The French silverware and cutlery company is the maker of the 2024 Olympic Torch and was reportedly present in about half of all French households in its heyday in 1989.
Chances are, if you are alive and French, you grew up with forks and knives by Guy Degrenne. The silverware and cutlery company was founded in 1948 and saw its fame peak in the ’70s and ’80s, culminating with a popular commercial featuring a school headmaster reprimanding a distracted Guy Degrenne drawing forks, knives and dishes in the margins of his notebook. According to Degrenne’s successors, about 50 percent of all French households counted their silverware and cutlery in their home in 1989.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Spruch family, which took over the firm in 2014, is working hard to elevate the firm’s wares to high-end status, in order to boost sales in buoyant markets like the U.S. and the Middle East.
“The firm has already increasingly become known as a high-end brand, especially in the U.S.,” chief executive officer Marc-Alain Spruch told WWD in an interview. He runs the firm alongside his three brothers: Antoine, 32, president of the board of directors; Benjamin, 30, director of sales, and Thomas, 27, who spearheads special projects like the development of the 2024 Paris Olympic torch. The Spruch brothers are the sons of Philippe Spruch, who cofounded French company Électronique d2 and which acquired data storage firm La Cie in 1995.
The finishing flourish on this new branding strategy, focused heavily on visual vocabulary and identity, was the new store concept designed by architect and interior designer Pauline Leprince .
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