Coming home through self-care: Marie Perruchet founded Clapoti after years between cultures

Marie Perruchet was born in Seoul and adopted to Normandy, France at 18 months. She grew up without the Korean language, traditions, or beauty rituals of her birth country. Over the following years she lived in 10 countries, worked as a BBC correspondent and spent time in Silicon Valley before returning to Korea as an entrepreneur.

How travel shaped her view of beauty

Living across continents exposed Perruchet to different body and beauty cultures. In France, she rarely saw herself represented in beauty magazines and encountered products and styling that didn't fit her. In India she learned about reflexology and treatments focused on circulation and foot care. California introduced her to a more ethnically diverse beauty culture. These experiences made her aware of how environments affect the way people experience their bodies.

Perruchet first noticed Korean-style bathhouses in the U.S. and later visited them in Korea. The Korean bathhouse experience stood out for what it lacked: the polished, narrow beauty standards of magazines. In those shared spaces, people of different ages and body types used the baths together, and she learned to accept her body as it is.

From journalism to entrepreneurship

Product development and positioning

Clapoti primarily operates B2B. Its products are carried by stores and perfumeries in France and across Europe, found in natural grocers in the U.S., and a launch in a Japanese department store is planned. Perruchet describes the brand as both Korean and French, reflecting her personal refusal to claim a single identity.

Foot care became a practical entry point for Perruchet because it combined learned traditions (reflexology, spa rituals) with a real gap in mainstream beauty routines. The pandemic highlighted that gap and pushed her to create products people could use at home.

Clapoti's current trajectory is regional retail expansion and continued positioning as a cross-cultural wellness brand that intentionally blends manufacturing, sensory design and plain packaging. Perruchet frames the brand as a product of her lived experience across places and practices.