If you have already heard about Panache’s story and how it all started, you may not know where Panache really comes from or what it really means. Indeed, neither does the name nor the feather that goes with it have anything to do with the custom motorcycle world.
Yet, it all has a sense…
BRAND CREATION
When it was clear in Charles’s mind that he wanted to run his own business, he had to ask himself multiple and important questions about how he wanted it to be.
Who did he want to address? Who was he going to sell to? How was he going to reach these people? How was he going to communicate? What promise was he making them?
It has always been obvious - for both Charles and I - that quality had to come first. Rushing things for the sake of productivity, neglecting details, delivering roughly made motorcycles was out of the question.
We wanted to create luxurious, unique machines, built upon their futur owners’ personality.
Once we knew what kind of product he wanted to design, we also knew who he was going to sell it to. All that was left to do was to build a brand identity, starting with a name…
THE PANACHE
We knew from the very start that we wanted to work on an international scale. Therefore, we wanted our name and identity to be english native. But being also very proud of our french roots, we wanted to find something that could easily be translated in both languages.
So we started thinking about names, looking for something very elegant and refined, easy to say, easy to write and that stays in mind. And that's when Charles came across “panache”.
When you first hear about panache, your mind thinks of a reference to good looks. However, if you take it back to its original meaning, a panache is a “decorative assembly of floating feathers”, particularly used on the military headdresses of high-ranking officers and thus synonymous with prestige.
Moreover, panache is said, written and translated in the same way in French as in English.
So here was a name that we really liked because it met with all our criteria and was in perfect harmony with the brand image we wanted to adopt.
We took a little time to think about it, shared it with our friends and family, and not only was the feedback really positive, but we also got used to it and attached. And that’s how we became Panache.
Although we had found a name we felt good with, we still needed a good logo to go with it. That’s where our friend and photographer Josselin Trouilloud came in.
Our first inspirations came from US company logos from the 30s and 40s. Problem was that we hadn’t created anything new.
Though we liked the idea, we had to do better than that.
First sketches of Panache logo
We needed to create something different. Something that matched both our logo and our values. Something that could only be us.
After thinking about it for a long time and a few scribblings later, we finally came back to the original definition of our name. The panache is an ornament of feathers. The feather is a symbol of elegance and finesse.
No need to go any further, the feather was adopted.
Final logo version - black logo, white background
Final logo version - white logo, black background
AN AMBITION
The story behind our visual identity is more ambitious than a plain business creation. If motorcycling is our passion and the field in which we invest both our energy and our know-how, we are, above all, lovers of beautiful.
It is the great attention to detail of any kind of project, be it artistic, technical, or practical, that moves and inspires us.
We are passionate about elegance, the accuracy with which it is expressed, whether it is through the way we dress, through the choice of a vehicle or the way we express ourselves.
We love subtlety, this extreme and delicate refinement that we strive to infuse into each of our machines.
Each of our projects aims to strengthen our brand identity and the Panache universe, a world of chic and delicacy.
EVOLUTION
After months of hard work, slowed by the awkward world sanitary situation, we are finally finishing our BMW R100 R project. Launched in early 2020, we are happy to announce its upcoming release (if nothing goes wrong until then…).
At the same time, we have started talking about the preparation of a Honda CB 500 Four, a project that we will carry out in collaboration with professional carpenter Jacques Jouvin and that will start as soon as the BMW is done with. What we are seeking for is the perfect combination of two different know-hows on a single machine.
We will also attend the Hangar Zero festival in Oyonnax, France, on May 21, 22 and 23, with some of our creations.
On top of that, we are still developing our art prints collection to which we recently have added a photography section, featuring our motorcycles. They are all made by Josselin Trouilloud and are available on our online store.
The Panache motorcycle parts collection is another novelty we brought to our website. Inspired by our motorcycles (particularly the BMW) and guided by the desire to make the pleasure of motorcycle preparation accessible to all, we have decided to launch our own range of motorcycle parts. Designed and manufactured in our Lyon workshop, they all meet the quality criteria we impose ourselves, allowing anyone to have a taste of the Panache elegance.
All these projects are led with the desire to really impose ourselves on the international scene of custom motorcycle. The ambition to one day be acknowledged as one of the best sits in a corner of our heads and drives each of our decisions.
To achieve this ambition, we work hard and are inspired by the work of those we admire, among whom are Debolex, Diamond Atelier - which holds a very special place in our hearts, the Singer workshops, Shira Nakajima (46 Works), Maxwell Hazan…
In the meantime, see you in a few weeks for the release of our BMW!