ML - Michigan Avenue

2015 - Issue 5 - September

Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!

Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/553637

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 129 of 163

128 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM and their knowledge of our world and our product is very impressive. If anything, the whole new way of communi- cating with social media makes our lives easier because you get instant reaction whether you are doing something right or wrong. Usually you hear much more about the wrong than the right, but it doesn't matter. It's information that is thrown out there by the thousands, which before, you had no way of knowing. It becomes an important element of how we react to our clients. Cirkva: When we survey customers after a shopping experience in our own stores, one thing that's always consistent, and I'm always amazed that it doesn't change, is how they are hungry for more of the story. When you say, "What would have made your experience better?" it's always that they want to know more of the story. The story of the brand, or Coco Chanel, or that handbag... Today brands are global, but how do you market to your customers differently from city to city? How does the product mix differ from store to store? Baxter: I think it's a matter of lifestyle, so yes, we do merchandise the stores very differently. For example, in Miami, they like a lot more color. Ottomanelli: Believe it or not, we sell more shearling coats in South Beach than we do in New York City. So you have to be ready for surprises like that in every market. Cirkva: We all just have one brand collection, so we don't create specific things for other markets, but we might tailor our assortments for them. But I have to say, if there's something that's really hot and key on the runway, it's hot everywhere, everybody wants it. So if it's very heavy- weight, and you're in California, you still have to have it. Barguirdjian: Jewelry moves much more slowly than fashion; we don't have six collections a year. The trends in jewelry go from decade to decade. When you acquire a piece of high jewelry, there has to be a perennial aspect to it, that it's going to work for years, and eventually become a family heirloom. Having said that, yes, you sell much more conservative, understated jewelry in Chicago. The Beats By Dre items are fun in Vegas. You'll sell more colorful jewelry in Florida than you do in other places. Zouhairi: In Miami, where there's a more Latin inf lu- ence, there are other aspects that depend on lifestyle. The Latin culture is much more about weddings. When we talk about major markets, who is the primary customer? The resident or the tourist? Chavez: The majority, about 65 percent of our customers in New York, are local. They do travel a lot, so they purchase elsewhere. But the other 35 percent would be pied-à-terre New Yorkers or visitors who are here for one or two weeks at a time. Cirkva: Seventy percent local. Zouhairi: We have a very strong local and strong international consumer. I think that would apply to the major cities. Ottomanelli: For Ferragamo, it's a little bit less, around 60 percent. But our stores in New York are the most significant in terms of total revenue. Baxter: In our Dior freestanding stores, it's almost 80 percent local, and if you go to a lease department like Saks or Bergdorf or Bloomingdale's, it changes because they get more tourist traffic, so it varies from store to store. Beauty is a whole different situation; you don't even know who your customer is a lot of the time. How has corporate sustainability factored into the marketing of your brand? Barguirdjian: It's part of our DNA and part of what we from LEF brands. But it's in the Master Class that students—who each work on a design and marketing case study prepared by a luxury firm—might see their efforts make it to the marketplace. This year, for instance, participants involved in a Lalique case study repurposed the iconic Mossi vase design as a shot glass. Other groups created My Travel Games—a game carrier for Loro Piana's gift collection—or responded to Van Cleef & Arpels's challenge to create jewelry pieces with a spring theme. Ketty Pucci-Sisti Maisonrouge, president of LEF, notes that the Master Class "allows students to experience why a true collaboration between design and business is the basis for success in the luxury industry." Some project results are so spot-on, they are picked up by the firms: One LEF team took Hermès's Balcon du Guadalquivir porcelain pattern and transferred it to an enamel bracelet ( BELOW). Today it is an Hermès best seller. —Suzanne Charlé Dior handbag FROM LEFT: Barguirdjian, Cirkva, Ottomanelli, Baxter, and Zouhairi. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANNA DEMIDOVA (HERMÈS)

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of ML - Michigan Avenue - 2015 - Issue 5 - September