by Martina Fuchs

France's Kering vows to commit to a long-term business expansion in China as the luxury-goods group aims to push for sustainability, innovation and collaboration in the Chinese market, its managing director has told Xinhua recently.

In an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the ongoing fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE) running from Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, Jean-Francois Palus highlighted China's role as Kering's top market.

"We have been very pleased with the past two experiences," he told Xinhua via video call. Kering, which manages luxury names in fashion, leather goods, jewellery and watches, has all its houses engaging in the CIIE for the third consecutive year.

"Kering has been present in China for 40 years now. This participation is also a proof of our commitment to China as a whole. We want to deploy our social, responsible and environmental vision of luxury within the country, and we are very pleased to do so with the CIIE as a platform," he said.

Based in Paris, the group's portfolio includes luxury brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.

Palus told Xinhua that Chinese customers represent more than 35 percent of the luxury market as a whole and that the country had become its number one marketplace.

"For us, China has become a paramount market. We want to tap into the fantastic potential that our houses have within China. We are working very much on developing our store network, on expanding our presence, on also fuelling our e-commerce sales that are surging right now," he said.

When asked about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business, Palus said that while the luxury sector had not been immune from the pandemic, it has weathered the storm better than other industries.

Particularly in China, which was the first country to emerge from the pandemic and to resume quite a sustainable growth momentum, some of Kering's brands have already exceeded their pre-pandemic levels, he said.

LUXURY ON DISPLAY

Kering Group's display at this year's CIIE features a selection of iconic and timeless pieces of all its houses at the Kering Pavilion named the "Kering Galaxy" and constructed by the international architecture firm Buro Ole Scheeren.

"We want to display the heritage of our houses and our vision of timeless luxury. This is the reason why our brands will showcase timeless iconic products such as Gucci's bamboo bag that was launched in 1947 and reappeared in the latest Aria collection," said Palus.

"Also, Saint Laurent will display a signature dress in a strong red color that reminds of the launch of the Opium fragrance in 1977," he said.

Palus said that its Chinese fine jewellery company Qeelin was also put into the spotlight: "The Qeelin brand is a Chinese brand that we are pushing and developing and supporting. They will display the Wulu necklace that was also an iconic product launched in 2004."

Palus said that innovation and collaboration are crucial in a bid to bring new solutions for Kering's business model and to transform it. "We insist on what the heritage of our brands can be and how innovation can make those products very contemporary," he said.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT IN CHINA

Palus stressed that the corporate social responsibility in China figured high on his agenda, as well as empowering the next generation of Chinese innovators who can develop scalable global solutions for sustainable and ethical luxury.

"We want to emphasize the importance of the Chinese market not only from a business point of view and a revenue point of view, but also from a cultural standpoint," he said.

"We are very much committed to participate in social life to propose actions, like our collaboration with Tsinghua University. We also have several programs in social responsibility and the environment, and our program 'Women in Motion' is also very active in China," said Palus.