OUR STORY
From a garage in Cipete.
The thirty-year story of how a handbag business became a house of brands.
WHO WE ARE
Thirty years of knowing how Indonesia shops.
In 1995, our founder started selling handbags from a garage in South Jakarta. That business grew into one of Indonesia’s largest direct-selling companies, with millions of members across four countries. Biwel Group is what it became: a holding company that owns the factory, the logistics network, and the brands.
1995
The year it started
2.8M
Members at the direct-selling peak
4
Countries reached
2
Operating companies
5
Brands & ventures
2
Brands launching soon
1995 — THE GARAGE
It started with handbags.
Bruno Hasson, a French entrepreneur in Jakarta, starts a handbag business from the garage of his home in Cipete, South Jakarta. The bags are designed in-house and sold person to person.
THE DIRECT-SELLING YEARS
2.8 million members.
Sophie Martin grows into a full direct-selling company. Members sell to their own networks and build businesses of their own. At its peak, the company counts 2.8 million members and 400 business centers across Indonesia, and expands to Malaysia, the Philippines, and Morocco — its first international office opening in Manila in 2002. In 2008 the company reorganizes under the Sophie Paris umbrella, with Sophie Martin as its flagship brand.
The catalog grows beyond handbags into fashion accessories and cosmetics. Selling beauty products at national scale teaches the company two hard lessons: manufacturing quality decides everything, and logistics in an archipelago is a business of its own.
OUR HISTORY
Thirty years, four countries.
From a handbag business in a South Jakarta garage to 2.8 million members at the direct-selling peak — and on to a group that owns its manufacturing and its logistics.
THE FOUNDER
Paris-born, Jakarta-made.
Bruno Hasson — Founder & Owner
Bruno has spent three decades building consumer businesses in Indonesia — from the first Sophie Martin bag to the group’s factories, warehouses, and brands today.
BIWEL BRANDS
Sophie Martin
Puresia
Salisa
8 AM
Bali Swastu
THERE’S MORE TO BUILD
There’s more to build.
New brands are launching. The factory and the network are open to partners.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions we get asked.
What partners, brand owners and candidates ask most before working with Biwel Group.
What is Biwel Group?
Can Formeo manufacture my brand’s products?
Does Flexofast only serve Biwel brands?
Is Biwel open to new partnerships or investment conversations?
Where are you based?
Do you work with brands outside Indonesia?