2012年6月8日星期五

Louis Vuitton: The expensive shopping list, build a great name

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Louis Vuitton is the beginning of July the curtain on its newest store sparkling room draw directly on the Place Vendome in Paris, will sell no luggage, no fashion, just watches and jewelry.

It's safe to assume that the opening will come in black glamor and high production costs, expected values ​​of the French luggage came into fashion and luxury homes.

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Already today, the LV atwitter with excitement of the elevator when it opens later this year whisk is VIP customers of the shop in the garage overlooking the famous square where artisans have to be in their seats to work on special commissions and jewelry.

Although this may be an impressive statement business, no doubt, is the real work takes place in an industrial area on the outskirts of Geneva, showing the division of the company, is building a large plant.

It is about a little less glamorous Meyrin near Geneva busy airport, where the rigors of a traditional Swiss-made with imagination and creativity, luxury mega-brand will be reunited.

A decade after launch, the company shows and jewelry program is under the control of Hamdi Chatti, who worked in the watch industry for 20 years and came to Vuitton Mont Blanc, where he helped found the penmaker Hamburg Haute Horlogerie division.

The business model was that it inherited a relatively simple and functional in most of the luxury brands of watches that have approached with any severity within 10 to 15 years: from a field of R & D, and operation of quality control, in this case, La Chaux de fund away.

Basically a collection of plants, were the movements of specialized manufacturers such as La Joux-Perret and Dubois-Dépraz which, he said, suited for the needs of the brand at this time was delivered. But since then the two have developed ambitions Vuitton watch and clock industry.

"The strategy was based on the best suppliers in Switzerland, a good strategy was to leave at the time. But things have changed, because most providers of motion design movements for specific brands."

Wanted was a problem for Mr. chatting, give the watch, which he calls a clock signature. The appearance of a clock is important, and if it is to your taste or not, the drum is certainly sui generis, and gave the Clock look distinctive and recognizable.

"Lacked the know-how was the move." Explained Mr. chat. "The idea was that, after 10 years of business development, we need a second level and design-specific movements show what we stand for as a luxury company. The purpose of society is the journey, so we have movements that these to draft language to speak. "

The Clock of the opinion that Mr. chatting fluently Louis Vuitton, the rotation period, a system that uses renewable cube, a clock that is both home and travel offers time to create.

This movement has been raised by a small movement called The Making of Time Machine, a minute repeater, designed to be the time zone displayed Vuitton, but gives the user a second time zone, if the audible minute repeater is activated. He is playful and undeniably travel-related, while they also abundant content of Haute Horlogerie.

The show was shown at the fair in Basel in 2011, and it was enough to chat Carcelle, CEO of Louis Vuitton Men, to convince the purchase of The Making of Time, 20, or authorize the staff of the core of the new HQ Production has become. Mr. Chatti not disclose the purchase price, describing them as "big money".

But Vuitton is not afraid to pay a high price if he wants something. That's good, because in addition to building a new factory and the purchase of a machine movement specialist, Mr. Chatti more things on her shopping list, including a dialmaker.

Bicycles for large dials, he may in the production of Artecad, a developed country dialmaker held by LVMH, can produce are the lessons of hundreds of thousands.

However, he wanted his own factory dial must ensure creative independence. The purpose of the implementation as many parts of the supply chain internally, is to minimize the disruption of production due to lack of capacity in the industry as a whole, but it was not the ability, that gentleman was chatting to, rather than the flexibility and speed, which he considered necessary when it comes to prototype dials is identified.

Although Leman Dials is a charming, to be able to select only 2000-3000 per year, which is more than sufficient for the production of these complex pieces of Minute Repeater for the 250 or so spinning time are chosen each year. But the real prize is that there is some flexibility, which helped to shorten the development time has to offer.

"Well, if we have an idea on the dials and the colors and the display function, we can have a trial within two weeks, where he was not used up to six months." At work, Mr. chatting with a four-year plan is, is six months a long time.

Has since he took over the company two years ago, the number of people to produce the watches Louis Vuitton, to double over 60 years, and projected over the next two years, that of doubling the number, as he hopes to return by then presents the first in-house movement ready for mass production. If everything goes as planned, it will be an integrated operation to be impressive by any standard, let alone that of a fashion house and luxury.

Even then, the building will be much greater than this number of staff required as to serve as the Academy of watchmaking.

Mr. chatting is concerned not only with the development and manufacture of watches, but also with their details. Louis Vuitton does not wholesale but sells in its own stores, which means that those who sell the watches to have to be trained.

Some of the first graduates of the Academy of watchmaking Chatti able to use their knowledge when it comes to explain the Clock signing the new shop.



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