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Jean-Claude Biver is stepping down from his operational responsibilities as the head of LVMH’s watch division, he told Reuters over the phone on Thursday, confirming media reports. For its part, Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group posted rising sales for the fourth quarter in a row. In parallel, Gucci unveils its new Instagram account dedicated to art and beauty.
Septembre 20, 2018 | Press review
Career
“I am giving up my operational responsibilities, but I’m staying as non-executive president of LVMH’s watch unit and its three watch brands, TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot,” said Biver, 69.
Biver has been suffering from serious health problems in recent months. He said he was doing better, but had not yet fully recovered.
Biver, one of the Swiss watch industry’s best-known and most successful managers, joined LVMH in 2008 when the Hublot brand he was leading at the time was acquired by the French group. He was appointed head of LVMH’s watch business in 2014.
LVMH’s watch and jewellery division had sales of 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in 2017, up 12 percent on a like-for-like basis, which strips out currency swings and acquisitions. Jewellery is being managed separately and is not part of Biver’s responsibilities.
Biver declined to comment on a media report published in French magazine Challenges on Wednesday that he would be replaced by Stephane Bianchi, a former CEO of French cosmetics group Yves Rocher.
LVMH – the world’s biggest luxury goods group, which is controlled by the Arnault family – declined to comment.
Business
For the fourth quarter in a row, Neiman Marcus Group posted rising sales, capping off its fiscal year on a high note.
The Dallas-based retailer, which also owns Bergdorf Goodman and luxury e-commerce site MyTheresa, said on Tuesday that it had narrowed its losses to $75.3 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, ended July 28, down from $366.3 million the year prior. Total revenues rose 2.3 percent year over year to $1.13 billion.
Online sales were again a strong point in the earnings report, rising 12.5 percent. They now make up 36 percent of the group’s overall business, up from 35 percent last quarter.
“As we look to the future, we are making long-term investments in technology-, supply-chain- and new-customer-centric capabilities that will begin to benefit the business in fiscal 2020 and beyond,” said, CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who succeeded longtime CEO Karen Katz in February “Our multiyear strategic plan is designed to both protect and advance our existing business, while also positioning Neiman Marcus Group for long-term growth.”
Despite its sunny results (which are in line with the upward trend most of its competitors are seeing this year), the group is saddled with a significant debt burden of $5 billion, of which $2.8 billion is due in October 2020. A restructuring is expected in the next year with the help of investment banking firm Lazard Ltd.
Brand Strategy
After Chanel last January, it’s Gucci‘s turn to open its Instagram account dedicated to art and beauty, @guccibeauty. With almost 21,000 subscribers in only 4 days, the Instagram account of the Italian House is guided by the vision of Alessandro Michele, the artistic director of Gucci.
Rather than focusing on products, Alssandro Michele decided to focus on the history of art by publishing portraits of men but mostly women from galleries and private collections around the world.
“@guccibeauty unveils rich content covering history, geography, culture, and ethnicity, with Egyptian portraits 2,000 years ago, noble faces of Elizabethan England, and portraits portrayed by an African-American painter“, says Gucci.
Distribution
Hublot recently opened a new boutique on New Bond Street in London. The moment also marked the extension of Hublot’s partnership with Chelsea FC for another three years.
Ricardo Guadalupe said: “We are delighted and proud to present this new Hublot Flagship in one of the world’s best-known luxury destinations, New Bond Street, which demonstrates not only the strength of the brand, which has since the birth of the iconic Big Bang model in 2005 to become one of the leading luxury brands in its positioning, but also Hublot’s desire to constantly challenge the limits of fine watchmaking – the highest level of service to its customers. A new stage for Hublot in London, which will certainly serve as a springboard for Hublot in the UK and around the world“.
If the brand had been represented in London for decades, this shop is the first Hublot-owned store in the city. After successful store openings in New York, Geneva and Paris, Hublot’s distribution network currently includes 92 stores located in the most prestigious commercial areas of the world.
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