From e-commerce to the harmonisation of pricing, global growth to his relationship with creative director Karl Lagerfeld, Pavlovksy was transparent as to where the company stands on all fronts – especially on the fashion industry’s favourite discussion point of the season: the subject of see-now buy-now.
“Every brand has to decide what they want for their future. If a brand wants see-now, buy-now, then good for them, but I don’t think it’s the thing to do with Chanel because of our creative business model,” he told us, adding that it’s still very early days for the new format. “This collection, for example, was made from amazing, very light tweed fabrics – you have to see it to believe it – and that takes time. It’s months and months of work to be able to deliver that. At the moment we prefer to continue to focus on our product and give our customers not only the best design, but the best quality and the best finishes."
The creative business model of the brand is central to everything Pavlovksy, who has been at Chanel for 23 years, talks about. While he notes that it is imperative for the brand to continue improving its position in the luxury market, acknowledging that “it’s more and more demanding as the world is changing, customers are changing, competitors are strong”, it is the consistency of creative innovation that is key to the brand’s success.
“At the end of the day, when our customers leave with our products they need to feel the difference between a Chanel product and a non-Chanel product. That for me is important,” he said. “At the moment we are doing well.
A big reason that the company is doing so well globally right now stretches back to its decision in early 2015 to harmonise its pricing structure worldwide, allowing customers in all regions the chance to make their purchases on home turf, without needing to travel to take advantage of currency fluctuations between markets. It was an agile, albeit risky, move, and one that within two years has paid off.
“No doubt, we had two phases,” Pavlovsky explained. “For the first two months after the announcement there was a bit of panic. If you reduce the price by 20 per cent in Korea and China, everyone is of course going to ask, ‘What’s happening at Chanel? What’s gone wrong?' After these two months, when we had the opportunity to explain it to everyone, we saw a strong comeback and development in our product. Today we can see two-digit growth which means that it was the right for our customers. Chanel is stronger than ever and by harmonising prices we continued to give a strong message to customers to just enjoy Chanel – the price is the same everywhere.”
But despite offering universal pricing structure, Pavlovsky still has no plans to make Chanel’s ready-to-wear collections available universally online any time soon.
“If you try to define what is luxury today and ask the customers, first of all they think about the quality of the products, and then the exclusivity. We need to not forget in this world where everything is digital, that keeping this exclusivity is an important way to engage with customers,” he said. “A long time ago we did a test in the States with ready-to-wear – in the early days of e-commerce - to see what was happening, but we are not active at the moment with fashion, because we want to maintain some exclusivity," he added, explaining that rather than use their digital reach to sell products, they use it to gain insight into what their customers want from the Chanel experience and offer a better service.
“What we can achieve online is to give a strong editorial to our customers. Many different media can do this also, influencers, bloggers, many people. But that will never replace the feeling of being in a fitting room. It’s about being able to try the product, to test the product and also for us to be able to have conversations with the customers in the boutique to explain and suggest options. A lot of people want to keep this relationship,” he explained. “E-commerce is more about buying something and if you don’t like it then you send it back, which is difficult to do with what we are doing, so we try to keep something back. But there is no question that it is a part of the evolution of the world and we want to find the best way of doing that. If we think we need to do it, then we’ll do it. If we think we need to do something else, then we’ll do something else, but what we need to keep in mind, firstly, is all of our customers.”
“You don’t see anyone in the front row who has nothing to say about the brand. They are here and they are our guests because we feel that we have a connection,” he said. “They are inspiring for the studio and for Mr Lagerfeld because they have a point of view, and we choose them because they have some idea about Chanel and because they support the brand. It’s nice having a multi-faceted way of looking at Chanel. They are not the same, they can agree or disagree and it’s important for us as a brand to listen as this is what happens in everyday life.”
Everyday life, Pavlovsky revealed, involves touching base with Lagerfeld “more or less every day” (“We have a very clear vision of roles and what is the next step of the brand”) and at the moment concentrating on the forthcoming Metiers D’Art show, which the brand announced last month would take place in the newly reopened Paris Ritz Hotel, a location that holds special significance for the house.
“After the Ritz's renovation I think it’s a strong move for us to show there,” he smiled. “There is lot to say about Mademoiselle Chanel and Mr Lagerfeld there and it’s going to be an amazing story for us. And, on top of that, we love Paris and Paris needs support at the moment, so it is important to us to be here and give a strong sign that Paris will stay the capital of creation.”
Considered, creative and paving its own way in commerce, long may Chanel continue to craft its trajectory as carefully as it creates its clothes.
“Every brand has to decide what they want for their future. If a brand wants see-now, buy-now, then good for them, but I don’t think it’s the thing to do with Chanel because of our creative business model,” he told us, adding that it’s still very early days for the new format. “This collection, for example, was made from amazing, very light tweed fabrics – you have to see it to believe it – and that takes time. It’s months and months of work to be able to deliver that. At the moment we prefer to continue to focus on our product and give our customers not only the best design, but the best quality and the best finishes."
The creative business model of the brand is central to everything Pavlovksy, who has been at Chanel for 23 years, talks about. While he notes that it is imperative for the brand to continue improving its position in the luxury market, acknowledging that “it’s more and more demanding as the world is changing, customers are changing, competitors are strong”, it is the consistency of creative innovation that is key to the brand’s success.
“At the end of the day, when our customers leave with our products they need to feel the difference between a Chanel product and a non-Chanel product. That for me is important,” he said. “At the moment we are doing well.
A big reason that the company is doing so well globally right now stretches back to its decision in early 2015 to harmonise its pricing structure worldwide, allowing customers in all regions the chance to make their purchases on home turf, without needing to travel to take advantage of currency fluctuations between markets. It was an agile, albeit risky, move, and one that within two years has paid off.
“No doubt, we had two phases,” Pavlovsky explained. “For the first two months after the announcement there was a bit of panic. If you reduce the price by 20 per cent in Korea and China, everyone is of course going to ask, ‘What’s happening at Chanel? What’s gone wrong?' After these two months, when we had the opportunity to explain it to everyone, we saw a strong comeback and development in our product. Today we can see two-digit growth which means that it was the right for our customers. Chanel is stronger than ever and by harmonising prices we continued to give a strong message to customers to just enjoy Chanel – the price is the same everywhere.”
But despite offering universal pricing structure, Pavlovsky still has no plans to make Chanel’s ready-to-wear collections available universally online any time soon.
“If you try to define what is luxury today and ask the customers, first of all they think about the quality of the products, and then the exclusivity. We need to not forget in this world where everything is digital, that keeping this exclusivity is an important way to engage with customers,” he said. “A long time ago we did a test in the States with ready-to-wear – in the early days of e-commerce - to see what was happening, but we are not active at the moment with fashion, because we want to maintain some exclusivity," he added, explaining that rather than use their digital reach to sell products, they use it to gain insight into what their customers want from the Chanel experience and offer a better service.
“What we can achieve online is to give a strong editorial to our customers. Many different media can do this also, influencers, bloggers, many people. But that will never replace the feeling of being in a fitting room. It’s about being able to try the product, to test the product and also for us to be able to have conversations with the customers in the boutique to explain and suggest options. A lot of people want to keep this relationship,” he explained. “E-commerce is more about buying something and if you don’t like it then you send it back, which is difficult to do with what we are doing, so we try to keep something back. But there is no question that it is a part of the evolution of the world and we want to find the best way of doing that. If we think we need to do it, then we’ll do it. If we think we need to do something else, then we’ll do something else, but what we need to keep in mind, firstly, is all of our customers.”
An added element of the luxury experience – and another reason why Pavlovsky sees e-commerce posing another conundrum for the brand – lies in being able to cater for different demand in different regions. “You see in New York something that you don’t see in Asia,” he said, “and so I think we have to respect that all our customers are not the same. They don’t want to be the same.”
This independent rationale is adopted when it comes to Chanel’s ambassadors, Pavlovsky continued, who - rather than be chosen for their millions of social-media followers (as has become the norm for many big-name labels) - are selected because they have “something important to say”.
This independent rationale is adopted when it comes to Chanel’s ambassadors, Pavlovsky continued, who - rather than be chosen for their millions of social-media followers (as has become the norm for many big-name labels) - are selected because they have “something important to say”.
“You don’t see anyone in the front row who has nothing to say about the brand. They are here and they are our guests because we feel that we have a connection,” he said. “They are inspiring for the studio and for Mr Lagerfeld because they have a point of view, and we choose them because they have some idea about Chanel and because they support the brand. It’s nice having a multi-faceted way of looking at Chanel. They are not the same, they can agree or disagree and it’s important for us as a brand to listen as this is what happens in everyday life.”
Everyday life, Pavlovsky revealed, involves touching base with Lagerfeld “more or less every day” (“We have a very clear vision of roles and what is the next step of the brand”) and at the moment concentrating on the forthcoming Metiers D’Art show, which the brand announced last month would take place in the newly reopened Paris Ritz Hotel, a location that holds special significance for the house.
“After the Ritz's renovation I think it’s a strong move for us to show there,” he smiled. “There is lot to say about Mademoiselle Chanel and Mr Lagerfeld there and it’s going to be an amazing story for us. And, on top of that, we love Paris and Paris needs support at the moment, so it is important to us to be here and give a strong sign that Paris will stay the capital of creation.”
Considered, creative and paving its own way in commerce, long may Chanel continue to craft its trajectory as carefully as it creates its clothes.
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