What Design Partner does

Design'Partner SAS is a privately-held French e-business technology company headquartered in Vire Normandie that designs, operates, and vertically integrates a constellation of six specialized e-commerce webshops selling customized textiles and promotional objects across Europe. Founded in 1998 as an advertising agency, the company pivoted to personalized apparel e-commerce in 2001 under Maxence CORBRION (now President, CEO and CTO) and today ships more than 50,000 orders annually with an automated goods-to-person storage system holding over 300,000 articles. The six webshops — TH4 (flagship, 200+ brand catalog), La Maison du Tee-Shirt, Tee-shirts Online, Tee-shirts Express, Mug Express, and DuckTransfer — each target a distinct price/quality/use-case segment (general, budget, quality, mugs, screen-print transfers), allowing the same backend to address both B2C and B2B buyers without sales intervention.

The underlying technology stack is built around three registered proprietary assets: XSystem 3D (photorealistic 3D visualization with real-time color switching and logo placement), Embroidery NCM (algorithmic thread-color matching across 300+ options), and TopQuadri (an in-house textile marking technique for small and medium series). Production is operated in-house from two adjacent industrial buildings (Théia and Hélios) in Vire, supported by automated storage that was doubled in 2023. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-customer e-commerce; the buildings are not open to the public without appointment.

Revenue is generated transactionally through product sales (customized and blank textiles, mugs, screen-print transfers) priced per webshop, with instant online quoting on certain platforms and request-for-quote on B2B-oriented channels. Pricing is not publicly disclosed at the SKU level. The company is family-owned (Corbrion family), commits to capital independence as part of its RSE program, and has been profitable enough to fund multi-million-euro facility expansions and automation without external investment — operating with a stated annual revenue above €10 million and zero disclosed funding rounds.

Name

Design Partner

Legal name

DESIGN'PARTNER SAS

Website

https://designpartner.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Design'Partner SAS is a French, family-owned e-business technology company that operates six specialized e-commerce webshops selling customized textiles, mugs, and promotional objects to B2C and B2B customers across Europe, supported by proprietary 3D visualization, embroidery color-matching, and automated storage systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personalized Promotional Products

NAICS

Clothing and Clothing Accessories Merchant Wholesalers (42435), Apparel Manufacturing (315), Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers (4243)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600), Wholesale-Apparel, Piece Goods & Notions (5130), Apparel & Other Finishd Prods Of Fabrics & Similar Matl (2300)

akta.pro primary industry

Fashion & Accessories Marketplaces (CRAFABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Personalized, Custom & Monogrammed Gifts Retail (CRALAJAC), Apparel & Textile Wholesale Marketplaces (CRAFAHAI)

Keywords

• Custom promotional products
• Personalized textile e-commerce
• Apparel decoration services
• Screen printing transfers
• Custom merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

Vire

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. E-commerce Product Sales: Direct e-commerce sales of customized textiles and promotional objects through 6 specialized webshops. Customers select products, customize with logos/designs, and purchase directly online. Revenue generated from product sales including blank items and personalized items with various marking techniques (embroidery, screen printing, DTG).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Design'Partner operates six specialized e-commerce webshops that sell customized textiles, promotional objects (including mugs and screen print transfers), and personalized apparel directly to consumers, associations, and businesses across Europe. The company integrates proprietary 3D visualization (XSystem 3D), algorithmic color-matching (Embroidery NCM), and a proprietary marking technique (TopQuadri) into the online ordering experience, supported by an automated goods-to-person warehouse with 300,000+ article capacity that enables same-day shipping. Revenue is generated from per-order product sales of blank textiles, customized garments, branded mugs, and quadrichromy screen print transfers.

Product overview

Design Partner operates a constellation of 6 specialized e-commerce webshops focused on online sales of customized textiles and promotional objects. The portfolio includes: TH4 as the main comprehensive platform offering over 200 brands of textiles and promotional objects; La Maison du Tee-Shirt for blank promotional textiles; Tee-shirts Online for qualitative textile marking; Tee-shirts Express for affordable customized textiles; Mug Express for customized mugs; and DuckTransfer for screen printing transfers. The company also develops proprietary technologies including XSystem 3D® for 3D product visualization, Embroidery NCM® for color-matched embroidery thread selection, and TopQuadri® for textile marking. Design Partner manages its own production facilities with automated storage systems and goods-to-person robotics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• XSystem 3D®: 3D visualization tool created in 2023 enabling customers to preview personalized clothing and objects before ordering, featuring real-time color changes without page reload
• Embroidery NCM®
• TopQuadri®
• SeriCoat
• TH4

Products and services

• TH4 (th4.com) Comprehensive e-commerce platform offering over 200 brands of blank or customized textiles and promotional objects, transfers and personalization services for individuals, associations, and businesses across Europe.
• La Maison du Tee-Shirt (lamaisonduteeshirt.com) E-commerce platform specializing in blank promotional textiles at competitive prices, serving promotional-products buyers and resellers.
• Tee-shirts Online (tee-shirts-online.com) E-commerce platform offering qualitative textile marking and customization services with online quote capability, targeting businesses and quality-focused buyers.
• Tee-shirts Express (tee-shirts-express.com) E-commerce platform offering customized textiles at competitive prices with immediate online quotes, targeting budget-conscious and fast-moving buyers.
• Mug Express (mug-express.com) E-commerce platform for ordering customized mugs with 3D preview before ordering, serving individuals and businesses across Europe.
• DuckTransfer (ducktransfer.com) E-commerce platform specializing in quadrichromy screen printing transfers using proprietary SeriCoat marking technology, serving textile customization businesses and professional buyers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50,000 orders shipped annually across Europe
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Spreadshirt: European-headquartered custom apparel and accessories marketplace selling personalized t-shirts, hoodies and mugs via its own e-commerce platform — directly comparable offering, target customer and business model to Design'Partner.
• Spread Group: Parent of Spreadshirt operating multi-brand custom apparel and merchandise platforms across Europe and the US; comparable vertically-integrated custom-textile e-commerce model with similar GTM via self-serve webshops.
• Printful: Print-on-demand custom apparel and accessories platform with integrated production and e-commerce fulfillment; competes in the same personalized textile space with a similar self-serve customization flow.
• Gelato: Global print-on-demand network for customized apparel and promotional products, operating a marketplace connecting creators to local production hubs; comparable distributed model for personalized physical goods e-commerce.
• Contrado: UK-based custom textile and gift e-commerce retailer offering personalized apparel, accessories and home goods made in-house; directly comparable custom-textile DTC model with similar premium positioning.
• Bags of Love: UK-based custom textile and personalized gift e-commerce platform with in-house production and rapid fulfillment; closely comparable offering of customized apparel, accessories and textile goods sold direct-to-consumer.
• Pixartprinting: European e-commerce platform specializing in custom printing of packaging, labels, textiles and promotional materials; closely comparable vertically-integrated custom-print e-commerce business serving European SMBs.

Broad incumbents

• Cimpress (Vistaprint): Mass-market custom print and promotional products platform via the Vistaprint brand and subsidiaries; broader portfolio than Design'Partner but overlapping promotional textile and merchandise use cases for SMB and enterprise buyers.
• 4imprint: Large North-American-headquartered promotional products distributor offering customized apparel, bags and accessories to businesses; overlapping enterprise and SMB customer base for branded merchandise.

Regional players

• Teezily: French-origin custom apparel and print-on-demand e-commerce platform serving primarily European SMBs and creators; comparable custom-textile DTC motion with overlapping French/European customer base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-Bn-j1lU71pvlQrvQglE1A
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/designpartner14

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Design Partner