The enfant terrible of French fashion is out to become a terrific retailer.
Capitalizing on strong wholesale momentum for his ready-to-wear and accessories, Jean Paul Gaultier is embarking on a global retail expansion with a slew of boutiques slated to bow this year, concentrated in Asia and the Middle East.
“We have gained experience,” said Christophe Caillaud, who last September was named president of the French fashion house after six years as its managing director.
In his first interview since the promotion, Caillaud also confirmed that the company — which had been reeling from heavy investments in retail stores, a new headquarters and its money-losing couture — returned to profitability last year, and couture achieved breakeven for the first time. “We were surprised ourselves,” he quipped.
Although layoffs in early 2005 had helped reduce the cost base in its high-fashion business, Caillaud also credited an industrial efficiency analysis imposed on the couture for improving its fortunes.
Gaultier has made retrenchments in retail in recent years, closing his company-owned Madison Avenue flagship in 2005, only three years after it opened with much fanfare. Most of the forthcoming openings are franchises or partnerships; the goal is to have almost 50 locations worldwide by 2009.
Only five years ago, freestanding stores accounted for less than 10 percent of Gaultier revenues, a figure that has already jumped to 30 percent “with the goal to be 50/50 [retail/wholesale] in two to three years,” Caillaud said. The company is expected to end 2007 with 32 locations.
The forthcoming units are based on the Philippe Starck design found at Gaultier’s flagships in Paris, with variations and refinements to improve productivity, Caillaud noted. Features include curvy niches for accessories, upholstered silk taffeta wall panels and large, multi-toned mosaic mirrors.
Already this year, Gaultier has opened its third location in Hong Kong — the latest in Pacific Place — and its second unit in Taipei.
In the Middle East, where its partner is Al-Tayer Group, the company plans six stores in the next two years, starting in 2007 with Bahrain, then in Abu Dhabi and a second Dubai location.
In May, Gaultier will open a flagship in New Delhi with Sachdev Group, but not a hotel-based unit. Instead, it will be in an old mansion in the south end of the city, sharing the building with Moschino and Alberta Ferretti, which are produced by Italy’s Aeffe SpA, maker of Gaultier’s top men’s and women’s ready-to-wear lines. “In India, we are almost pioneers,” Caillaud remarked. “It’s more destination rather than having a flow of buyers.”
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In the second half, Gaultier plans to open a unit in Kuala Lumpur with Belbom, the same partner it has in Singapore.
Before 2001, Gaultier had developed the Asia and Middle East markets under a master license. The retail rollout is part of a new strategy to develop the regions with made-in-Europe products, and reflects the fact that countries there often lack strong multibrand channels for wholesaling. In China, for example, Gaultier already operates stores in Beijing and Shanghai, and plans to add locations in Hangzhou, Shenyang and Dalian.
Caillaud said Europe would be the next development priority. At present, Gaultier operates two freestanding boutiques and two in-store shops in France plus a boutique in London. Coming in September is a location in Geneva in partnership with one of its wholesale partners; Spain, Italy and the Benelux countries are priorities for 2008.
Gaultier already boasts two boutiques in Moscow and this fall will open in a city frequented by Russians, Vilnius, Lithuania, as part of a new fashion and luxury development. The company is also making moves in South America, starting with an in-store shop in November with Saks International in Mexico City.
As for North America, where Gaultier boasts an in-store boutique at Bergdorf Goodman and a unit at Wynn Las Vegas, Caillaud disclosed he was already scouting locations in Manhattan for a new flagship, but not on Madison Avenue. The next priority would be Miami. “Now we feel we are ready to be back in New York,” he said. “The goal is to really start with New York and then go to Miami.”
Gaultier’s men’s and women’s rtw business generates about 60 million euros at wholesale ($79 million at current exchange), and sales of the women’s line were up 19 percent last year. The designer has enjoyed strong momentum since his spring 2005 collection with its elaborate gypsy skirts.
With good momentum in handbags, thanks to a strong press and commercial reaction to its trenchcoat-inspired Privé bag, Gaultier plans to continue developing accessories categories, and hopes to introduce a full footwear collection with a partner in early 2008, Caillaud said. The company has also extended its Soleil beachwear and knitwear collection, licensed to Italy’s Fuzzi, to the fall season, he added.