KEYNOTE INTERVIEW
“FROM ZERO TO HERO”
In eight years Kering Eyewear went from agile new entrant, to a leader in the luxury eyewear segment. In this compelling interview, Kering Eyewear Global Head of Centralized Channels Omar Hagi discusses Kering Eyewear’s M&A strategy and how its new Digital Retail Concept store is transforming the company’s brick & mortar footprint.
Kering Eyewear has set out a hugely ambitious goal of tripling its travel retail footprint by 2024. Hagi says that such a mission underlines the company’s belief in and commitment to the channel as a strategic growth pillar.
Since taking the travel retail reins in 2015, Hagi has witnessed numerous milestones for Kering Eyewear. “In a few years Kering Eyewear literally went from zero to hero, as we like to say,” Hagi says. “We had many milestones, from the launch of the Gucci eyewear collection to our partnership with Richemont, which added extremely qualitative brands, such as Cartier, to our portfolio.
“From the opening of our state-of-the-art Main Hub in Italy, our ongoing commitment to sustainability, to our acquisition of Lindberg which is the undisputed Danish luxury design eyewear company, there have been many memorable moments. To me, the biggest milestone is the creation of an exceptional team, made up of an extremely talented group of people who made our success story possible. Thanks to them, our current results are well ahead of the initial expectations.”
A STRATEGIC PILLAR
Since the beginning, Kering Eyewear has had an unrelenting sense of mission. Hagi says: “The mission and values of Kering Eyewear have not changed since its foundation. Our goal is to become the undisputed leader in the luxury eyewear industry and the travel retail channel has been pivotal to reach this objective.
“Thanks to its DNA and inner dynamics, travel retail has allowed us to experiment with innovations that have eventually become global best practices for other channels of the company. This, of course, contributed to Kering Eyewear’s global success. As channel leader, the responsibility to lead the category is even greater now. Innovation, quality and spotless in-store execution are our mantra. We will keep nurturing this and pushing the bar even higher.”
For Hagi, travel retail is integral to this sense of purpose. “It is definitely a sales driver,” he explains. “Travel retail has always been, and will always be, a strategic pillar for Kering Eyewear. Apart from sales, to be able to showcase our collections and innovative retail solutions in amazing locations such as Heathrow, Istanbul, Zürich, Hainan, Macau, Dubai, Bahamas, Sydney and São Paulo airports is key for our company.”
“Travel retail has always been, and will always be, strategic for Kering Eyewear”
OMAR HAGI
Like much of the industry, Kering Eyewear has had to pivot and adapt to how the COVID pandemic has changed the travel retail landscape. “The last two years have been very challenging for the business, especially for Asia, which was greatly impacted by the pandemic,” Hagi explains. “However, this didn’t stop us. Digitalisation has been key to unlocking the new travel retail.
“We fully embraced the power of digital in our new retail concept, have been working closely with retailers to strengthen our brands across many high-profile digital touchpoints, and are developing a dedicated Kering Eyewear E-shop. We believe that by embracing digital technologies, we can create a unique and entertaining experience for our end consumers.”
In addition to digitalisation, another central pillar in Kering Eyewear’s strategy is finding the right brands to join its portfolio. Recently, Kering Eyewear acquired Danish luxury eyewear brand LINDBERG and Hawaiian sunglasses brand Maui Jim.
The two high-profile acquisitions, according to Hagi, reaffirm Kering Eyewear’s goal to valorise its portfolio. He says: “LINDBERG and Maui Jim offer great potential opportunities to expand our business through these two very qualitative, renowned, still fully independent and complementary brands.
“Our mission has always been to be the one and only luxury eyewear leader,” Hagi explains. “Both these acquisitions reaffirm that goal. Our core strategy is based on the valorisation of all the brands in our portfolio. By managing 100%-owned brands through an internalised business model, we can keep working with all our brands, express their unique DNA and maximise their potential in the eyewear category.”
Throughout Kering Eyewear’s brief but eventful history, the uniting thread has been the commitment of the team. Hagi says, “Kering Eyewear and its passionate and tireless travel retail team have never stepped back during the pandemic. Supporting the category and our retail partners has been our main goal. Now, we find ourselves in a privileged and even stronger competitive position than in 2019.”
Kering Group posted a +23% year-on-year rise in first-half revenue (+16% on a comparable basis) to €9,930 million. Within this performance, Kering Eyewear sales reached €576 million, up by +50% at current exchange rates (+26% on a comparable basis). The eyewear division posted a +17% rise in Q2 revenue. Impressive numbers which are set to maintain their upward trajectory.
ONE STEP AHEAD
With recovery at hand, Kering Eyewear is streamlining its focus on driving innovation and expanding its store footprint. Hagi says, “In order to further drive the category, we have worked on two axes: in-store innovation and product evolution. The recently launched Kering Eyewear Digital Retail Concept is transforming our store footprint. We have opened ten of these stores in the past couple of years within the channel. The plan is to triple that footprint by the end of 2024. From the product side, our innovative Blue & Beyond offering will be further expanded, alongside a new project with customisable eyewear.” So how does Kering Eyewear plan to maintain even extend its leadership position in the luxury eyewear segment? According to Hagi, it’s all about remaining agile and staying one step ahead of the pack. “As a category market leader, Kering Eyewear is committed to providing a consumer-centric shopping experience,” he says.
“Our end consumers are key, they are our brand ambassadors. We strive to provide a unique product offer and experience for them. We expand our product range with the objective of unleashing the potential of each brand in a creative and sustainable way. We collaborate with different international artists to develop creative concepts. We acquire new brands to provide a comprehensive offer for our end consumers. We are always one step ahead of the category.”
