foot boutique at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, showcasing artisanal design, a stained-glass installation by Judson Studios, and upcycled leather flooring produced in Ubrique, Spain.
• The store centers an interactive “Craft at Work” experience that lets customers assemble bespoke leather flower charms from workshop offcuts, aligning personalization with circular-material practices.
• The opening extends Polène’s U.S. presence from its 2022 New York flagship to the West Coast and reflects strategic scaling after L Catterton’s 2024 investment.

Introduction

Polène has sharpened its retail strategy with a new boutique at South Coast Plaza that foregrounds craft, material storytelling, and hands-on personalization. The Paris-founded leather goods label is translating its workshop-led identity into a permanent West Coast address, pairing design details—frosted glass, oversized leather flowers and a bespoke stained-glass window—with an interactive manufacturing moment that invites customers into the making process. The move cements Polène’s transition from a digitally native, atelier-rooted brand into a global physical retailer while highlighting broader shifts among contemporary leather goods houses toward experiential, sustainable retail.

Store Design: Glass, Leather and a Garden of Handcrafted Details

The new Polène boutique deploys a restrained yet expressive design language that intentionally showcases product through material contrasts and crafted accents. Frosted glass walls diffuse daylight through the store and reveal a planted area punctuated by large, colorful leather flowers. The effect reframes leather—traditionally treated as utilitarian—into sculptural, decorative elements that echo the accessories on display.

A stained-glass window by Los Angeles–based Judson Studios anchors the interior. Judson Studios has a lengthy history of ecclesiastical and architectural commissions in Southern California; here the studio’s palette draws on warm, organic tones inspired by Polène’s leather flowers. The window serves both aesthetic and brand-signature functions, combining artisanal heritage of two maker cultures—Spanish leatherwork and Californian stained glass—inside a single retail environment.

Another notable design decision is the use of flooring made from compressed leather offcuts. This reclaimed-material surface was custom-produced in Polène’s Ubrique workshops and repurposes production waste into a durable retail finish. The material extends the brand’s workshop narrative underfoot, creating a continuous link between the objects sold and the processes that create them.

Design choices like these do more than decorate. They reinforce Polène’s positioning as a contemporary leather house rooted in European ateliers, and they provide tactile cues—color, texture, scent—that guide customers from visual interest to product interaction.

Craft at Work: Personalization, Workshops and Customer Engagement

Polène’s in-store “Craft at Work” space converts customers from passive shoppers into active makers. Patrons who purchase a handbag can select individual leather petals from offcuts sourced in Ubrique, assemble them into a flower using a thermoforming machine, and finish a bespoke charm that attaches to their bag. The process blends low-tech selection and high-touch assembly with a mechanized forming step that ensures consistent results.

This model of in-store personalization leverages three retail dynamics:

• Emotional investment: Crafting an accessory strengthens the purchaser’s personal attachment to the item. When customers participate in creation, they attribute more value to the end product and are more likely to retain brand loyalty.
• Educational storytelling: Allowing buyers to handle leather and observe forming techniques demystifies production and elevates the perceived authenticity of Polène’s atelier claims.
• Differentiation: In a crowded handbag market, a touchpoint that transforms a bag purchase into a bespoke ritual sets Polène apart from competitors that emphasize branding or fashion status alone.

Luxury and contemporary brands increasingly adopt personalization and atelier-style services. Louis Vuitton and other heritage houses have long offered bespoke monogramming and small-scale custom services in flagships. Contemporary labels and sportswear brands provide customization counters and live demonstrations—Nike’s Nike By You customization and certain Gucci personalization initiatives are examples in adjacent categories. Polène’s approach, however, emphasizes the craft process itself rather than solely surface customization. The brand lets customers participate in shaping a physical component using reclaimed material from the brand’s own production chain—a move that links experiential retail to material stewardship.

The practicalities matter. The thermoforming step uses molds built specifically for the leather flower pieces; staffers trained in these operations act as both educators and quality controllers. This ensures the finished charm meets brand expectations while remaining accessible to non-specialists. The decision to make the workshop available only to customers purchasing a bag further channels the experience toward conversion, increasing the perceived exclusivity of the craft moment without closing it off entirely.

Sustainability Through Materials: Upcycled Flooring and Circular Practices

Polène’s use of compressed leather offcuts for flooring is a tangible example of circular-material thinking applied to store design. Rather than sourcing virgin materials for a boutique finish, the brand repurposed manufacturing scraps—normally waste—into a physical asset that narrates the brand’s production cycle.

Reclaiming leather offcuts addresses two industry concerns: reducing landfill waste and demonstrating responsible material use. Leather production produces unavoidable cut waste; turning remnants into flooring or accessories extends material life and reduces the disposal footprint. The decision also gives Polène a storytelling advantage: the boutique itself becomes evidence of the brand’s internal circularity.

Circular approaches in luxury have taken many forms. Gucci’s "Off The Grid" collection used recycled, organic, bio-based, and sustainably sourced materials. Stella McCartney has built a business model around avoiding animal-derived materials and sourcing regenerative inputs. Polène’s tactic differs: it embraces traditional leather craft while minimizing waste and embedding reclamation into both product and environment.

Repurposed materials nevertheless require careful consideration. Leather offcuts compressed into flooring must meet durability, maintenance and indoor-air-quality standards. The Ubrique workshops that produced the flooring are known for leather expertise, but converting offcuts into a finished, public-facing surface involves technical development—adhesives, compression ratios and protective top layers—to meet retail wear-and-tear. The decision to create a bespoke material underscores Polène’s willingness to invest in technical solutions that align sustainability claims with retail design.

Beyond materials, Polène’s in-store craft program narrows supply-chain opacity. Allowing customers to handle offcuts and transform them signals that the brand tracks its raw inputs and finds value in what would otherwise be discarded. It’s a practical expression of traceability that resonates with consumers who prioritize environmental accountability.

Ubrique and the Spanish Craftsmanship Behind Polène Bags

Ubrique, a small town in Andalusia, Spain, has an international reputation for leather heritage. The town’s skilled artisans and family-run ateliers specialize in small-batch, high-quality production for numerous luxury houses. Polène’s workshops in Ubrique place the brand within a lineage of European leather craftsmanship that balances handwork and precision manufacturing.

Working with Ubrique artisans yields several advantages. The town’s collective expertise in patterning, hand-finishing, and color-matching supports a product quality that outstrips fast-fashion mass production. Small ateliers excel at managing complex leathers, matching linings to exterior colors, and producing consistent seams and edges—details that underpin a luxury handbag’s tactile and aesthetic appeal.

Polène leverages that expertise both for its product line and for in-store storytelling. The compressed-leather flooring made in Ubrique functions as an object lesson in local production: customers are not merely shown artisanal claims; they see an outcome of those processes. This vertical link—workshop to boutique—reinforces authenticity in a market where authenticity increasingly influences purchase decisions.

Ubrique’s model also supports scale with quality control. While haute couture ateliers remain micro-production entities, communities like Ubrique have evolved infrastructure that supports larger output while preserving craft standards. Brands that work with these towns can expand physical presence without sacrificing the hand-finished details that distinguish premium leather goods.

The Strategic Significance of South Coast Plaza for West Coast Expansion

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa stands among the United States’ most prominent luxury malls. Its tenant mix and regional draw create a retail environment tailored to premium and aspirational brands. For Polène, opening at South Coast Plaza accomplishes several strategic objectives:

• Access to affluent local clientele and international tourists who shop Southern California’s luxury corridors.
• Visibility alongside established luxury players, which helps position Polène within a competitive landscape of premium leather houses and ready-to-wear brands.
• A market test for West Coast demand, distinct from New York’s fashion-driven environment, where consumers often seek wearable, day-to-day luxury.

California’s luxury consumers combine local wealth—driven by technology, entertainment and professional services—with strong demand for high-quality accessories that balance function and style. Polène’s aesthetic—clean silhouettes, tactile leather, restrained branding—appeals to a segment that prefers quiet luxury. The brand’s interactive craft experience also matches Southern California’s experiential retail appetite, where shoppers often value in-store moments and shareable experiences.

South Coast Plaza has historically functioned as a launchpad for European brands entering the U.S. West Coast. The mall’s curated environment and high foot traffic among target demographics enable brands to test merchandising, customer-service approaches and localized marketing. For Polène, situating its West Coast outpost there represents a deliberate placement intended to accelerate brand recognition beyond East Coast and digital-first strongholds.

Polène’s Global Retail Trajectory and the Role of Investment

Polène launched in 2016, founded by three siblings in Paris. Market entry into the United States began with a New York flagship in 2022, and a first Japanese store opened at the end of 2023. The South Coast Plaza boutique continues a trajectory of international expansion across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Investment from L Catterton in 2024 marked a turning point in Polène’s scaling strategy. L Catterton specializes in consumer and luxury investments and brings capital and operational experience to brands looking to expand retail footprints, supply chains and marketing infrastructure. The firm’s affiliation with LVMH creates additional industry proximity but does not equate to ownership by a heritage conglomerate. For Polène, private-equity backing accelerates physical growth, supports bespoke retail projects and increases capacity to invest in craftsmanship and sustainable materials.

Private capital can be both enabling and demanding. It enables infrastructure investments—store build-outs, in-store technology, staff training and materials innovation—that would be difficult for a smaller firm to finance. It also raises expectations for scale, efficiency and return on investment. Polène’s approach—combining workshop integrity with retail innovation—positions the company to grow while preserving the product and brand attributes that drove its initial success.

This pattern mirrors broader dynamics in contemporary luxury: nimble, design-driven labels scale through strategic investment while striving to preserve authenticity. Other contemporary brands have followed similar trajectories, using private-capital partnerships to expand store networks and supply chains while investing in marketing and e-commerce. The challenge lies in maintaining product quality and craft emphasis at larger scales.

How Polène’s Approach Fits Consumer Demand and Market Trends

Buyers of contemporary leather goods demand a balance of design, quality, and authenticity. Polène’s focus on atelier-produced leather goods and in-store crafts maps directly to three consumer priorities:

• Function and finish: High-quality leathers, edge work and construction confer longevity, a key consideration for customers viewing handbags as investments.
• Discreet branding and design clarity: A quiet-luxury aesthetic appeals to consumers who prefer craft signals over conspicuous logos.
• Experiential retail and personalization: Individuals increasingly seek shopping moments that feel meaningful or shareable.

Polène’s price positioning—within the accessible-luxury segment—targets consumers who prioritize quality but remain sensitive to value. In an environment where resale and recommerce command attention, products that hold aesthetic and material value perform well in secondary markets. Polène’s craft focus and workshop provenance support resale and refurbish potential by making repairability and material integrity central stories.

The brand’s interactive charm-building concept responds to desire for bespoke items without the prohibitive cost or lead times of fully bespoke services. It creates a covetable on-ramp to personalization that enhances emotional attachment without breaking operational workflows.

Beyond customers, the model appeals to retail teams. In-store craft moments create training opportunities, deepen staff knowledge of production, and equip sales associates with narratives tied to product origin, material selection and finishing methods. That depth of product literacy often translates into stronger conversion rates and higher average transaction values.

Comparing Polène’s Strategy with Peer Brands

Polène’s retail and production choices intersect with strategies adopted by both heritage houses and contemporary labels. The comparisons below highlight commonalities and distinctions.

• Heritage houses: Brands like Hermès and Louis Vuitton emphasize ateliers, craftsmanship and client services. They maintain an aura of exclusivity through bespoke services and heritage narratives. Polène borrows elements of this approach—workshop provenance and hand-finished products—but retains accessible pricing and a modern design language rather than heritage theatricality.
• Craft-led contemporaries: Loewe has positioned craft at the center of its identity, with workshops and curated store environments that celebrate artisanal skill. Polène’s boutique mirrors this in its focus on materiality and the maker’s touch, but scales the concept to a smaller footprint and a more streamlined personalization offering.
• Direct-to-consumer contemporaries: Brands that began digitally—such as Mansur Gavriel or other contemporary leather labels—have shifted toward physical stores to deliver tactile experiences. Polène sits between DTC minimalism and atelier luxury, using stores not just to sell but to educate and involve customers in craft.

Polène’s unique blend—craft authenticity, reclaimed-material storytelling, and an accessible personalization program—creates a distinct retail proposition. The brand does not compete on headline luxury signaling alone; it competes on tactile quality and hands-on engagement.

Operational Considerations: Training, Quality Control and Scalability

Creating an in-store craft experience requires operational frameworks that maintain brand standards. Polène’s “Craft at Work” area depends on trained staff, reliable equipment and consistent materials.

Training: Staff must be skilled in explaining leather types, guiding customers through assembly, operating thermoforming equipment safely, and finishing charms to company standards. Training modules likely cover material handling, machine operation, customer service and health and safety protocols.

Quality control: Even small personalization elements must meet the brand’s finish standards to avoid diminishing product value. Polène must ensure that each charm’s assembly, finishing and attachment meet tolerances for durability and appearance.

Supply chain and scalability: Sourcing sufficient offcuts consistently requires coordination with production schedules. As store count grows, Polène must balance localized material availability with centralized quality standards. Using workshop offcuts as raw material also implies the company monitors production planning closely to prevent waste streams from becoming depleted or uneven.

Equipment maintenance: Thermoforming and forming machines require regular calibration. The boutique environment demands redundancy plans to avoid downtime during peak periods.

These operational investments reinforce the value of strategic backing from investors such as L Catterton. Financial support enables Polène to deploy the necessary training, maintenance and supply-chain integration to scale this model across additional stores without diluting the experience.

Marketing and Digital Integration: Extending the In-Store Moment

The in-store craft experience offers a rich seam for marketing—both locally and across digital channels. Polène can translate boutique moments into online content to amplify brand narratives and drive store traffic.

Content and storytelling: Short-form video of customers assembling charms, interviews with Ubrique artisans, and behind-the-scenes views of the compressed-leather flooring production create shareable assets. These assets perform well on social platforms and provide contextual depth that strengthens e-commerce product pages.

Bookings and exclusivity: Making craft sessions reservable allows Polène to manage throughput and create a sense of exclusivity for the experience. Integrating bookings with customer profiles captures data that informs inventory and marketing segmentation.

Aftercare and lifecycle communications: Once customers purchase and create charms, Polène can follow up with care instructions, repair offers, and invitations to future in-store events. These touchpoints encourage repeat visits and deepen brand affiliation.

Omnichannel alignment: Bringing the physical and digital together is essential. E-commerce can reflect store availability, offering virtual previews of in-store charm options or allowing customers to order custom charms post-purchase. Inventory systems must synchronize product, material availability and appointment schedules to avoid customer friction.

Polène’s existing digitally native origins create advantages in integrating digital storytelling with physical retail. The challenge remains to keep the in-store craft moment authentic and not overly staged for content creation.

Broader Industry Context: Why Experiential Retail and Material Storytelling Matter

Physical retail persists where it offers what digital cannot: tactile evaluation, sensory richness, immediate gratification and social rituals. Contemporary luxury and premium contemporary brands are investing in experiences that create meaningful differentiation in crowded categories.

Material storytelling answers consumer demand for transparency. Buyers of higher-priced accessories increasingly ask where and how items are made. Brands that can demonstrate material provenance, small-batch production and circular practices earn credibility. Polène’s approach—showing offcuts, staffing craft spaces and displaying workshop-produced flooring—meets these demands in a visible, demonstrable way.

Experiential retail also supports retention strategies. Personalization, educational programming and repair services build longer-term relationships between customer and brand. This matters in a market where acquisition costs are rising and brand loyalty pays dividends through repeat purchases and secondary-market value retention.

Polène’s boutique demonstrates how a mid-sized leather house translates these principles into a tangible retail program. The brand invests in craftsmanship and sustainability signals without abandoning the scale and operational discipline required for international expansion.

What the South Coast Plaza Opening Signals for Polène’s Next Steps

The California boutique suggests several likely continuities in Polène’s strategy:

• Continued retail expansion: Having established a foothold on both U.S. coasts, Polène will likely pursue additional strategic locations in cities that combine luxury traffic and experiential retail appetite.
• Replication of the craft program: The “Craft at Work” space functions as a replicable module that can be adapted to other boutiques, allowing consistent experiential offerings across markets.
• Deepening production-story initiatives: Using materials, artisan partnerships and workshop outputs as in-store features is an approach the brand can expand—through limited editions, repair services and further reclaimed-material applications.
• Data-driven growth: Post-investment, Polène will likely integrate customer data from boutiques into product development, enabling new styles or limited runs informed by in-store feedback.

Each step requires careful balancing of scale and craft. Preserving product distinctiveness while increasing output will remain central to Polène’s operational efforts.

Real-World Comparisons and Examples

Polène’s strategy aligns with a set of industry precedents that illuminate both opportunity and risk.

• Louis Vuitton’s personalization counters: LV offers leather personalization and on-demand services in major flagships. These services increase conversion and deepen customer relationships while commanding premium pricing. Polène’s charm-making is a scaled form of personalization aimed at accessibility and emotional attachment.
• Loewe’s craft emphasis: Loewe invests heavily in artisanal narratives through curated spaces and craft programming. Its approach demonstrates how craft can function as a brand differentiator in the luxury segment. Polène adopts similar craft principles but packages them for a more compact, accessible retail experience.
• Nike By You and mass-market customization: Sportswear brands have normalized customer-driven design. Polène’s personalized charm concept follows that lineage, showing customization’s cross-category appeal.

These examples illustrate that personalization and craft can be adapted to different price points and brand histories. The critical challenge lies in delivering authenticity and operational consistency.

Risks and Considerations

Ambition in retail design and experience brings risks that Polène must manage:

• Maintaining authenticity at scale: As stores multiply, preserving the artisanal tone and the quality of the craft experience demands continuous investment in training and supply-chain management.
• Ensuring consistent material supply: Relying on workshop offcuts ties the availability of in-store materials to production schedules. Demand surges could outpace offcut supply if not planned.
• Cost versus price balance: Crafted retail environments and in-store experiences increase operating costs. Polène must ensure these investments lift lifetime customer value sufficiently to justify continued expansion.
• Regulatory and safety compliance: Thermoforming equipment, adhesives and compressed-material installations require adherence to safety and environmental regulations in each market.

Addressing these risks requires governance, strategic planning and operational discipline—areas where experienced investors and management can provide decisive support.

The Customer Experience: What Shoppers Can Expect

Visitors to Polène’s South Coast Plaza boutique encounter a sequence designed to convert curiosity into ownership:

• Visual entry: Frosted glass and the oversized leather flower garden draw interest from the mall corridor, signaling both design sensibility and brand identity.
• Product discovery: Handbags and small leather goods are staged against finishes that emphasize texture and color, inviting tactile interaction.
• Craft engagement: Buyers who select a handbag can book or enter the “Craft at Work” space to assemble a flower charm. Staff guide selection of petals and operate the thermoforming tools, delivering a finished charm that attests to the customer’s participation.
• Aftercare: The store likely offers care advice and repair or refurbishment information—a critical part of upholding product longevity and sustaining resale value.

For shoppers, the experience is equal parts retail and light workshop: accessible, memorable and designed to produce emotional attachment that extends beyond the purchase moment.

Financial and Brand Implications

Opening a flagship-format boutique with bespoke materials, commissioned stained glass and an operational workshop reflects a willingness to invest in brand architecture. Financial implications include:

• Higher initial capital expenditure for the fit-out and custom elements.
• Training and staffing costs for the craft area.
• Potential uplift in average transaction value and customer lifetime value due to personalized offerings and stronger brand loyalty.

Brand-wise, the boutique strengthens Polène’s narrative as a contemporary leather house anchored in workshop authenticity. The store operates as a brand ambassador that communicates production values more effectively than product photography or copy alone.

Looking Ahead: Where Polène Might Go Next

Polène’s South Coast Plaza boutique represents both a destination and a prototype. Future directions could include:

• Expanding the “Craft at Work” concept to additional stores and pop-ups, customizing the experience to local preferences while preserving core mechanics.
• Launching limited-edition collections tied to specific workshops or materials, using craft moments as activation points for exclusives.
• Developing repair and refurbish services as a formal part of the brand proposition, enabling long-term customer relationships and reinforcing circularity claims.
• Collaborating with other artisans and studios to create site-specific installations that further weave local craft into the retail experience.

These pathways enable Polène to scale while deepening the brand’s relationship with customers and craft communities.

FAQ

Q: Where is Polène’s new boutique located?
A: The boutique is at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California. The space measures approximately 1,300 square feet and features bespoke design elements and an interactive craft area.

Q: What are the standout design features of the store?
A: The store uses frosted glass walls, an interior garden of oversized leather flowers, a stained-glass window by Judson Studios, and flooring made from compressed leather offcuts produced in Polène’s Ubrique workshops.

Q: What is the “Craft at Work” experience?
A: Customers who purchase a handbag can assemble a leather flower charm in-store using offcuts from Polène’s workshops. The process involves selecting individual petals and forming them with a thermoforming machine and custom molds to produce a personalized accessory that attaches to a Polène bag.

Q: Where are Polène’s products made?
A: Polène operates workshops in Ubrique, Spain, a region recognized for leather craftsmanship. The brand’s production approach emphasizes hand-finishing and small-batch quality.

Q: How does the flooring made from leather offcuts fit into sustainability efforts?
A: The flooring repurposes leather remnants that would otherwise be waste. Manufacturing them into durable retail flooring extends the lifecycle of existing materials and demonstrates a circular-material approach within the brand’s operations.

Q: Who invested in Polène to support its growth?
A: In 2024 Polène became part of L Catterton’s investment portfolio. L Catterton focuses on consumer and lifestyle brands and provides capital and operational expertise to support growth.

Q: How does this opening affect Polène’s U.S. presence?
A: The South Coast Plaza boutique expands Polène’s physical footprint to the West Coast and complements its 2022 New York flagship. The opening positions Polène to reach new customer segments and reinforces its international retail strategy.

Q: Can customers expect the charm-making experience in other Polène stores?
A: The South Coast Plaza boutique functions as both a destination and a prototype. Polène may replicate the “Craft at Work” model in other markets as it expands, adapting the concept to local store sizes and operational considerations.

Q: Does the store offer repair or care services?
A: The boutique emphasizes workshop narratives and material provenance. While the new store features in-store craft activities, formal repair or refurbishment services are likely to be part of broader aftercare offerings, consistent with the brand’s focus on product longevity.

Q: How does Polène’s retail approach compare with other luxury or contemporary brands?
A: Polène combines atelier-rooted production and accessible personalization with reclaimed-material storytelling. It aligns with trends among craft-forward brands like Loewe and personalization services seen at heritage houses, but it packages these elements for a contemporary, accessible-luxury audience.

Q: What should a customer expect in terms of cost for items and the craft experience?
A: Pricing details vary by product and market. The craft experience—the charm assembly—is offered to customers who purchase a handbag, and the cost of the charm is typically included in the experience; exact pricing or program terms may differ depending on store policies.

Q: How does the stained-glass commission reflect the brand’s positioning?
A: Commissioning Judson Studios—the Los Angeles firm known for stained-glass work—links Polène’s European leather heritage with a local artisan tradition, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to craft collaborations and material storytelling.

Q: Will Polène continue to expand stores globally?
A: Polène’s trajectory—from Paris to New York, Japan and now California—indicates continued international expansion. Investment from L Catterton supports scaling initiatives, though the brand is likely to prioritize markets that align with its craft and experiential retail model.

Polène’s South Coast Plaza boutique demonstrates how contemporary leather houses deploy craft, sustainability and personalization to build meaningful physical experiences. The store translates workshop provenance into tactile encounters, turning reclaimed materials and hands-on making into both aesthetic and strategic assets. As brands reshape their physical footprints, Polène offers a model for retaining artisanal credibility while pursuing growth across new markets.