Les Franjynes: an inspiring, purpose-driven e-commerce supported by Store Commander

Founded in 2015 by Julie Meunier, the brand Les Franjynes was born from a personal challenge turned into a meaningful project: offering technical, comfortable, stylish, and affordable hair and textile alternatives for all people affected by alopecia. Today, the brand has successfully brought together a strong, engaged community and is ambitiously growing its e-commerce activity with solidarity at its core.

Recently, Les Franjynes joined the Store Commander user community, and we are delighted to support them in managing and growing their online store. Julie and her team also collaborate with our partners Yateo, Motive, and 7724: a true quartet of expertise that enables them to gain efficiency, streamline their organization, and shift into higher gear.

On the occasion of Pink October, we had the pleasure of interviewing Julie to look back on the origins of this unique project, the challenges of purpose-driven e-commerce, and her vision of solidarity-based entrepreneurship full of hope.

Can you introduce Les Franjynes and your current structure (your team, your organization)?

Les Franjynes is a social and solidarity-based brand I created in 2015 after being diagnosed with grade III breast cancer at the age of 27. The brand specializes in partial hair prostheses (bangs, hair crowns, etc.) and technical textile accessories (thermoregulating and UV-resistant) that are also stylish (beanies, turbans, caps, hats).

Today, we are a small but highly committed team: I lead the vision and development with the support of three salaried collaborators handling sales, communication, and management, as well as three freelance collaborators. We also work with external partners (agencies, e-commerce service providers, logistics, etc.), which allows us to remain agile—so much so that many people believe we are a large company with a football team-sized staff!

How was the idea of Les Franjynes born, and what mission do you carry through this project?

The idea came from a very personal experience when I lost my hair at 27 after 18 months of treatment, including 24 chemotherapy sessions. I couldn’t reconnect with my identity and style through traditional wigs: too hot, too heavy, often uncomfortable, and beyond my budget.

So, I wanted to create a complementary alternative: more flexible, lighter, more affordable, and also more fashion-oriented than simple hairstyling. Above all, I wanted to provide an additional choice for people who didn’t choose to lose their hair.

Our mission is clear: to help anyone affected by alopecia (total or partial hair loss) feel beautiful, free, and confident—without compromising between comfort, style, and accessibility. Beyond the products, it’s a story of solidarity and sisterhood: part of our profits goes to cancer research. Since the creation of Les Franjynes, we have already donated €42,700.

How long has your online store existed, and how has it evolved?

Our e-shop officially launched in 2017. At that time, we only had a few items (a hair range available in 7 colors and 3 textile items available in 3 colors), and everything was very artisanal.

Today, we offer a full range: hair prostheses, technical beanies, turbans, hats, caps, cosmetics, and care accessories. We now have 8 different hair models in 14 colors and 3 textures (straight, wavy, textured), as well as 9 beanie models available in dozens of colors.

The site has grown alongside our community: more than 21,000 people worldwide use our products, and we collaborate with over 700 retailers, mostly pharmacies. Our social media community is approaching 100,000 followers across all platforms.

What main difficulties or limits have you faced so far in managing your e-commerce site?

Clearly, time and technical complexity. Managing an e-commerce site, especially a PrestaShop back office, is not just about uploading products: you need to handle stock, updates, SEO, maintenance, code, data, pricing, logistics... For a small structure like ours, this became heavy and time-consuming. Performing manual actions one by one can quickly add up.

How did you discover Store Commander, and why did you decide to integrate it into your organization?

I heard about it through our partners, webinars, and other e-merchants who spoke highly of it. What convinced me was the promise of saving time, performing bulk actions, and therefore being more efficient in catalog management—allowing me to focus on developing the brand’s mission instead of repetitive back-office tasks.

What are your main expectations with Store Commander?

Time savings, smoother operations, and simplified product catalog management. And also peace of mind: knowing the data is clean, reliable, and easy to update is huge for a small business like ours.

How did the demo and onboarding with our Customer Success team go? What were your first impressions?

Very well! The Customer Success team took the time to understand our specific needs and show us how to adapt the tool to our organization with concrete examples. The first impressions are very positive: you can feel there’s real expertise behind it, and above all, a strong will to support us. You’re never alone: the team is always available to help us manage and understand the tool.

As a new user, what benefit do you hope to get first from Store Commander?

Simplification through bulk actions. Being able to manage product updates quickly without wasting hours on technical tasks, so we can dedicate that time to what really matters: our clients, our community, and our solidarity projects.

You work with 7724 for hosting, with Motive for advanced search, and with the Yateo agency for e-commerce support, all three being Store Commander partners. How do these collaborations help structure and grow your store?

Each brings their expertise:

• 7724 (hosting): reliability and true peace of mind. Their team is very responsive and efficient—you feel there are real technicians behind it.
• Motive (advanced search): user experience and smooth customer journeys, at a very accessible cost with an intuitive and easy-to-use tool. Their technical and sales teams are also very available, efficient, and friendly.
• Yateo (e-commerce support): strategic vision and growth management. Their team consists of highly skilled technicians who are dedicated and deeply committed. A wonderful encounter for Les Franjynes.
• Store Commander complements this winning trio by simplifying our daily internal management. Together, they allow us to “play in the big leagues” while remaining a small structure!

Your project has a strong human and solidarity dimension. How do our partners and Store Commander help you better serve your clients and strengthen your impact?

By saving us time and streamlining our processes, these tools and partners allow us to be more available for our community. Less time spent on technical tasks outside our core expertise means more time to support our clients, listen to their needs, and continue innovating with and for them. This helps us stay focused on the heart of our mission: people.

What does Pink October represent for you and Les Franjynes?

It’s a very powerful moment. Each year, Pink October reminds me where I come from, why I created Les Franjynes, and who we fight for every day (because entrepreneurship, let’s be honest, is also a little battle).

It’s an intense month, full of emotions, encounters, and solidarity initiatives that save lives every year—women’s lives, but also men’s, since 1% of breast cancer cases affect men. Gentlemen, don’t forget to check yourselves and consult if in doubt.

For us, it’s an opportunity to remind everyone that behind the numbers are lives, stories, and above all, a lot of hope thanks to advances in research.

Do you have advice or a message to share with other entrepreneurs or e-merchants launching an impact-driven project?

Believe in it wholeheartedly. Accept that it will sometimes be difficult, often a rollercoaster, with doubts every day... but always keep in mind the “why” behind the project. When you have a clear mission and stay true to your values, focusing on your clients’ smiles, you always find the energy to move forward, even in the hardest moments.

And above all: open windows when doors close, and be ready to pivot if needed. Since it’s impossible to do everything alone, you absolutely must surround yourself well because—spoiler alert—nobody succeeds alone.

At Store Commander, we are convinced that e-commerce is not just about products, catalogs, or tools: it can also be a vector of meaning, mutual aid, and positive impact.

The journey of Julie Meunier and Les Franjynes reminds us how a project can emerge from a personal challenge and transform into a collective movement. Behind every online order, there is a story, lives touched, hope shared, and values upheld.

We are proud to support entrepreneurs like Julie, who prove that digital can serve courage, solidarity, and sisterhood.

And to go further and discover Julie’s journey in depth, you can listen to her testimony in Agathe Lecaron’s podcast “Les Rescapés”—an inspiring story that resonates far beyond Pink October.