Boucheron Signs Perfume Deal with Parfums SA

Inter Parfums SA has signed a 15-year exclusive worldwide license agreement with Parisian luxury jeweler Boucheron to create, produce and distribute perfumes and ancillary products under the Boucheron brand. The agreement begins Jan. 1, 2011, and replaces a previous license with L’Oreal that was terminated by mutual consent.

Under the license agreement, Inter Parfums, also based in Paris, will work with Boucheron to capitalize on the brand’s ultra-luxury positioning in high-end jewelry. The transfer of inventory will take place early in 2011 and the development of a new fragrance is planned for 2012. Plans call for Interparfums Luxury Brands, a recently formed United States subsidiary of Inter Parfums SA, to handle distribution of the brand in the U.S.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Boucheron and Inter Parfums as we seek a new strategic direction for our fragrances and build on the Boucheron's unique position in the jewelry world,” said Jean-Christophe Bédos, Boucheron president and CEO of Boucheron.

Inter Parfums SA is 74-percent owned by New York-based Inter Parfums, Inc., which develops, manufactures and distributes prestige perfumes and cosmetics.

PPR Shopping for Luxury Jewelry and Watch Brands

François-Henri Pinault. Photo credit: InDigital Media Group

NEW YORK — French holdings company, PPR, is on the lookout for luxury jewelry and watch brands to strengthen its portfolio and meet demands in the booming Asian region.

François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of the company that owns brands in the luxury, sports and lifestyle markets, said PPR identified a weakness in its portfolio in the growing men’s luxury segment. To rectify this it took control of the Sowind Group, which owns the Swiss luxury watch brands, Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard. Then it acquired the Italian men’s fashion brand, Brioni.

The company already owns the French luxury jewelry brand, Boucheron, which it purchased in 2000. However, Sowind and Boucheron are the only companies it owns in the “hard luxuries” segment of the market. PPR primarily operates internationally in the apparel and accessories sectors in the luxury market and what it identifies as the “Sports & Lifestyle” market. Its luxury brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.

He said PPR will pursue hard luxury brands. “We are looking to any opportunities in jewelry and watches, particularly in Asia,” he said. “It is very important in Asia.”

Pinault made these comments Wednesday following a breakfast presentation at the Consulate General of France. During the event, he gave his views on a range of topics, including the growth of Asian market, the strategy of his diverse holdings company, and e-commerce and digital media.

Pinault said that for 50 years the growth in population and wealth in the world (800 million consumers) was centered in the U.S. and Japan. However, in 2006 the company identified that economic growth has shifted to emerging markets—particularly China, India, Brazil, and more recently, Indonesia—bringing 3 billion consumers to the worldwide market, and that this trend will continue.

“It means that in the next 50 years the growth is amazing,” Pinault said. “We don’t have any idea what it will be. We are always referring to the past but it’s no use. We cannot compare 3 billion people with more and more purchasing power to 800 million in the past… The question is what should we do to take advantage of those opportunities of growth?”

The company already made a decision to enter the luxury market in 1999. However, in 2006, it began to drastically change its portfolio to enter the sports and lifestyle segments. In 2007, it purchased Puma as the centerpiece of this new strategy.

Then, he said, the company needed to identify two areas of growth in this segment that would not compete with the footwear and sportswear company. It chose action sports, which led to the 2011 acquisition in Volcom, and the outdoors market segment.

PPR then took a giant step toward shoring up its e-commerce and digital media strategy by forming a joint-venture with online retail specialist Yoox to administer the e-commerce operations of most of its luxury brands.

Pinault says PPR’s digital media strategy has two parts. First, it needed what acquire the skill set, which resulted in the partnership with Yoox. Now it will try to create an experience that is similar to what customers get from going to one of its branded stores.

“You cannot offer an experience to your customer in the stores that’s completely different from the experience that you’re offering online,” he said. “You go to a Gucci store for the experience rather than mainstream stores. You have to reproduce that online.”

He continued, “The next step is to transform the e-commerce experience, our luxury experience, like it is in the stores. It will show that we can reproduce this conversation online.”

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Christie's Geneva Auction to Include Private Jewelry Collection

Ruby and diamond jewelry set mounted by Cartier.

A highlight of Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction on November 16 is a sale of an “extraordinary” group of jewels from a private collection.

Harry Winston

“Timeless Elegance – Important Jewels from the Collection of a European Family,” has 67 jewels gathered together in the mid-20th Century, bearing the style and signature of some of the most talented jewelry houses during the period, including Boucheron, Cartier, Mauboussin, Ostertag, Tiffany & Co, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston. The family that owns the collection isn’t identified.

The collection, featured in a separate catalog, will be sold at 3 p.m.

“During my entire career I have never been asked to sell a group of jewels of such variety and outstanding beauty,” said Jean-Marc Lunel, Head of Christie’s Geneva Jewellery Department. “(It) will, no doubt, be among the very highlights of this auction season in Geneva. Unquestionable quality is behind every piece, each of them is a work of art in its own right.”

Diamond flower brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Dating from the early 1900s to the present day, the collection contains all of the major periods and styles of the 20th Century, covering every type of jewel and gemstone.

Highlights from the collection include a timeless diamond necklace by Harry Winston from 1964 (estimate: $1.5 million – $2.5 million), a set of ruby and diamond jewelry, mounted by Cartier in 1951 ($800,000 – $1.2 million) and a mystery-set ruby and diamond flower brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels (estimate: $300,000 – $500,000).

Belle Epoque emerald and diamond brooches.

Among the period highlights are an Art Deco diamond, emerald and onyx bracelet by Gattle (estimate: $ 200,000 – 300,000) and a pair of Belle Epoque emerald and diamond brooches (estimate: $ 200,000 – $240,000).

Art Deco diamond, emerald and onyx bracelet by Gattle.

Timepiece Tuesday: Boucheron Beautifies the ‘Time Machine’

Jwlrymachine in purple

MB&F, founded in 2005, is a small Swiss watch company that makes a limited number of elaborate and innovative wristwatches, known as “horological machines,” that are sold at astronomical prices. Their timepieces straddle the limits of modern-day engineering, architecture and technical mastery. What these watches lacked was a touch of beauty. That’s where Boucheron comes in.

HM3 Starcruiser

In what may seem to some like an unlikely collaboration, the famed 152-year-old French jewelry house was asked to create a refined, bejeweled face for MB&F’s Horological Machine No.3 (HM3). The result is Jwlrymachine, a three-dimensional owl, available either in 18k white gold, with amethyst, diamonds and blue and violet sapphires, or in 18k red gold, with pink tourmaline, rose quartz, diamonds and pink sapphires.

The owl’s eyes are large glowing cabochons, set over the twin cones. Its sparkling wings, wrapped protectively around the HM3 engine, are made of pavé-set with brilliant-cut stones. Its feathered breast is sculpted and engraved from a single block of amethyst or rose quartz. The glowing eyes, sparkling wings and gleaming breast create a carefully choreographed play of light. Beneath the owl’s breast, its heart appears to be beating. The illusion is created by the faintly perceived swings of MB&F’s solid-gold battle-axe-shaped rotor beneath the translucent stone.

HM3 Movement

For the astute regular readers of the Jewelry News Network, Boucheron’s collaboration with MB&F isn’t as unlikely as it may have first appeared. The French family dynasty, known as one of the world’s top purveyors of high jewelry, is also a company that embraces technology and innovation. It was one of the first luxury companies to use e-commerce. It has an active social media presence. Just today, JNN posted a story about Boucheron’s computer application that allows users to virtually try on its jewelry.

Innovation has always been the hallmark of truly great luxury companies. But you already knew this.

Boucheron Allows People to Virtually Try On Jewelry at Home

French luxury jeweler Boucheron has created a way for people to virtually try on the company's collection of jewelry and watches from their home computer.

The tool works in real time via the Web, in this case the Boucheron Web site, and in selected stores through augmented reality application. Augmented reality is an engaging way of combining live video with computer-generated data and visualizations.

The application was created by a London-based company called Holition. Savvy Jewelry News Network readers may remember this company through interactive window displays they created for Tissot and De Beers.

With a Webcam and a printer, users can go to the Boucheron Web site, print a page that has a seemingly generic image (“symbol”) of a watch and ring, put them on their wrist and finger and show it onto the Webcam. On the computer screen the paper is transformed into a piece of Boucheron jewelry. It’s as if the person is looking at a mirror and wearing the luxury product. The augmented reality experience allows Boucheron’s customers around the world to virtually try on more than 20 different watches and rings from Boucheron’s collections, including the Chameleon and Quatre rings, set with sapphires, diamonds and other precious gems.

The augmented reality application integrates with social media through a “sharing” capability that allows potential customers to take a picture of them virtually wearing the jewelry and watches and then share it with family and friends via social networking sites.

Below is the demonstration video.

Boucheron’s Wild and Crazy Ladies Watches

Héra Tourbillon

For more than 150 years, Boucheron has held an esteemed place in the rarified world of haute joaillerie. Early this year, the Parisian jewelry house introduced its “Cabinet of Curiosities,” a jewelry and timepiece collection based on animals and presented in a wildlife setting.

At Baselworld, the world’s largest watch and jewelry tradeshow in Basel, Switzerland, held in March, I was able to go inside that cabinet to view watches from this collection. Among the items exhibited in the firm’s showroom were ladies watches made of colorful gemstones, diamonds and mother of pearl in elaborate, “audacious” designs made with plenty of gemstones along with mother-of-pearl that certainly attract attention.

The watches are known as the “Crazy Collection. What they share is an attention to detail, refined craftsmanship and individual styling that has earned an international following for Boucheron. As an added bonus, these timepieces, which really border on being art pieces, tell fantasized individual stories, many inspired by India, the Middle East and Greece. 

Héra Tourbillon

The bejeweled watch bracelet combines high watch making with high jewelry. It gets its name from the Greek goddess who purportedly added the “eyes” to the peacock’s tail. It’s powered by the three gold Bridges Tourbillon designed by Girard-Perregaux. This movement is energized by Boucheron’s delicate jeweled adornments. The mechanism itself is set with two different shades of green Paribas tourmalines along with diamonds to create the body of the peacock. The plumage is made of white gold set with diamonds, sapphires and Paribas tourmalines.

Crazy Jungle Flamingo

Boucheron focused on its skilled craftsmanship to create a watch with texture and perspective. The timepiece pictured is in white gold set with diamonds and tsavorites with an automatic GP4000 movement. The transparent mother-of-pearl and lacquered dial is set with white and pink diamonds, and tsavorites. It comes with a pink satin watch strap.

Crazy Jungle Hathi

This timepiece gets its moniker from the Hindi word for elephant and is inspired by the ceremonial elephants used by royalty in India. The watch that is pictured is made of white gold set with blue sapphires, diamonds and tsavorites with an automatic GP4000 movement. The elephant’s blanket contains the “Crazy Seconds” module, which acts like a spinning kaleidoscope of color. The dial is made of Murano aventurine glass mosaic set with diamonds, sapphires, tsavorites, amethysts and onyx. It comes with a purple-blue satin strap.

Crazy Jungle Seahorse

Boucheron created a watch with a rich and energetic dial that is teaming with sea life, centered by a bejeweled seahorse. The low relief allows light to roll across the colorful gems, which enhances the feeling of movement. The watch pictured is rose gold set with multicolored sapphires and diamonds with an automatic GP4000 movement. The dial is made of white mother-of-pearl and petrified palm tree marquetry set with multicolored sapphires, diamonds, garnets and onyx. It comes with a white brushed satin strap.

Crazy Shéhérazade

Inspired by the novel, “One Thousand and One Nights,” this watch draws the eye into its colorful and spinning world of bejeweled light and texture. This model comes in white gold and diamonds with an automatic GP4000 movement and the “Crazy Seconds” module, which acts like a spinning kaleidoscope of color within an off-centered aperture. The dial is made of lapis lazuli mosaic set with multicolored sapphires, amethysts, aquamarines and diamonds. It is available with a purple-blue satin strap.

Orientale

This Indian-inspired watch in rose gold and diamond has a light pink dial made of mother-of-pearl mosaic set with diamonds and pink sapphires. It is available with a pink sapphire strap.

FT Business of Luxury Summit: Boucheron Leads the Way Online as Most Luxury Companies Lag

At the podium Vanessa Friedman, FT Fashion Editor. From left: Luca Solca, senior analyst luxury goods and general retail of Sanford C. Bernstein, Fabio d’Angelantonio,. executive vice president and luxury retail and chief marketing officer of Luxottica Group, William Powers, author of Hamlet’s Blackberry; Reggie Bradford, chief executive officer of Vitrue, and Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and CEO of Boucheron.

The Internet was the main topic of conversation during the FT Business of Luxury Summit. It was refreshing to see that the luxury industry was finally waking up to online marketing and e-commerce opportunities. However, the questions raised at the two-day conference show that the industry as a whole is still behind the times when it comes to understanding and using the medium.

The frustration over the questions being raised during the summit at the Beverly Hills Hotel was summed up by a marketing director from Paris who said the following during the black tie gala outside Paramount Studios: “They are asking the questions that were answered two years ago,” he said. “They keep asking whether luxury companies should get on the Internet. That question has been answered. The question they should be asking is how we should do it.”

Indeed, panel after panel, often led by editors of the Financial Times (which hosts the annual event), focused on whether companies, whose main selling point is their exclusivity, should be online promoting and selling their products to the mass market online. The answer, by and large, is yes. That promoting and selling their products and services online doesn’t delude the exclusivity of the brand or cannibalize sales. That if done correctly, this medium can increase awareness, aspiration and sales for a company’s product the same way that advertising and event marketing has done for years. Not that it will work for every company that wants to attract and service wealthy clientele, but for the vast majority, a sophisticated online strategy will be a benefit to the brand.

It’s refreshing to know that a luxury jeweler is one of those taking a leadership position online. Jean-Christophe Bédos, president and CEO of Boucheron, talked about the venerable Paris-based company’s decision to start selling products online in September 2007, before many others and how they use social media sites, such as Facebook, as a marketing tool.

“We realized through surveys that the majority of our clients are affluent people who were buying online already,” he told the audience of luxury professionals. “The studies are still showing that the highest spenders online are the most affluent people. At the same time our objective and our decision was if these people are online we have to meet them where they like to be. They like to come to our stores. They like to have a retail experience. But increasingly affluent people also want to meet wherever they decide. And the internet is one of those places where they like to be. So consequently we like to be there. There were no real metrics behind it. No real sales pitches. We built our site like a service to our clients. And we decided on a learning approach because we are learning as we go.”

So if you go to the Boucheron Web site (which like many luxury Web sites is a bit flash heavy, thus, a little slow for an online medium), you will be able to buy a $10,000 watch, a $9,800 diamond and platinum pendant or a $4,800 diamond and gold ring. And if you go to the company’s official Facebook page you will find the latest product releases and stories written about the company. There are also two Facebook sites that appear to have been started by fans of the company.

Bédos stresses the importance of being on social network sites in order to become part of the online conversation. He says on the Web you do lose control of at least some of your message. However, if you are not part of the discussion about your company, then you have no control over your message online.

This might be old hat for most industries but for many traditional luxury brands it is a sea change in how they do business. Bédos recognizes this but he says it’s more important to a luxury brand’s future to embrace the change rather than fight it.

“At the end of the day, who people trust is very important and I believe that in recent years, increasingly, people trust their friends and their family rather than institutions, rather than media, rather than politicians, rather than brands. So how can brands address people without being mistrusted? I think the issue for me is to see where the people go, where consumers go in order to meet those who they trust and Facebook is a very good example. When something is recommended by a friend it has more value than by the brand that sits in its ivory tower and doesn’t talk to people. By tradition, especially luxury brands, tends to talk at people. There is a very huge shift at the way luxury brands have to market themselves and have to try to meet people because the consumers of today, they don’t want to just be taught. They want to share. They want to give their opinion. And they want to tell us, the brand, what they think about us. Therefore, the Web is definitely a marketing vehicle that will trigger viral marketing. It’s very efficient from that point of view and the question for me is not whether we should be marketing on the Web or not—whether we like it or not. I know the hard luxury goods industry is extremely cautious about the Web. They fear it might destroy their brand image. They fear it might destroy the control they have on their distribution network. But you have to accept today that to a certain extent that you lose a little bit of control.”

Vanessa Friedman, FT Fashion Editor who moderated the panel discussion, asked whether it is a good business or marketing strategy to be reactive to the Web, in the sense that you have to be on it just because everyone else is or because someone will take that space even if it isn’t the right thing to do for a company. 

“Sometimes you have to be reactive. Sometimes you have to be proactive if you’re a brand manager,” Bédos said. “One of those preconceived ideas I think is that we consider the Web as being a mass market vehicle. We should question this. It’s not more mass market than the street is mass market. Yet, specialty brands have directly operated stores on streets. The web to me … is like a street. You have the best. You have the worst. You have dirty streets. You have clean streets. You have affluent streets. You have down market streets. And when as much as a street could be, you can find everything. The question is not whether you should be on the street or not. The question is not whether you should be on the Web or not. The question is how you want to be there and how you want to be perceived there. This is still under your control. If you decide not to be there, you are totally losing what can be said about you and therefore I think you’re not facing your responsibilities as a brand manager to monitor what is being said about you on this space.”

In addition to Bédos and Friedman, participants for the panel titled, “Do 600,000 Facebook Friends Equal one Sale,” were Reggie Bradford, chief executive officer of Vitrue, a social media management company; Fabio d’Angelantonio. executive vice president and luxury retail and chief marketing officer of Luxottica Group, a luxury eyewear company, Luca Solca, senior analyst luxury goods and general retail of Sanford C. Bernstein, a wealth management company; and William Powers, author of Hamlet’s Blackberry.

The FT Business of Luxury Summit was held June 14 and 15 at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Diamond Tiara from Maureen Swanson Could Fetch $235,000

Diamond tiara from the late Countess of Dudley, also known as the actress and dancer Maureen Swanson.

With the ongoing celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee, it seems fitting that Christie’s London sale of Important Jewels on June 13 would focus on royal and aristocratic jewels.

A total of 368 lots include jewels from the collections of Princess Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary, Beatrice Countess of Granard OBE, and the late Countess of Dudley. Spanning four centuries, the sale has rare historic rings, diamonds and pearls. The roll call of signed jewels by the leading houses and designers includes: Boucheron, Cartier, Chaumet, Chopard, Graff and Van Cleef & Arpels.

One of the top pieces of the sale is an Art Deco diamond tiara by Cartier (pictured above) from the collection of the late Countess of Dudley, also known as the actress and dancer Maureen Swanson, with an estimate of £100,000 – £150,000 ($156,850 – $235,270). It is one of 17 jewels offered from the collection up for sale. The tiara is “composed of five graduated shield shaped clip brooches, each resembling the Pylon, the tapering monumental towers of ancient Egypt whose bold form inspired so much 1930s design,” Christie’s said. “Together, mounted atop the simple diamond line frame, these clips are transformed into a modern soaring geometric skyline, their design recalling both the architectural innovations of the era together with its inimitable style.”

The sale also will be led by the Cowdray Pearls, a rare natural pearl necklace, composed of a single row of thirty-eight graduated natural grey pearls, with an estimated price of £280,000 – £350,000 ($440,000 – $549,000). It is from the collection of the late Viscountess Cowdray, Lady Pearson (1860-1932).

Leading the small group of jewels formerly from the collection of Princess Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiary is a 12.15 carat diamond circular single-stone ring (estimate: £70,000 – £100,000; $110,000 – $156,850). Another ring with notable provenance is an Edwardian sapphire and diamond ring, circa 1905, which was formerly in the collection of Beatrice Countess of Granard OBE (estimate: £30,000 – £40,000; $47,000 – $63,000).

A selection of 40 lots from Cartier, including jewels, cufflinks, watches and clocks, is a highlight of the auction. This portion of the sale is led by an Art Deco diamond and gem bracelet of Oriental inspiration, circa 1925 (estimate: £100,000 – £150,000; $156,850 – $235,270), and a pair of platinum and diamond ear pendants, composed of a graduated line of three brilliant-cut diamonds, suspending a pear-shaped diamond drop (estimate: £100,000 – £150,000; $156,850 – $235,270).

For information on all the lots offered in the sale, view the online catalog.

Boucheron’s CEO to Step Down

Jean-Christophe Bedos

Jean-Christophe Bedos, president and CEO of Boucheron has announced his resignation, effective June 10. He led the Parisian luxury jewelry house for seven years. He will be replaced by LVMH executive, Pierre Bouissou, allowing for a smooth transition.

Boucheron is a subsidiary of PPR, the Paris-based retail conglomerate.

“We are glad to welcome Pierre to Boucheron and PPR,” said Alexis Babeau, deputy CEO of PPR Luxury activities. “With Pierre I am confident we have someone with the skills and experience necessary to build on the work done so far and accelerate the positive trends that have already been put in place. For the past seven years, Jean-Christophe Bedos has dedicated himself to returning Boucheron to a position of health and growth. Under his leadership, Boucheron was re-launched on the international stage as one of the world’s most prestigious jewelers. We thank Jean-Christophe for his significant contribution and wish him the very best as he now turns to new challenges. ”

Jean-Christophe Bedos added: "I am proud and delighted to have successfully achieved the objectives that had been set for Boucheron. After seven years, the time has come for me to pursue new challenges.”

Bedos was one of the first persons to appear on the Jewelry News Network. He spoke at the FT Business of Luxury Summit, discussing Boucheron’s leadership role in e-commerce and social media. Among luxury goods companies, Boucheron was a very early adapter to e-commerce, as it began selling its products on line in the late 1990s.

“The web to me … is like a street,” he told the luxury professionals at the conference. "You have the best. You have the worst. You have dirty streets. You have clean streets. You have affluent streets. You have down market streets. And when as much as a street could be, you can find everything. The question is not whether you should be on the street or not. The question is not whether you should be on the Web or not. The question is how you want to be there and how you want to be perceived there.”

Bouissou has extensive experience in brand management and development. He joins PPR from LVMH where he served most recently as managing director of Berluti, a bespoke shoemaker. Prior to Berluti, he served as business unit manager of the beauty and skincare products at Parfums Christian Dior.

Before joining LVMH, Bouissou held various marketing and development roles for Laboratoires Pierre Fabre and L’Oréal. He began his career as International Product Manager for Skincare at Unilever in Paris. A French national, Bouissou earned business degrees from Institut D’Administration des Entreprises (IAE) in Nice and ISA/ HEC (École des Hautes Études Commerciales) in Paris.

PPR owns and operates global brands in several markets distributed in more than 120 countries. In addition to Boucheron, the brands in its luxury group are Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Sergio Rossi, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney.

PPR To Become Kering

François-Henri Pinault, PPR chairman and CEO, poses with the company's new name and logo, which is expected to become official on June 18.

French holding group, PPR, said Friday that it will change its name and brand messaging to reflect its new identity as an international luxury, sports and lifestyle organization.

On June 18, subject to board approval, the new name for the company will be Kering (pronounced Caring). The Paris-based company said the new name reflects its culture of “taking care of our brands, people, stakeholders and the environment.” The suffix “ing” expresses the idea of movement, reflecting the diverse history of the 50-year-old company, which began as a trader of timber and construction materials. The stem “ker,” meaning home in Breton, refers to its origins in the Brittany region of France.

Since 2005, PPR has been undergoing a transformation from a conglomerate focused on primarily European distribution activities, to an international group focused on the apparel and accessories business across two fast growing segments that it defines as “Luxury” and “Sport & Lifestyle.” In a few months, the new group expects to leave the distribution sector completely, after disposing of Fnac and the remainder of online fashion retailer Redcats.

The company’s collection of brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Boucheron, Girard-Perregaux, Qeelin, Puma, Volcom, Cobra, Electric and Tretorn.

Laurent Claquin, head of PPR Americas, said the change in the company’s identity is a natural step in the group’s transformation.

“We are marking a transition from a conglomerate to an integrated group,” he said. “We are in the business of fashion. We are also part of the same group (as) a way to signify how we do our business with our brands and customers.”

Claquin refused to comment on published reports that the company is in the final stages of acquiring luxury Italian jewelry brand, Pomellato. “It is not the subject of the day,” he said.

Accompanying the new name are new symbols for the company and an international branding strategy over multiple platforms that it emphasis the creativity of its brands. A new video, website and advertising campaign and supporting items are among the ways the company intends to promote its new image. Digital media will be a centerpiece of the campaign. Follow this link to view the company's new video.

As part of the strategy, the company adopted a new symbol, the “untamed” owl, and even a company signature that reads: “empowering imagination.”

The owl is drawn from a single line, like a quick sketch, a doodle even, with outstretched wings and its face framed in a heart. This simple drawing expresses far reaching values, according to the company, from foresight, wisdom and intelligence to caring and respect.

Claquin emphasized that the new campaign is geared toward the B-2-B community and not the general public. “We don’t communicate through a general public,” he said. “We don’t want to be stronger than our brands but we do communicate to our target populations.”

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PPR Sales Up 7.5%, Management Shakeup Announced

François-Henri Pinault

PPR, the world’s third largest luxury group, reported a 7.5 percent increase in revenue to 14.6 billion euros ($20 billion) for 2010. On a comparable basis, when currency fluctuations and other factors are removed, revenue increased 4 percent.

Net earnings income for the Paris-based company totaled 965 million euros ($1.31 billion) versus 950 million euros ($1.29 billion) last year. Operating income rose 23.5 percent to 1.53 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

“The operating and financial performance of the Group as a whole and of each of its businesses was outstanding in 2010. Cost-control efforts launched during the height of the economic crisis and the sales offensive implemented successfully in 2010 to drive profitable revenue growth enabled the Group to take full advantage of the upturn,” said François-Henri Pinault, PPR chairman and CEO. “I am confident … PPR will continue to achieve robust revenue growth in 2011 and deliver a better financial performance than in 2010.”

The company—whose luxury brands include Boucheron, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga—also announced a shakeup of its management structure. Under the plan, which becomes effective March 1, Pinault will head the company’s luxury division. He will replace Robert Polet, who led the division since 2004. The company also has a Sports & Lifestyle division, which includes the brands Puma, Fnac and Redcats.

Under the new structure, each luxury brands will retain its autonomy under the responsibility of its respective CEO and creative director. The Luxury Business group will report directly to Pinault. Alexis Babeau, who was previously COO of Gucci Group, has been appointed deputy CEO of the Luxury Business group.

Pinault, in a statement, said the new management structure was “conceived jointly” with Polet.

“I would like to give Robert the warmest thank for his commitment and dedication in leading Gucci Group to where it is now,” Pinault said. “His many qualities and achievements have earned him the respect of all in the world of Luxury. Today, our Luxury Business Group has blossomed into an ensemble of superb, creative and independent brands achieving outstanding operational and financial performances.”

PPR Has an ‘Excellent’ 2011

French luxury and retail company, PPR, said Thursday that its 2011 revenue rose 11.1 percent, year-over-year, to 12.2 billion euros ($15.86 billion).

The Paris-based company—whose brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni, Stella McCartney, Boucheron and Girard-Perregaux—reported that its recurring operating income rose 16.9 percent to 1.6 billion euros ($2.08 billion) and its recurring net income, group share, surged 26.4 percent to 1.05 billion euros ($1.36 billion). Net income, group share, rose 2.3 percent to 986 million euros ($1.3 billion).

“PPR’s results for 2011 are excellent,” said François-Henri Pinault, PPR chairman and CEO. “Our Luxury and Sport & Lifestyle brands command leading positions in the fastest-growing segments of the apparel and accessories market and are well placed to respond to and anticipate new consumer trends in both mature markets and emerging countries. The transformation of PPR into a more cohesive, integrated group will make us stronger and enable us to fully exploit the huge growth potential of each of our brands. In the uncertain economic climate of early 2012, the core strengths underpinning PPR’s robust 2011 results will continue to propel our performance this year. PPR is confident that 2012 will be another year of sustained revenue growth and improvements in our operating and financial performances.”

The company divides its operation into three division: Luxury (Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Brioni (acquired in January), Stella McCartney, Boucheron, Girard-Perregaux, JeanRichard, Sergio Rossi); Sports & Lifestyle (Puma, Volcom, Cobra, and Electric); Fnac, the French books and music retailer; and Redcats, a fashion and home group of companies that PPR is selling.

Luxury division revenue rose 22.6 percent to 4.9 billion euros ($6.36 billion). Gucci revenue rose 17.9 percent to 3.14 billion euros ($4.08 billion), Bottega Veneta revenue surged 33.7 percent to 682.6 million euros ($887.1 million), and Yves Saint Laurent revenue increased 31.4 percent to 353.7 million euros ($459.6 million).

Puma revenue rose 11.2 percent to 3.01 billion euros ($3.91 billion) for the year. Fnac sales were down 3.2 percent to 4.16 billion euros ($5.4 billion).

Bédos to Lead Birks & Mayors

Jean-Christophe Bédos

Jean-Christophe Bédos, the former head of the international jewelry house, Boucheron, has been named Birks & Mayors president & CEO. He will replace Thomas A. Andruskevich who announced in September 2011 that he would be leaving the company in the spring.

Bédos, who is already on the job, will spend his first three months with the company as its chief operating officer, reporting jointly to Andruskevich and Lorenzo Rossi di Montelera, chairman of the Board, to allow for a smooth transition. Bédos will assume the role of the company’s president and CEO on April 1. Birks & Mayors is a luxury jewelry retailer with 61 stores in Canada and the United States. Its headquarters is in Montreal.

“His experience as president of one of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands and his extensive knowledge of the luxury jewelry and timepiece industry will be key assets for Birks & Mayors as it continues the development of the Birks product brand and pursues international expansion,” Montelera, said.

Bédos was president and CEO of the Parisian luxury jewelry house, Boucheron Intl., from May 2004 till June 2011. In addition, to maintaining and enhancing the strong presence of the brand, he was an early adapter to marketing the brand and selling its well-crafted luxury products online, as he explained in 2010 during a panel discussion during the FT Business of Luxury Summit.

Previously, he was the managing director of Cartier France from 2002 to 2004, and international executive manager alongside the president of Richemont Intl. from 2000 to 2002. Bédos started his career in the jewelry industry at Cartier in 1988. He holds a Master of Science in Management from the London Business School, a LLB in International Law from Université Paris I Sorbonne, a BA (Honors) in European Business from Trent University, Nottingham and a Bachelor of Arts, European Business, from Toulouse Business School. Bédos will be based at the company’s head office in Montreal, Canada.