Interview with CEO of Martel

 A fun chat with Martel CEO on top of the Ritz... 

Smooth Operator: Interview with CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Tom Purves

Friday Flashback: This was once the most read interview and feature with Tom Purves, who served as the chief executive officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd from July 2008 until 2010, after a long career leading BMW operation in North America. I flew to Singapore to conduct the interview during the car launch and flew back. Glory days when media had... budget! 

Why today? I was at the dentist and rifling through a magazine and found this article.... and the interview was by me!! He was great chat. I've stated this several times, my features are as good as the subject and person I'm interviewing. I always credit the speaker more than my... typing. 

The latest car to roll off the finest production line in the world was showcased for the first time in Asia in Singapore, at an exclusive event hosted primarily for correspondents from leading Asian magazines and newspapers. Even among the most severe critics and car enthusiasts, the new Rolls-Royce 200EX was greeted with applause and breathtaking adulation. It is a gorgeous car. A powerful machine. An icon. The timing of the release, however, did come into question, among many other issues. We sat down with the CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Tom Purves, for an exclusive one-on-one chat.

Just before I walked into a private business conference room to meet one of the most powerful and certainly most enigmatic figures in the automotive world — even before the other gathered VIPs — I caught a sneak peek of the new Rolls-Royce 200EX. In a grand ballroom, images of the new wonder car were being hoisted by four men carrying huge canvases bearing beautiful photographs of the sleek new machine. They were taking them to the room prior to the event and grunted, huffed and puffed their way across the Capella resort in Singapore, adding the finishing touches to the venue in the private rooms that would later be revealed to the media and the teeming car dealers. Seeing that briefly put into perspective the grand efforts that have gone on behind the scenes to launch a new car.

The new Rolls-Royce succeeds the Phantom Coupé, which did great business and was well received by the finest collectors and automotive media scribes. So when most people in the industry received invitations to see an even newer model within months, we cocked an eyebrow in surprise. We were told repeatedly that it is not a better or newer version, merely a sister car, part of the family of Rolls-Royce models.

Even before the unveiling, it was safe to say the car would be great. Rolls-Royce’s legend is bigger than the car itself, and rightfully so. But it was the timing that raised questions. Since last November, even the wealthiest people in the world have tightened their belts and purse strings as the words “economic downturn”, “Madoff”, “recession” and “depression” have become part of everyday vernacular. Let us not forget that a Rolls-Royce, whatever the model, shape, size or vintage, does not come cheap. As Jerry Garrett of The New York Times once said of one of Rolls-Royce’s previous, younger, less expensive models: “Money talks, and ‘Drophead Coupé’ is a US$407,000 way to say ‘convertible’.”

Unlike other luxury cars such as a Porsche, BMW, Bentley or the stretch limousines that litter Hollywood, a Rolls-Royce is for the collector of collectors, the über-wealthy, the truly famous and fortunate — certainly not for the nouveau riche. No matter how new the model or how techno-savvy, sinewy and sophisticated it may be, Rolls-Royce is patronised by classic, old-moneyed people with a refinement and sophistication that comes from heritage, lineage and, perhaps most notably, power.

So how will this car be received in China? As we go to press we do not yet know, as the 200EX, the latest experimental car from Rolls-Royce, was presented at the Auto Shanghai show on 20 April 2009. It is a contemporary four-door saloon that indicates the direction for the RR4, a new model series from Rolls-Royce due for production in 2010.

According to the press release: “RR4 will be powered by a brand-new 6.6-litre turbocharged V12 engine unique to Rolls-Royce. The engine will be combined with an eight-speed automatic ZF gearbox. This new drivetrain will significantly improve fuel and CO₂ efficiency over the already class-leading Phantom series of cars. Engine power will be upwards of 500 bhp.”

Prior to that event in mainland China, correspondents from India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and Hong Kong were invited to Singapore to preview the 200EX. Given its significance, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ CEO Tom Purves and the chief exterior designer Marc Michael Markefka flew in to host the event.

As we sit down for a chat, I ask the newly appointed CEO Tom Purves (previously Chairman and CEO of BMW (US) Holding Corp. and President of BMW of North America, LLC) about the challenges of launching a new luxury car in this market, and whether any dramatic changes were made or budgets reconsidered.

He says: “The fact of the matter is, a project like designing a new model for Rolls-Royce has been in the making for years. The design, the execution and the construction have been progressing for much longer than the current economic climate, so the short answer is no. No changes. We went ahead as planned.”

Experimental models have always played a significant role in the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, from the first — 1EX, built in 1919 — to the most recent — 101EX, built in 2006. Unlike a concept car, the experimental models developed by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars have always been fully functioning vehicles, residing in a tangible world of wood, leather and metals rather than clay and foam. EX cars offer designers and engineers the opportunity for real-world innovation and have been used to showcase new components and engineering techniques as well as exterior and interior designs.

“Modern automotive engineering is a balance of creativity, innovation and application. 200EX is an opportunity to assess these new ideas,” explains Helmut Riedl, Director of Engineering. Tom Purves adds: “We have more in common with aircraft and shipbuilding than we do with other cars. The fact is, we’re in the luxury business; we build aspirational products and, by the nature of that, they become very expensive.”

Leaning back into his chair, he continues: “We also know that our customers who buy our cars are influenced by everything going on around them, including style and luxury, which are heavily influenced by things outside the auto business. Customers also need to be understood. The Rolls-Royce customer has a different style and motivation from most other car customers. If you’re a Ferrari customer, for example, you are probably 90 per cent sure to be a car fan, because you would have to be a car fan to want to own a Ferrari!”

But isn’t that true of a Rolls-Royce customer too?

“Yes, but there’s also more,” agrees Purves. “Our customers come from a wide range of professions. Beyond that, they are from all walks of life. We have a large number of entrepreneurial business people — self-made ones — many heads of state, royalty, film stars, pop stars and athletic stars. Success is a common thread.”

There are many expensive cars on the market, but Rolls-Royce has become a status symbol more than perhaps any of its competitors. Has the car always been a status symbol?

“Historically, if you go back to the beginning, when Mr Henry Royce bought a French car, he was very disappointed with it. He said, ‘I could make a better car,’” says Purves with a little chuckle. “He set about doing it. His aspiration was to build a better car. Whether he wanted to build the best car in the world is unknown; he wanted to build a better car. He was a brilliant engineer. Having built a few cars in the past, he knew that a certain size and structure would probably be everything that people wanted at that time. It eventually became known as the ‘Silver Ghost’. Until about 1924 it was pretty much unchanged for decades because it was so good. It established Rolls-Royce as the pre-eminent luxury car. And at the time it was definitely the best, aiming to be the best of all. From about 1906 it had set the tone for Rolls-Royce: to be the best.”

Indeed. However, when it comes to experimental cars we do not need to turn the dial back too far. 100EX was the first experimental car unveiled after Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was relaunched under BMW Group ownership in 2003. Revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in 2004, the two-door, four-seat convertible was built to mark 100 years of Rolls-Royce motor-car design and engineering. Just two years later, 101EX was presented, exploring modern coupé design.

Following on from this success, the same group of designers and engineers has created 200EX, itself pointing the way to RR4, a new Rolls-Royce model scheduled for production in 2010.

The brief for 200EX was to create a modern, lithe and dynamic Rolls-Royce that bears all the hallmarks of the great cars that have gone before it: effortless performance, unparalleled refinement, exquisite quality and confident design.

As the limelight fell upon the car for the select crowd in Singapore and again at the auto show in Shanghai, you could literally tick off each aspect of the car’s shiny ambitions: it had the refinement, quality and design all present and correct. The exterior design is dominated by large, uninterrupted surfaces, while finely sculptured horizontal lines add definition and geometric precision. In combination, the upward-sweeping sill line and low-cut roof create a powerful profile. The tapered rear is enhanced by powerful shoulders and flanks that draw in sharply, narrowing as they flow from the rear wings to the taillights.

“Unlike other cars, Rolls-Royce only sells a certain number of cars — not for any shortage of demand, but of supply,” says Purves. “We are in close contact with nearly all our customers and rely on their feedback and comments,” adds a company representative. This is clearly not a mass-produced product for mass consumption, but a classy one.

Short of time, as Mr Purves has been pulled into multiple interviews during his brief stint in Asia, it boils down to a rapid Q&A.

Q: What would Rolls-Royce represent in this modern age?
A: Refinement, success, elegance, style, glamour.

Q: But style and fashion are so transient and temporary. I thought Rolls-Royce has always set out to become timeless.
A: Let’s use a fashion brand as an example: Hermès. Hermès has always been in style, and yet it is an old brand. Some fashion brands actually have to be consistent — consistently good, of consistent high quality. By consistently delivering, they become more than a fashion brand; they become a promise that builds over time, and then they become timeless.

Why would you say champagne is used even more today as a celebration of success than it was 100 years ago? Because young people today love champagne; it has been passed from generation to generation. Of course there has been some clever marketing, but again that consistency of product quality is terribly, terribly important.

For a car that has to deal with the rough and tumble of the road, quality is even more important.

There’s no car company that has succeeded with purely marketing.

Q: How important is the China market this year, especially on the heels of the Western economic recession?
A: China is an important market no matter what the year. 2009 is a year of transition for us and, in the economic environment, China will play an important role, but it is a country that is as important as anywhere else. I don’t expect the greatest results and great growth overnight, but if I look ahead five years, China will become an increasingly important market. There’s no question about it. In fact, it has already done so in many ways.

Last year, in Beijing, Rolls-Royce had the third-largest single dealership in the world, ahead of Beverly Hills and London. I think we could have sold more if we could have supplied more. Yes, China is very important.

Q: There has been a lot of mumbling in the press that taxation on car ownership will go down considerably in China over the coming year. Would something like that affect you?
A: Any time you have a substantial change in areas like that, it does make a difference. Perhaps a bit less for a car like a Rolls-Royce than for other cars, but there is an effect. If the taxes go up and people have to pay a bit more, it has a sort of sticker-shock effect. But after a little while that goes away.

Q: Does the infrastructure of a city make a difference to selling a quality car like a Rolls-Royce? In capital cities with poor infrastructure, I assume that Rolls-Royce is not even available.
A: That’s a really interesting point you’ve made. I think it would be less of a problem for Rolls-Royce than it would be for some of the other expensive brands, such as an Aston Martin or a Lamborghini, that would need smooth roads.

Rolls-Royce is a good car in terms of ride quality and its ability to deal with less-than-wonderful roads. But maybe the other aspect is that people don’t want to own a car unless there’s a nice road to drive it on.

I remember years and years ago I was trying to sell cars in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and I was stunned at the lack of response. At the airport I was sitting there with a long face — there weren’t many Europeans there at the time — and this chap came up to me and said, “What’s your problem?” I explained to him. He then said, “Ah, you’ll never sell a single car here until they open a hotel. As soon as they open a luxurious hotel, you’ll sell as many cars as you need.” Do you know, he was right?! As soon as the InterContinental hotel opened in Riyadh, we started selling cars. Customers wanted a destination. It wasn’t just enough to own the car — many there could afford to do so — but you needed to take it somewhere.

My customers from Riyadh already had Rolls-Royces in London or Paris, but they had an SUV or a Jeep or something in Riyadh at the time. You need a good theatre for the car. You need an ambience for it.

And, finally, what is the common link between a Rolls-Royce customer in the West and one in the East?

"There are two common strings among Rolls-Royce collectors: the desire to have the best,” concludes Purves, “and the ability to acquire it.” 

The Art of the Intimate: How Pascal Perrier Is Rebuilding La Perla From the Inside Out

A seasoned architect of luxury brands takes on his most personal assignment yet, uplifting  a 70-year-old Italian icon and restoring its place as the ultimate expression of femininity.

Pascal Perrier is not a man who confuses motion with progress. Over a career spanning more than three decades at the apex of the global luxury industry, he has learnt that the most dangerous thing a new chief executive can do is arrive with answers before he has asked the right questions. "It's very difficult to repeat success," he says. "When I start a new job, I am always very mindful and careful not to have the arrogance to say I know - I did it, but I did it in a different brand, with different people, in a different period. Meanwhile, things have changed."

The sentiment is characteristic of the man. Perrier is warm but precise, voluble but grounded, the kind of executive who earns the confidence of investors and colleagues alike because he appears, at all times, to know exactly where he is going and how much road remains. What makes his current assignment remarkable is that even he admits it is unlike anything he has done before.

When Perrier was appointed Group Chief Executive of La Perla in 2018 following its acquisition by the Amsterdam-based investment firm Sapinda, he faced a challenge that bore no resemblance to the polished institutional machinery of his previous postings. "I have never been here before," he says, with a candour that feels entirely unperformed. "Never worked for an industry like this. Never worked for a small company. Never worked for a company that was initially in financial distress. Never worked with private investors. Never worked with Italians. Never worked with unions. So it was a big reset."

The biography that precedes that reset is formidable. Perrier spent thirteen years at Burberry, nine of them as Chief Executive of its Asia-Pacific operations, during which time the region became the brand's largest and most fully integrated market. Before that, he held senior roles at the Gucci Group, where he oversaw the acquisitions and subsequent integrations of Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, and at Céline and Saint Laurent. His schooling in the architecture of desire, the mechanics of aspiration, and the commercial logic of extraordinary things, was conducted at the very institutions that defined what luxury could be at the turn of the millennium.

La Perla required something different. Founded in Bologna in 1954 by Ada Masotti, a visionary corsetière who understood, long before the language existed, that what a woman wore closest to her body was inseparable from how she understood herself, the brand had spent the preceding two decades in varying states of mismanagement. A succession of owners, from the founding family to American private equity to an Italian billionaire who pivoted aggressively into womenswear, handbags, and footwear, had left it commercially weakened and strategically diffuse. At one point, Perrier notes, there were thirty different La Perla sub-brands. By the time Sapinda took over, the company was in financial difficulty and its core identity had been significantly diluted.

Perrier spent three months studying the case before accepting the role. "After three months I said: this is doable. It is certainly doable. And we are going to make it the most beautiful thing we can ever deliver in our lives." He brought in the management consultancy Bain to conduct a comprehensive global survey of luxury consumers in key cities across France, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Middle East, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan. What that research revealed was both sobering and galvanising.

The luxury lingerie segment, which Perrier defines as the ultra-premium tier he calls "luxury luxury," is worth approximately three billion dollars within a broader luxury goods market of around 300 billion dollars. It is, structurally speaking, a category that punches beneath its weight. When interviewed luxury consumers were asked to name three luxury lingerie brands, La Perla was cited by nearly 30 per cent of respondents, ahead of Dior at 16 per cent and on a par with Chanel at 15 per cent. The brand equity was unmistakably present. What was missing was the commercial architecture to capitalise on it. Consumers told Bain they loved the brand but associated it with romantic occasions, not the fuller arc of a woman's daily life.

"The customer told us: I love you, but for occasionally, from time to time - and the most common occasion is a romantic moment. But to go to work, no. It's not how I see it." For Perrier, that was not a verdict but a brief. "Here is an opportunity," he concluded, "because it means we have not introduced ourselves properly."

The strategic response has been methodical and, by the standards of fashion's habitual restlessness, unusually patient. Perrier's first move was to strip the business back to its essential categories: bodywear, which encompasses underwear and ready-to-wear; swimwear, in which La Perla has deep heritage and, as Perrier points out, the distinct commercial advantage of visibility; and a considered element of loungewear, defined as pieces that travel comfortably between the private and the semi-public. Menswear, which had occupied floor space and diluted the brand's singular focus on women, was discontinued. "If we say we are working for a woman, we do it because we concentrate," he explains, without apology.

The product philosophy is built around the concept he calls "everyday luxury," and he is careful to clarify that the word "everyday" is not a softening of the proposition. "I don't mean the product will be cheaper, not at all. Lifestyle." The aspiration is to accompany a woman across the full range of her moments, from the professional to the intimate, from January to December, across every geography. "The woman has many more moments now. Her life is incredibly rich, and that creates opportunity to serve her."

That service is delivered through what is, by any measure, an extraordinary manufacturing process. Between the moment a garment is designed and the moment it arrives in a La Perla store, online or offline, fifty-two weeks elapse. The precision is not incidental to the brand; it is constitutive of it. "This is a product that cannot be average," Perrier says. "If it does not fit, or if it is not comfortable, then you do not serve the customer." The workforce responsible for that precision is predominantly female: the garments are designed by women, developed by women, handcrafted by women, sold by women, and worn by women. "Made by her," as Perrier puts it; a phrase that has become both a compass and a claim.

The scale of the opportunity is substantial. The global luxury lingerie market stood at approximately US$16.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$28.5 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual rate of 6.8 per cent. Europe currently dominates with roughly 38 per cent of global market share, underpinned by the heritage of brands such as La Perla, though the Asia-Pacific region is a critical and expanding theatre for growth. La Perla's positioning within this landscape is, in Perrier's framing, closer to a luxury category all of its own. "We compete with no one," he says, with the equanimity of someone who has thought the question through. "We are the best friend of any luxury house. The best friend of jewellery, the best friend of ready-to-wear."

Nowhere is that strategic positioning more nuanced than in Asia, and particularly in Hong Kong, a city to which Perrier has an attachment that is both professional and personal. He spent a decade living there during his Burberry years, and visited almost monthly for the two decades preceding his time in residence. His affection for the city is unguarded: "There is no business comparison. The efficiency, you can go from downtown to wherever you are hiking in just ten minutes or fifteen minutes." He is clear-eyed, too, about the shifts that have reshaped the city's luxury landscape in recent years, noting that the return of mainland Chinese consumers and the broader regional recovery make Hong Kong's three La Perla boutiques a considered rather than cautious footprint. "We cultivate our customers," he says. "We want to cultivate the cosiness, the element of home. If home is too big, it's not home."

The question of how La Perla communicates its particular kind of intimacy to Asian consumers is one Perrier has considered carefully. Some have asked whether the brand's visual language, elegant and unabashedly feminine, translates across the cultural gradient from Milan to Hong Kong to Tokyo. His answer is characteristically direct: the communication stays consistent; the product adapts. "In Asia, the body shape is different. Culturally, you do not show the same thing. So on product, we pay very special attention." Push-up styles that are standard in European markets may be configured differently for Asian fits; the silhouette responds to the market, while the aesthetic tone remains unified around a signature softness. "It is subtle, elegant, caring, luxurious," he says. "Very, very soft."

That softness is not passivity. Perrier is building something with genuine structural ambition, and the recent content partnership with Tencent in China, a three-part series covering the brand's origins, its craftsmanship, and its relationship with the contemporary woman, is evidence of a communications strategy that treats depth as a competitive advantage. The forthcoming release of new swimwear lines and the planned appointment of brand ambassadors, chosen with precision for their alignment with the brand's values, suggest a house that is gathering confidence without sacrificing control.

At the core of that confidence is a belief about what luxury is ultimately selling. Perrier does not think it is a product, or even an experience. It is, at its most essential, a feeling. He makes the point with characteristic economy. "People will not remember what you told them, but they will remember how you made them feel. So you have to make them feel good. They will remember you and come back to you."

It is a deceptively simple formulation for an industry that lavishes enormous resources on logos, marketing, and spectacle. But it is also, as Perrier would likely point out, the founding principle of the woman in Bologna who began cutting corsets in 1954. Ada Masotti understood that what she was making was not merely a garment but a proposition about how a woman might move through the world: with care, with precision, with the quiet confidence of someone who knows that the most important luxury is the one that no one else can see.

That idea, carried across seventy years, two continents, a series of ownership changes, and one very particular Frenchman's exacting vision for what a brand can become, remains La Perla's singular and durable promise. It's not the superficial or the exterior that matters after all, but what lies beneath. 

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s Laurent Kleitman on Crafting Unforgettable Experiences and the Art of Luxury Hospitality

Exploring the unique blend of heritage and innovation that defines Mandarin Oriental, the group chief executive shares his vision for the future of luxury hospitality.

“I’m a fan.” It’s that memorable tagline—manna from the advertising gods—from the iconic Mandarin Oriental campaign, fronted by a rotating cast of notable celebrities over the years. In the realm of luxury hospitality, however, it’s not the names of actors, athletes, and singers that shine on the marquee. Stars may come and go, but Mandarin Oriental endures.

With its rich legacy and unwavering commitment to exceptional service, the brand epitomises elegance and sophistication, infused with an unmistakable Asian stamp. At the helm of this storied hotel group is Laurent Kleitman, the soft-spoken and erudite group chief executive who embodies the Mandarin Oriental essence as he guides it into its next chapter. In a candid conversation, Kleitman reflects on how his diverse experiences have shaped his approach to luxury and his vision for the future of the brand.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

Breitling CEO Georges Kern on Celebrating 140 Years of Breitling and Expanding the Evolution of the Historical Watch Brand

A centenary Swiss brand is making waves in China—but what took so long? Longstanding Breitling leader Georges Kern answers this, and many other insights in a lengthy chat. It’s all about the right timing for Breitling CEO Georges Kern, who will soon be clocking 30 years in the horological industry. While passing through Hong Kong, he gave Robb Report Hong Kong an exclusive one-on-one chat about leading Breitling as it celebrates its 140th anniversary.

Marking “140 Years of Firsts,” Breitling unveiled not one, but three limited editions of its flagship models—the Premier, the Navitimer, and the Chronomat. Launched in Hong Kong to great fanfare to an assembly of collectors, connoisseurs, and celebrities, guest of honour, singer, and actor Raymond Lam joined hands with Kern to unveil the three novelties in Hong Kong.

But for watch enthusiasts, the cynosure of all eyes will perpetually be Kern, who, in his tenure as CEO, opened Breitling’s doors to China with a 2019 star-studded event in Beijing featuring brand ambassadors Brad Pitt, Daniel Wu, and legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh. Famed as an alpha-masculine brand for decades, Kern invited Charlize Theron to be the ambassador of a new collection and collaborated with Victoria Beckham on a special-edition Chronomat.

Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.

TBT: Gerrit Ruetzel: Interview and shoot with the young CEO of Hugo Boss.

 

TBT: Gerrit Tuetzel when he was in Hong Kong as the CEO of Hugo Boss.  

Now the CEO of the Americas at Bottega Veneta. 

Always a great chat for features. 

Time for a chat again Gerrit! 

Photographer: Douglas Pieterse 

Dunhill: Now for the good hues: Exclusive interview with Fabrizio Cardinali

Now for the good hues: Dunhill adds a splash of colour for the youth market

Dunhill’s latest strategy is all about empowering the designer, catering to a younger clientele and exploring territories in a changed China as if they were new, writes P.Ramakrishnan.
Photo: Andrew Vowles

Dunhill’s early noughties campaigns had many fans. Refined gentlemen, often silver-haired and with generous beards looked introspective in black and white photographs. Each image was thick with the patina of age and cultured taste.

The fine English tailoring was from a house founded in 1893 and renowned for its bespoke menswear and accessories – all very tweed and traditional, signifying the wardrobe of artists, thespians and members of the literati, not glitterati.

Enter Fabrizio Cardinali, who became chief executive of Alfred Dunhill in May 2013 and soon after appointed John Ray as creative director.

“I’m far away from a black and white, old, sad man. What do you want to be? You want to be younger, you know? You want to be colourful; you want to be beautiful; you want to be attractive,” says Cardinali.

Suddenly, the muted and sepia tones got a splash of colour. The varicose veins got some fresh blood as the ready-to-wear, accessories and all things fashionable for the gentleman of today has hues and shades not seen in decades at the old English house.

There were loose-fitting trousers, plush knits, casual corduroys, salmon pajamas, alpaca coats and blankets. Scarves were replaced by full-on, fringed blankets worn by models casually strutting down the catwalk.

“I’d say now we are a more accessible product. A man can still buy a beautiful Dunhill blazer, or beautiful Dunhill suits. The key words are value for money because it’s going to have to last for not one season, but for years. Another key phrase for you: timeless products – combining the contemporary touch. That’s what John [Ray] is doing. We still have our classics in midnight blue, but now we have breadth.”

What they also have is fresh breath. The latest campaigns show collegiate men striking a pose (under the watchful eye of Annie Leibovitz, who shot the autumn-winter 2014 campaign) without the brood, seemingly content in their muted shades of lavender and salmon, clutching bulky leather accessories.

“Everything works with a top photographer, with a great creative director, let’s say a certain level of ingredients that are going to bring the brand where the brand deserves to be,” Cardinali says.

The big question for the business head of any luxury brand would obviously be: how is business in China?

With a pause and a sip of water, Cardinali says: “Dunhill in China is doing well, but business is down [from before]. We know very well what has happened in China since November 2012. Since the new president [Xi Jinping] arrived, he stopped the business of gifting and we – all of us – have seen an impact on the business. The crazy growth that we had in the last eight, nine years was not sustainable.

“China’s annual growth of 7.5 per cent with 1.3 billion people to cater to is a strong economy for any brand. For many of us, the changes are a pain in the neck, but you know what? Many people got lazy. Those numbers were growing no matter what.”

It isn’t just Dunhill. Since the halt of excessive gift giving on the mainland, the Hurun Report says the luxury segment – watches and spirits included – has been the hardest hit. But it is also an opportune time for those key brands to innovate and improve existing business structures. In the long run, the proverbial tightening of the belt might not be such a terrible thing.

“Today businesses must have self-conception,” Cardinali says. “We need to be very focused, all of us, in delivering a business. The fact that someone is entering the store and is buying, you know, 50, 100 bags – that kind of story is over. So now we need to be careful. I have three pillars in mind: product, market and distribution.

Quality is a big deal at Alfred Dunhill. Then, distribution: we’ve got to explore territories in China as if they are new. It’s a new ballgame altogether now. “The new marketing approach, since shooting campaigns with Leibovitz for two seasons, the Dunhill look is definitely more contemporary, more colourful, something that can attract a different type of clientele compared to the past.”

That means catering to a younger buyer. “I think I would like to start selling a product or dressing a gentleman since right after college, or someone doing an MBA,” Cardinali says.

“I want to have this kind of customer because if you’re relevant for those aged 24 or 25 up to 35 or 40 and beyond, automatically you’re going to be relevant also to a more mature clientele. It does not work the other way around.”

Relevance in the “selfie age” is what major brands are looking at. With more than 20 years in the business and a CV dotted with luxury brands including Lancel, Dolce & Gabbana and Levi Strauss, Cardinali is no stranger to global branding.

That explains the changes he brought – in marketing strategy, appointments, hiring and positioning – that created Dunhill’s new age. It also helped that Ray, formerly at Gucci, agreed to end his self-imposed eight-year hiatus.

But Cardinali wants to put a misperception to rest. “John Ray was hired before me,” he says. “I found he was with the company for five months before my arrival. What I did – which I think is a game-changer – is empower John. This is something that never happened at Alfred Dunhill before me.

“I’m in charge, but I’m a businessman, not a designer. What I did was give John the conditions to create in the best way possible. I’m not going to tell him what kind of fabrics he has to use and choose. I have to create the kind of infrastructure where John and the creative people can create and deliver beautiful products.

“If you look around, it’s the right approach to be successful in this industry. When you hear a chief executive is trying to be a designer and a designer is trying to run a multinational company at the same time … apart from a few exceptional cases, it doesn’t work. Empowering the designer was key.”

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 April, 2015, 6:28pm
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Now for the good hues

Hide and Chic:Interview with Valextra's Alessandra Bettari

Italian label's subtle and sophisticated handcrafted leather accessories are quietly turning heads in Asia, writes P.Ramakrishnan.

There is neither an emblematic logo nor an interlocking alphabet in sight. There isn't a signature colour or motif that gives it away, or a shimmering clasp or lock that draws the eye. Yet the white leather suitcase has an aura of quiet distinction known to a few who immediately recognise its patented leather and fine piping and think, "Ah, it's a Valextra."

In an oversaturated designer market, the cacophony of luxury brands may be well orchestrated, yet here's a 77-year-old Milanese brand (founded in 1937 by Giovanni Fontana in Milan's Piazza San Babila) that connoisseurs quietly admire. Those in the know are familiar with signature pieces such as Valextra's two-gusset briefcase or Bifold card case with money clip, or the Brera messenger bag in its effortless simplicity and sophistication. Carried by actress Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy Onassis in the past and sported by Jennifer Aniston and Katie Holmes today, these accessories have always flown under the fashion radar.

"Well, there are a few emblems in our bag that make it distinctive, even though it is subtle," says Alessandra Bettari, the brand's newly appointed chief executive officer.

Accompanying her is Marco Scarpella, the youngest member of the board from the Carminati family, who own a large share of the company.

He echoes Bettari's claims. "We just carry our heritage that has been honed since the 1940s."

Bettari says Valextra's products are "very niche" and have "a different aesthetic" from others.

"It's evident in something like our Costa luggage collection - perhaps our most iconic product - with details in the piping by artisans in Italy," she says.

"We don't come out with multiple products each year, merely a range of colours with very specific types of leather. It's very straightforward and simple."

With meticulously stitched seams and rich flushes of vegetable-tanned leather, it's bespoke luxury that's more pragmatic and less flashy.

But how is the label faring in brand-conscious Asia?

"The Asian customer is the best in the world," says Scarpella.

"And the worst!" interrupts Bettari, jokingly.

"In America and Europe, they see something they like, they buy it. It's simple," says Scarpella. "Customers in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong, there's a level of perfection they expect from a product, in every single detail. If a stitch is off, if there's a minute differentiation in tone or hue, they want it fixed. I've learned this after years of working in Asia, they are looking for an extraordinary item only a few can make - absolute luxury."

Bettari confirms. "Asian customers have the highest rate of asking for special and bespoke pieces. Asia is the only place where they would ask us to create, say, a leather pen case."

Absolutely luxury can sometimes seem excessive. For example, Oprah Winfrey owns an exquisitely cut travel case crafted from white leather, which Scarpella concedes is impractical.

"To some, a white leather travel suitcase is completely impractical," he says. "Think how easily a white suitcase can get dirty at airports, but then again, Oprah probably only flies on private jets so it's different for her."

Read the full feature at SCMP.com ie over here! 

Published: 24 Oct 2014

NOTES:
Really enjoyed talking to these two, esp Alessandra Bettari. Love a CEO with a sense of humour and a sense of style!

He's the Boss: Gerrit Ruetzel: Head of Hugo Boss in Hong Kong

As one of the youngest heads of one of the oldest brands, Gerrit Ruetzel looks to the east in his ever-rising career, writes P.Ramakrishnan.

Portrait by Douglas Pieterse.


WITH HIGH-END luxury brands, instant recognition is key. One look at the multi-hue prints on a silken shirt of a man reeks of Versace. The interlocking C's are of course Chanel, and every fashionista can read the monogram print of Louis Vuitton a mile off. But Hugo Boss, with its long history of subtle sophistication, how do you stamp an imprint on the teeming masses? A sophisticated suit, with a conservative...

"No, I wouldn't call it conservative," corrects Dr Gerrit Ruetzel, 37, the newly appointed president and chief executive Asia-Pacific of Hugo Boss. "I think we're everything but conservative. When I think of the word conservative, I think of an older generation, I don't think of a young brand. We've been around for decades, but it's a modern brand. We're not the brand that your grandpa wears."

Indeed, as a series of images from their campaigns, featuring actor Ryan Reynolds and professional racer Lewis Hamilton, unfold, there's nothing octogenarian about the look from this centennial German brand.

"There are a lot of brands that can make a nice suit, but very few that give you a modern look," he says. "With Hugo, we are more fashion forward, so I wouldn't call it a classic either. We want to give our customers options, to let them know they're perfectly dressed for any occasion. We give them a sense of security that you won't stick out in a bad way; at the same time, you're in vogue, you're modern, you are safe in what you're wearing."

Easy to concur with the good doctor (Ruetzel has a PhD in International Management) as the notably young CEO moved to Hong Kong just a few months ago, after a two-year tenure in New York with the brand. Though the brand has been in Asia for years, there are some seismic ripples being made in the Asia-Pacific region.

With a grand re-opening of its signature store in Central's IFC Mall in the coming weeks, a strong presence of Asian models leading its new campaign (Japanese model/actress Devon Aoki having already modelled for them in the past, and Philip Huang appearing in the F/W 2011 campaign), as well as further inroads into China as more stores are expected to open within the next 18 months, there seems to be a heavy Asian focus in Boss' future.

But Ruetzel offers to clear up the notion of China being a new market in their economic strategy: "We've always had a presence in China, so this isn't anything new. And as for using an Asian model, we didn't think of it as a specific strategy to encroach into the region. The casting of Huang was done a long time ago; he came in, we liked his look, he became the model for the global campaign - the same images will be projected in South America, Americas, Europe - the model doesn't change according to the region."

The lifestyle of a young chief executive isn't all about jet-setting across the globe and hobnobbing with celebrities like Sienna Miller (a past brand ambassador). "The best and the worst parts of the job are the same," says Ruetzel. "I get to travel a lot. It can be quite stressful as you're in meetings around the world, but I have the happy position to combine work and pleasure. The glamorous part of the job is hosting grand events and parties, but there's a tough business side too."

The dwindling economy and its volatile share market hit luxury brands hard. But even in difficult times, there was the sweet smell of success. "We had a meeting with our license partner, Proctor and Gamble, not long ago and the fragrances from our company have been amongst the top five brands actually. The perfume business has not developed as much in China as other countries, but we see a steady growth."

Wonder if it's the heroic efforts of the Green Lantern's (actor Ryan Reynolds) new campaign that's creating a whiff in all the right circles? Ruetzel won't say, but he waxes eloquent on the current crop of faces that are creating brand awareness to a new generation.

"Working with successful, confident personalities has been a key factor," he says. "When we first dressed Philip Seymour Hoffman, we had no idea whether he would win the Oscar. We saw this man with great talent; he may not be the image of the Boss man, but we support the talent.

"There is no one prototype man that we're aiming for. It's anyone who's successful and confident."