French brand Madeleine Vionnet is back on stage with Italian funds

PARIS - Bought last February by Matteo Marzotto, former chairman of the Valentino Fashion Group, the Madeleine Vionnet fashion house introduced on Oct 2 the 2010 spring-summer collection, at the Musée de l’Homme, in Paris. Rodolfo Paglialunga, former assistant of Miuccia Prada for the ready-to-wear activity of her eponymous

 brand, was appointed by the company as the new Vionnet designer.

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In a recent interview, Matteo Marzotto revealed that he targets to have Vionnet distributed in 250 multi-brand shops by the end of 2009. An ambitious revenue plan of EUR10 million for the coming two years has been set (source: La Tribune).

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The brand was created in Paris by the French designer Madeleine Vionnet, in 1912, but did not survive the second world war. At the peak of her fame, Vionnet was as famous as Chanel or Lanvin and she was a major player on the art scene. Vionnet is known to have launched the bias-cutting technique which was used later on by countless designers including  Azzedine Alaia and John Galliano.

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The company was purchased in 1988 by the de Lummen family who tried to put it back in business. Celebrated designers Sophie Kokosalaki and then Marc Audibet were appointed but left quickly for different reasons. Ultimately, after having failed to resurrect the brand, Arnaud de Lumen sold it to Matteo Marzotto for an unrevealed amount.

Brand resurrection: reality or fantasy?

The Vionnet case opens the discussion on a recurring subject in the luxury industry: how far can a company go for bringing a brand back on stage? For visible successes such as Gucci and Chanel, there are many failures such as Rochas, Grès or Nina Ricci.

Assets make heritage more valuable

In a brand resurrection operation, the situation is very different if the company still exists or if it closed long time ago. When Chanel and Gucci were re-launched, they were sleeping beauties but their name was still well-known and their style and logo were very recognizable. In the case of Vionnet, the brand name, the logo and the history are known only by very few people, this means that there is not even a legend the company can refer to.

Brand attributes: identity, awareness, positioning, loyalty, equity and value

The most important question in re-launching a brand is: what is the value of the brand in the customer mind? Obviously, a strong brand will facilitate the re-birth process. There are many ways to evaluate the strength of a brand. Companies such as Interbrand or Ogilvy built methodologies which can be used according to specific contexts.

In her book, Luxury Fashion Branding, Onke Onkonkwo proposes a very pragmatic approach. A brand can be defined by few simple attributes:

• Brand identity -> brand personality and brand image,
• Brand awareness -> brand recognition and brand recall,
• Brand positioning -> brand associations in the customer’s mind,
• Brand loyalty -> customer’s trust and preference
• Brand equity -> reasons to be preferred by the customer,
• Brand value -> financial benefits resulting of the strenght of the brand. Key element of the goodwill.

These attributes are structured as Russian dolls: each attributes relies on the previous one.

In the case of Madeleine Vionnet, these indicators are very likely at the lowest. As the brand identity is quite non-existent, the other attributes are consequently extremely low. It is not an absolute show-stopper but it implies that massive investments will have to be done in communication including advertising, fashion shows and store opening.

The delicate exercise of brand stretching

Another way to awake an old company is to opt for brand stretching: Gucci or Louis Vuitton launching ready-to-wear collections are some great examples. This new business, very visible, came in addition to their traditional leather goods business.

But the exercise is extremely difficult because the brand moves in a new territory with different competitors and new rules. For instance, Christian Blanckaert, former head of Hermès International, described in his book “Luxe” the story of a crocodile bag which had been staying on the shelf for many months before being sold. But in market segments such as ready-to-wear, the life cycle of a piece of clothing does not exceed 6 months. And then, the unsold goods management can turn into nightmare. In the meantime, the communication budget of the collection would have swallow up a huge amount of cash spent in a fashion show and advertising in trendy glossy magazines. Companies such as Bally, ST Dupont or Dunhill try to make their way in this cash-burning arena of ready-to-wear but without a real success. Another direction for brand-stretching is the watch market: Fendi, Dunhill, and Burberry are desperately seeking for a place in the premium-to-luxury watch segment when ST Dupont was smart enough to make there a U-turn, couple of years ago.

In conclusion, if the brand is not strong enough, with a solid network of shops, this strategy is highly risky and extremely expensive. But when it succeeds, it opens huge perspective and then sky is the limit.

In the case of Madeleine Vionnet, the challenge is huge and hazardous as the brand image does not exist anymore. It will be interesting to see if passion, intelligence and funding will be enough to resurrect the old lady.

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Yvon Le Gall
Luxury-world

http://www.vionnet.com

After eight successful days, BASELWORLD 2009 closed its doors today, once again reaffirming its position as the leading international watch and jewellery trade show. On a site covering approximately 160,000 m², 1,952 exhibitors from 45 countries showcased their latest products and innovations. Exhibitors and visitors alike spoke enthusiastically about their experience at the show and the business they did. Thanks to this sense of positi­vity, both exhibitors and visitors forecast new prospects for the industry as a whole.

Watch and jewellery manufacturers and representatives from related industries have been showcasing their exclusive new products and premium collections at BASELWORLD over the past eight days. With its unrivalled vibrancy, BASELWORLD proved once more its immense importance to all exhibitors as the absolute highlight of the watch and jewellery industry’s calendar.

Satisfied exhibitors

This year, BASELWORLD once again reaffirmed itself as the leading global business platform for the watch and jewellery industry. And with results to match. For François Thiébaud, President of the Swiss Exhibitors’ Comittee, BASELWORLD 2009 was a great success. In his own words: “We were able to showcase our new products to buyers from all over the world and we’re extremely satisfied with how the show went. It was extremely well organised and it worked its magic for us once again”. Rolf Schnyder, President of Ulysse Nardin, was also very pleased: “The results for 2009 have been far better than we had expected. Once again, BASELWORLD has been the best place for us to meet specialist dealers and showcase our latest collections.”

A strong media and trade presence

For Luc Perramond, CEO of Hermès, BASELWORLD was without a doubt much more successful than many had been anticipating in the run-up to the show: “The mood was fantastic. There was a strong media and trade presence which has given our new range excellent coverage.” Jean-Christophe Babin, President of TAG Heuer, stresses this point as follows: “Over the course of one week, we have the attention of the world’s press in Basel – and these media representa­tives were there yet again in 2009. Therefore, BASELWORLD has once again offered us a fantastic platform where the entire watch industry can get together.”

BASELWORLD as a barometer for the rest of the year

For Rodolphe Schulthess, Sales Manager of Breguet, being able to stage a successful trade show is also very gratifying: “BASELWORLD is immensely important to Breguet.” Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Vice President of Chopard confirms this: “BASELWORLD is the highlight of the year and it’s also the barometer for the rest of the year. We do a large proportion of our business in Basel and get together with our clients and the press from all over the world.” This was once again the case for Chopard: “Even if there was a noticeable air of caution amongst a few of our clients.”

Expectations clearly surpassed

The jewellery sector was also very satisfied as the show drew to a close. “BASELWORLD has been a success. All major jewellers came to our stand, almost without exception”, says Christoph Wellendorff, Managing Director of Wellendorff. Lisa Foo, Marketing Manager of Pasquale Bruni, backs this up: “BASELWORLD is extremely impor­tant to us because it’s the one and only trade show we go to. Our expectations, which were initially a little conservative, were clearly surpassed.” Expectations were also exceeded in the gemstone and diamond sector. Markus P. Wild, Managing Director of Paul Wild, said that there was a large amount of visitor interest. According to Chaim Pluczenik, CEO of The Pluczenik Diamond Company: “It just illustra­tes that even in these difficult times, BASELWORLD attracts all of the decision-makers for the entire industry.”

Stengthening its position as a global leader

BASELWORLD strengthened its position as a global leader with a total of 93,900 visitors coming to the show from around the world. Buyers also drew an equally positive conclusion from BASELWORLD 2009: “There is no other comparable event in the jewellery industry’s calendar which has the potential and scope of BASELWORLD”, according to Scott Martin, buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. “For all of us, BASELWORLD is the launch pad for the rest of the year.” For Michael Tay, Executive Director of The Hour Glass in Singapore, one thing is certain: “This year, BASELWORLD was once again the epicenter of the watch industry. As usual, I was able to gain a fantastic overview of current issues and trends in the industry.”

Buyers focus on BASELWORLD

Arif Ben Khadra, owner of Levant in Dubai, simply describes BASEL­WORLD as the most important watch and jewellery show there is: “Its importance has been borne out by the sheer number of exhibitors, purchasers and media representatives who once again have come to Basel this year. Anyone who is anyone in the industry has a stand in Basel.” Rajesh Gandhi, owner of Choron Diamond in Russia, espe­cially appreciates the “unique and pleasant atmosphere which the organisers have managed to bring to the show once again this year. With its huge number of exhibitors from 45 countries, this watch and jewellery show exceeded my highest expectations.” For Mehud Choksi, Managing Director of the Gitanjali Group in India: “BASEL­WORLD is the world’s biggest and most important trade show. In good times as in bad, my colleagues and I can take or leave other trade shows, but that’s not the case with BASELWORLD.”

BASELWORLD is a must

The show’s good atmosphere and the satisfaction of the buyers also comes across in the survey conducted on behalf of BASELWORLD. Like last year, of those questioned, three quarters rated BASEL­WORLD 2009 as either good or excellent. As many as 78% of visitors in 2009 stated: “BASELWORLD is a must”. What has been on offer at the show, in all of the exhibition halls, has been judged to be of an extremely positive quality.

Increased internationality and strong customer loyalty

68.1% of those who visited BASELWORLD were from overseas (compared with 63.6% in 2008). 71% of those visitors questioned confirmed that they also intend to visit BASELWORLD next year; thus emphasising the strong ties the show has. When asked, those questioned said that the main goal of their visit to the watch and jewellery show was to gain an overview of the market. This was followed by networking, customer care, meeting new clients and information gathering about market innovations. Orders were slightly down on the previous year due to the global economic crisis.

The large number of media representatives underscores the importance of the world show

With 2,973 accredited journalists covering the trade show, the impor­tance of BASELWORLD to the entire luxury goods industry has also been underlined. All major trade publications, hundreds of lifestyle magazines, daily newspapers, the online media and numerous TV stations from all over the world, have given coverage to BASEL­WORLD and to the collections and innovations which have been on display over the course of the last eight days.

New momentum boosts business

Sylvie Ritter, Show Director of BASELWORLD, draws an extremely positive conclusion: “BASELWORLD 2009 has shown that the watch and jewellery industry is facing up to this difficult economic situation in an extremely constructive way. BASELWORLD 2009 has successfully given the watch and jewellery industry new momentum and as a result business has been boosted.”

BASELWORLD 2010: March 18 – 25, 2010

BASELWORLD 2010 – the World Watch and Jewellery Show – will be held in Basel, Switzerland, from March 18 - 25, 2010.

  
L'article suivant paru dans Le Journal des Finances du 16 décembre 2008 décrit un marché du luxe en contraction pour 2008 et 2009. Des banques d'affaires telles que JP Morgan prévoient une baisse mondiale des ventes de 4%.
Selon le quotidien Nikkei, le chiffre d'affaire de LVMH au Japon est en repli de 7% sur les neuf premiers mois de l'année 2008.

Par effet mécanique, les capitalisations boursières des "mousquetaires du luxe" ont fondu: le français LVMH a vu le cours de son action chuter de 42% en 2008 tandis que le suisse Richemont perdait 36%.

Les gestionaires de fonds du secteur (SGAM, Crédit Suisse) se veulent rasurants en attendant les résultats du quatrième trimestre.

Malheureusement cet article ne mentionne pas le début de la crise immobilière qui commence à toucher Dubai. Le phénomène de bulle immobilière qui était apparu au début des années 2000 a connu son apogée avec la réalisation des projets pharaoniques que sont les îles artificielles "Palm Island" et "The World". Aujourd'hui, beaucoup d'investisseurs cherchent à liquider leurs actifs immobiliers dans l'émirat et découvrent avec stupeur que les prix ont baissé de 40% depuis septembre 2008 (The Economist, London 2008). Certaines banques estiment déjà que les prix de l'immobilier à Dubai pourraient chuter de 80% en 2009. Ce scénario très plausible créerait un véritable tsunami économique et politique dans une région qui fournissait de nombreux clients à l'industrie du luxe.


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