HEC Paris’ First Annual Luxury Conference

The HEC Paris MBA Luxury Club hosted its inaugural Luxury Conference, themed "Luxury at Crossroads," featuring industry leaders and alumni discussing heritage conservation, digital transformation, and sustainability in luxury. Attendees from top business schools networked over champagne and engaged in discussions on retail evolution, emerging markets, and sustainability challenges and opportunities.

The HEC Paris MBA Luxury Club held the First Annual Luxury Conference at the HEC Alumni Headquarters in Paris in November.

The conference centered on the theme “Luxury at Crossroads.” During the morning session, we heard from alumni and industry leaders on the conservation of luxury brands’ heritage, timelessness and savoir-faire. The afternoon session was focused on topics defining the luxury of tomorrow; namely digital transformation, new markets development and sustainability. Topics included luxury goods (as well as leather), perfume, wine and spirits, hospitality and cars.

The event was a great success and hosted as an intimate networking event with 100 attendees joining from HEC Paris, Bocconi, INSEAD, London Business School, ESADE and ESSEC, alongside industry leaders and notable alumni. Guests had the opportunity to make valuable connections over a champagne lunch and during a wine tasting.

Our keynote speaker was Joëlle de Montgolfier, Global Director for Bain & Company’s Consumer Products, Retail and Luxury practice, who provided us with the first look into the 2018 Global Luxury Goods report. We then had the pleasure of listening to a panel discussion on Retail’s Evolution with Arnaud Ameline (Christian Dior Couture), Elodie Barbé (The Kooples) and Pascal Charneau (Customer Touch, Vacheron Constantin) who touched on the key trends in stores, client experience and the training of store personnel.

Frédéric Arnold, CDO of Moët Hennessy, discussed the inception of the MH Lab 78, the innovation center of Moët Hennessy.

Then attendees enjoyed Moët & Chandon champagne while networking.

The afternoon session examined the topics impacting existing heritage brands. A key focus was on digital trends, which are giving rise to a number of new initiatives and start-ups. We learned about key developments from Audrey DePraeter-Montacel, Managing Director of Fashion & Luxury France for Accenture. We also heard from Coralie de Fontenay (Cartier International) and Perrine Corvaisier (Human Learning eXpedition), who discussed the omni-channel customer experience.

The next session focused on the development of new markets in China and India. Partner and Founder Jean Revis (MAD Network) discussed retail challenges and the evolving frontiers of the luxury industry.

Venture capitalist Luisa Munaretto (Brands & Beyond) discussed how to tackle successful investments in luxury and retail and focused on providing examples to illustrate scalability while respecting culture and tradition in India.

The conference concluded with Kering Sustainability Operations Director Michael Beutler conversing with HEC Paris Luxury Club President Teejana Beenessreesingh about issues of sustainability in the industry.

The first HEC Luxury Conference was a huge success, bringing together notable talents from the Luxury industry, alongside future leaders from top business schools. It provided an excellent opportunity to reinforce relationships between HEC Paris, alumni and friends. We look forward to the second edition in 2019.