From “breaking the Internet” with his picture of Kim Kardashian on the cover of Paper magazine to collaborations with Grace Jones, photographer and film director Jean-Paul Goude has an impressive repertoire of campaigns under his belt.
The 76-year-old Frenchman, who rarely speaks to the media, is known for cherry picking his clientele and has worked with the likes of Chanel (on the famous Égoïste ad campaign), Kenzo and Prada.
2017 sees a new creative collaboration for Goude, this time with Spanish fashion and accessories brand Desigual. In his role as Desigual Artistic Director, Goude will consult on every aspect of Desigual’s brand image, from product design to marketing efforts to industry facing events.
Goude’s first task was to oversee the look selection, styling and all other creative elements of Desigual’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection, which was unveiled at New York Fashion Week. The Moodie Davitt Report was the exclusive travel retail media to preview the collection last month.
We caught up with Desigual Head of Travel Retail Marco Gadola after the catwalk show to talk about the new partnership with Goude and the brand’s movements in travel retail.
The Moodie Davitt Report: What prompted the decision to appoint Jean-Paul Goude as Artistic Director? And what does Desigual hope to achieve with the new collaboration?
Marco Gadola: Desigual has long stood for authenticity, singularity and non-conformity – values which are aligned with Jean-Paul Goude. As we are striving to be as consumer-centric as possible, Goude’s experience and talent in myriad disciplines will be pivotal in achieving our goals, which include building closer relationships with customers, the segmentation and differentiation of our collections, creation of new patterns and designs, and enhancement of campaign strategies and media investments.
Can you describe some of the changes that have been or will be implemented as a result of Jean-Paul Goude’s appointment?
As our Artistic Director, Goude will be consulting on every aspect of Desigual’s brand image, including product design, marketing efforts and industry-facing events. His debut role in Desigual was during the recent New York Fashion Week, where he was the label’s Creative Director and oversaw look selection, styling, and all other creative elements of the show.
In your own words, how would you describe the SS18 women’s collection?
The SS18 women’s collection is inspired by a voyage through different types of exotic and psychedelic jungles. Cross-cultural references are showcased in a panoply of colour, creativity and vitality. Goude’s involvement with this collection brings bold novelty and unique appeal to the presentation, complementing Desigual’s long-established DNA of celebrating optimism, individuality and originality.
In terms of looks for the SS18 women’s collection, the silhouettes are casual but textured, including everything from raffia to polka-dots, with an emphasis on looseness and pattern. The pieces are visually rich and dynamic – think colour-blocked knit sweaters with interweaving mesh and marine striping, leather jackets on the shorter side in leather or denim with gold jewellery complements and boho dresses in trippy geometric prints. As if that’s not enough, we’ve also thrown in other graphic elements such as Tahitian flowers, palm groves and even a Mickey Mouse print.
The SS18 show also included a 16-piece capsule collection called ‘Desigual Couture’ designed by Goude.
Desigual launched a lifestyle magazine earlier this year. How has this initiative been received?
Our magazine, which was created to engage with our customers though a differentiated approach that is inspirational and fun, has been well received. What is also pleasing is what an effective sales tool the magazine has been for our sales staff… this was not the original intention, but they love it. We hear of many cases where the sales staff refer to the magazine to guide and advise customers on their styling of our collection, in order to seal purchases and stimulate trade-ups.
Besides the lifestyle magazine, how does Desigual plan to be the voice of women in travel retail going forwards?
Desigual has the mantra “Making Women in Travel Retail Happy”. This applies to both consumer and trade activities.
For the consumer, we are very focused on bringing a positive experience beyond the wardrobe. As earlier mentioned, Desigual is about authenticity, singularity and non-conformity – we strive to bring to women these optimistic values. An example is the Desigual Sailing Experience, where we are giving shoppers the opportunity to have a unique experience in our home city of Barcelona on a customised wooden schooner boat, as a reward for purchases in participating Dufry stores on selected Spanish islands.
For the trade, we’re also working to amplify the women who work in travel retail. Desigual teamed up with The Moodie Davitt Report earlier this year to showcase a monthly video series called Travel Retail Women Talk, where female trailblazers shared their experiences in life and working in the channel.
In 2017, Desigual is collaborating with networking group Women in Travel Retail (WiTR) on a 2018 calendar, under the direction of our Artistic Director Jean-Paul Goude. The proceeds from the sale of the calendars will be donated to WiTR’s selected 2018 charity.
Which are Desigual’s best performing regions for travel retail and where would you like to develop further?
Europe and the Americas – both USA and Latin America – would be our two strongest regions. Our traction in the Americas over the last two to three years has been incredible.
Asia is an extremely interesting market for us – we’re strong domestically in Singapore and Japan but growth in the rest of the region has been slower. The potential is huge however, given the booming middle classes and intra-regional travel forecasts.
While not a region, inflight is another important part of our business. We’ve developed special inflight exclusives, which have proven to be extremely popular with travellers looking for something unique and travel-friendly, either as a gift or a personal treat to oneself.
“We are very focused on bringing a positive experience beyond the wardrobe”
How do you plan to grow Desigual’s share of the fashion & accessories market over the next year or two?
We’ll continue to execute on our strategy, exploring opportunities for new openings and innovative retail formats, innovating at the product level and delivering colourful and impactful marketing campaigns.
You recently said that kidswear is an “exciting area for growth” in travel retail. How do you plan to grow this category and are the retailers supportive of it?
At present, kidswear hardly features on the radar in travel retail but, when you think about it, so many frequent travellers are parents. This must be an opportunity, but the question is where to locate the range. Is it in the multi-brand fashion area? Is it a corner inside a stand-alone Desigual boutique? Is it in a kids’ concept? I don’t think this is fully understood by the retailers, so we want to work with them to explore the options and find the optimal solution.
What’s your opinion on the overall health of the fashion & accessories category in travel retail?
Aside from the obvious challenges facing the entire industry, the category is in a pretty healthy position. We’re seeing an increasing number of retailers looking to take a proper category management-driven approach.
I’d still like to see more airports taking a more open-minded approach to utilising space for pop-ups and similar concepts. There has been some progress, but there tends to be too many unnecessary barriers to this activity.
“Desigual has long stood for authenticity, singularity and non-conformity – values which are aligned with Jean-Paul Goude”
