LEADERS

PPR’s Push Into Mainland China

by

Avery Booker

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit: This is the featured image credit

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

In the hopes of expanding further into the jewelry space and increasing its already significant footprint in the mainland China market, this weekend the French luxury giant PPR announced plans to acquire the eight-year-old Hong Kong-based French-Chinese jewelry house Qeelin.

Currently with 14 boutiques in mainland China, Hong Kong and Europe, Qeelin’s acquisition by Gucci owner PPR comes a year after group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said he was interested in acquiring a Chinese brand “with its own identity” that differentiates itself from European-style luxury items.

With its purchase of a majority stake in the brand, PPR is looking to increase its reach and presence in the Greater China market, likely through an intensified brick-and-mortar expansion effort.

“ PPR is looking to increase its reach and presence in the Greater China market ”

As PPR chairman Pinault said this weekend, “I am delighted that Qeelin is joining PPR’s portfolio of luxury brands. Qeelin uniquely translates Chinese inspiration into fine contemporary jewellery design and shows strong growth potential in China and beyond. We thus have great ambitions for the brand and will make it benefit from our expertise and know-how, so that it can speed up its development.”

Though China’s luxury market has shown a decline in its previously red-hot growth rate this year, Pinault said in May that he remains “uber optimistic” about his company’s prospects there.

PPR’s luxury division, which includes brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent, rose nearly 20 percent in the first quarter of this year, led by a 20 percent rise in emerging markets like China. Luxury demand in the Greater China region may be changing, but it’s not disappearing anytime soon.

“ In addition to companies with growth potential in Asia, Pinault has been on a widely publicised hunt for brands in places like Brazil ”

Speaking on his company’s acquisition, which is set to be finalized next month, Qeelin CEO and co-founder Guillaume Brochard said, “PPR is the ideal strategic partner to lead our company towards a new stage in its development. Experience and information sharing within PPR will be very valuable.”

PR platitudes aside, this acquisition has important implications on PPR’s expansion into emerging markets. As BusinessWeek noted earlier this year, PPR is in the midst of a reorganization effort aimed at luxury goods and sports-lifestyle brands to tap growing demand for branded apparel and accessories in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets in particular.

In addition to small- and medium-sized companies with growth potential in Asia, Pinault has been on a widely publicized hunt for brands in places like Brazil. For Qeelin, PPR’s acquisition is likely to give the brand a major boost in credibility and — after its renewed expansion effort — visibility in China, helping it better compete with major European branded jewelry competition.

Though we’re reluctant to expect a boom in sales, joining PPR’s well-oiled machine can’t be a bad thing for Qeelin’s efforts in Greater China, and could prove a pivotal moment for the perception of “made-in-China” luxury both within the region and further abroad.

To further investigate PPR and Chinese luxury brands on Luxury Society, we invite your to explore the related materials as follows:

In Conversation with François-Henri Pinault, PPR
11 Fine Jewellery Designers, China & Taiwan
Luxury M&A; Goes Vertical

Avery Booker
Avery Booker

Partner

With a decade of experience working in the Greater China market, specializing in luxury branding, new media, and trend forecasting, Avery Booker has closely watched and chronicled the emergence of the global Chinese luxury consumer on the world stage.

LEADERS

PPR’s Push Into Mainland China

by

Avery Booker

|

This is the featured image caption
Credit : This is the featured image credit

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.

PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.

In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”

The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

Avery Booker of Jing Daily reveals why PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinault remains “Uber Optimistic” on the luxury conglomerate’s China prospects

In the hopes of expanding further into the jewelry space and increasing its already significant footprint in the mainland China market, this weekend the French luxury giant PPR announced plans to acquire the eight-year-old Hong Kong-based French-Chinese jewelry house Qeelin.

Currently with 14 boutiques in mainland China, Hong Kong and Europe, Qeelin’s acquisition by Gucci owner PPR comes a year after group CEO Francois-Henri Pinault said he was interested in acquiring a Chinese brand “with its own identity” that differentiates itself from European-style luxury items.

With its purchase of a majority stake in the brand, PPR is looking to increase its reach and presence in the Greater China market, likely through an intensified brick-and-mortar expansion effort.

“ PPR is looking to increase its reach and presence in the Greater China market ”

As PPR chairman Pinault said this weekend, “I am delighted that Qeelin is joining PPR’s portfolio of luxury brands. Qeelin uniquely translates Chinese inspiration into fine contemporary jewellery design and shows strong growth potential in China and beyond. We thus have great ambitions for the brand and will make it benefit from our expertise and know-how, so that it can speed up its development.”

Though China’s luxury market has shown a decline in its previously red-hot growth rate this year, Pinault said in May that he remains “uber optimistic” about his company’s prospects there.

PPR’s luxury division, which includes brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent, rose nearly 20 percent in the first quarter of this year, led by a 20 percent rise in emerging markets like China. Luxury demand in the Greater China region may be changing, but it’s not disappearing anytime soon.

“ In addition to companies with growth potential in Asia, Pinault has been on a widely publicised hunt for brands in places like Brazil ”

Speaking on his company’s acquisition, which is set to be finalized next month, Qeelin CEO and co-founder Guillaume Brochard said, “PPR is the ideal strategic partner to lead our company towards a new stage in its development. Experience and information sharing within PPR will be very valuable.”

PR platitudes aside, this acquisition has important implications on PPR’s expansion into emerging markets. As BusinessWeek noted earlier this year, PPR is in the midst of a reorganization effort aimed at luxury goods and sports-lifestyle brands to tap growing demand for branded apparel and accessories in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets in particular.

In addition to small- and medium-sized companies with growth potential in Asia, Pinault has been on a widely publicized hunt for brands in places like Brazil. For Qeelin, PPR’s acquisition is likely to give the brand a major boost in credibility and — after its renewed expansion effort — visibility in China, helping it better compete with major European branded jewelry competition.

Though we’re reluctant to expect a boom in sales, joining PPR’s well-oiled machine can’t be a bad thing for Qeelin’s efforts in Greater China, and could prove a pivotal moment for the perception of “made-in-China” luxury both within the region and further abroad.

To further investigate PPR and Chinese luxury brands on Luxury Society, we invite your to explore the related materials as follows:

In Conversation with François-Henri Pinault, PPR
11 Fine Jewellery Designers, China & Taiwan
Luxury M&A; Goes Vertical

Avery Booker
Avery Booker

Partner

With a decade of experience working in the Greater China market, specializing in luxury branding, new media, and trend forecasting, Avery Booker has closely watched and chronicled the emergence of the global Chinese luxury consumer on the world stage.

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