Shenzhen airport welcomes 13 luxury brands

Thirteen luxury fashion boutiques have begun trading in Shenzhen Bao’an airport’s new terminal. Ranging from 60sq m to 150sq m, the standalone boutiques comprise Bally, Hugo Boss, Cerruti 1881, Coach, Dunhill, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Furla, Montblanc, Salvatore Ferragamo, Shanghai Tang, Tommy Hilfiger and Versace. The stores are operated by LS travel retail China, a division of Lagardère Services group.

Bally is among the 13 brands now trading at Shenzhen airport

“Our fashion concept perfectly complements the amazing architectural design of the terminal,” said Eudes Fabre, general manager of LS travel retail China. “In collaboration with our brand partners and Shenzhen airport, our vision is not only to enhance the brands we have on offer at this airport but also to offer new innovative travel retail concept where consumers can truly experience our consistent world-class service standard. These openings signify our wealth of expertise and knowledge in high-end luxury retailing but also our ambition and ability for growth in China.”

Emmanuel de Place, COO of LS travel retail ASPAC, added: “We have successfully brought a dynamic mix of the world’s leading luxury fashion brands into a world-class travel retail shopping experience at Shenzhen Bao’an international airport. We are very proud of our strong growth in luxury fashion across the region and particularly in China with such modern and forward thinking airports as here in Shenzhen. With more than 20 years’ presence in the Asia Pacific region, we are now operating more than 260 stores in nine countries.”

Sun Zheng Ling, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Airport Group, observed: “Shenzhen is a lucrative market with great potential, especially for luxury fashion in travel retail.”

LS travel retail operates 27 luxury fashion stores across the Asia Pacific region, beginning with its first multi-brand boutique, The Fashion Gallery, which carries 17 brands. This was followed by several standalone luxury fashion branded stores such as Coach, Hugo Boss, Longchamp and Salvatore Ferragamo in Singapore and at locations across China. 

MCM celebrates Shanghai flagship

German fashion house MCM has opened its inaugural Chinese flagship boutique in Shanghai, in the city’s newest luxury shopping mall iAPM. The 553 sq m store, which offers ready-to-wear and accessories collections, is designed to be a retail experience for shoppers as well as a cultural destination.

For the first time, the brand introduces an art space entitled “MCM Gallery” inside the store, in which a series of contemporary artworks is displayed. A lounge area also exhibits the creations of notable artists from around the world. A large media wall, two video columns and a specially designed VIP room also add to the shopping experience.

MCM's flagship store in Shanghai features a booth made of the brand's signature brass plates

The flagship boutique, which is divided into two separate zones, features the brand’s elegant grey and classic gold interior. A golden booth in the middle of the store was created using MCM’s signature brass plates, while pops of colour are dotted around the store, some as part of the fittings. 

The Shanghai store offers a number of limited-edition collections, including the Paradiso series of backpacks, designed in collaboration with cult Japanese hip-hop label Phenomenon, and the metallic Gold Pegasus collection in celebration of the Year of the Horse.

A lounge area showcases work from international artists

The media wall created by acclaimed artist and videographer Andrew Daffy

Hollywood actress Chloe Sevigny attended the launch party

Spirited approaches to travel retail

The world’s leading premium spirits and wine brands are continuing to target high-spending Asian travellers through a number of innovative, heritage-focused promotions. Here are some of the latest and best executions at international airport shops:

DIAGEO LAUNCHES JOHNNIE WALKER CONCEPT STORE

Diageo and World Duty Free Group have opened an exclusive concept store at London Heathrow Terminal 4 that celebrates the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection of Scotch whiskies. The luxurious location pays tribute to the travelling heritage of the John Walker & Sons agents who journeyed the world in the 19th and 20th Centuries, navigating their way down the famous trade routes in pursuit of new business and adventure. 

It is based on the spirit of the Travellers’ Room established by Alexander Walker at the company’s headquarters in London in the 1890s. Close to the shipping houses and docks from which its agents journeyed the world, they gathered to exchange stories, in turn inspiring generations of master blenders. Now modern-day travellers can enjoy the Travellers’ Room concept.

The new Johnnie Walker concept store at at London Heathrow airport

The concept store features a tasting bar where travellers can discover the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection travel retail exclusive releases – The Spice Road, The Gold Route and The Royal Route. The store also combines Johnnie Walker inspiration areas alongside a retail zone.

The Johnnie Walker Explorers' Club Collection

Paul Downing, key accounts director of Diageo Global Travel, said: “The concept store is a striking spectacle that brings to life the brand’s heritage in travel, exciting and inspiring customers on their journeys.

“In keeping with the style of the Travellers’ Room, where the agents swapped samples and tales from their voyages, consumers who visit the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club will be able to return from their adventures with something they cannot buy at home – the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection, a range of blended Scotch whiskies designed exclusively for travellers.”

Eugenio Andrades, chief commercial officer of World Duty Free Group, added: “Since the Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection launched in November 2012 it has been very popular with global travellers and is regarded as a brilliant example of a highly successful travel retail exclusive.”

The store opened on 25 February and will welcome travellers until the end of May.

ST HUGO TEMPTS TRAVELLERS IN ASIA TRAVEL RETAIL

St Hugo, one of Australia’s most awarded fine wines, has extended its Mark the Milestones campaign, launched in January 2014 in Australia, to Singapore Changi airport. The campaign targets sophisticated wine drinkers and aims to raise the profile of Australian fine wines.

The campaign was launched to create a strong correlation between enjoying St Hugo wines with travellers’ own personal achievements. Asia’s first leg of the activation takes place in Singapore’s Changi airport and will run until 31 March. This will be followed by the launch in Hong Kong airport from 1 March to 30 April.

The wine category is becoming increasingly important in Asia duty free stores. Two of the wines available to travellers are travel retail exclusives, namely The St Hugo McLaren Vale Shiraz and the St Hugo Coonawarra Shiraz. The promotion also focuses on the original product in the St Hugo range – The St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon.

Drawing on the campaign’s theme of marking the moment, travellers can personalise their purchase with a customised red wax seal on the bottle’s box packaging to commemorate a special occasion. A total of 16 seal options are available in English and Chinese. Travellers can win a Montblanc pen and branded journal to inspire customers to mark their milestones.

Pierre-Henry Coppere, brand manager for wines at Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail, said: “The new activation is the perfect occasion to establish the St Hugo range in the fine wine category. We have had a fantastic start to our campaign roll-out in DFS stores in Singapore with positive sales performance and great traveller interaction.”

THE GLENLIVET UNVEILS BOUTIQUE IN TAIWAN'S TAOYUAN AIRPORT

Pernod Ricard-owned Scotch whisky brand The Glenlivet has opened a dedicated branded space at Taiwan's Taoyuan airport. Drawing on the single malt’s legacy, the space is inspired by The Guardian’s Library, the room at The Glenlivet distillery exclusively available to Guardians of The Glenlivet - the brand’s global community of connoisseurs.

Three distinct areas in the store are designed to reflect different aspects of The Glenlivet. The Travel Retail Exclusive zone features the brand’s travel retail exclusive whisky, The Glenlivet Master Distiller’s Reserve, offering consumers an opportunity to taste the complex flavours of the triple-wood expression.

In the lifestyle zone, consumers can enjoy a glass of The Glenlivet (neat, with water or on the rocks) while being challenged to take part in a game of snooker for a chance to win an exclusive whisky. The player who scores highest throughout the period will win a bottle of The Glenlivet Alpha, described by the company as “the mystery expression, released without cask information or tasting notes, and of which only 3,350 have been released”.

Finally, the prestige section showcases the most premium references of the brand including The Glenlivet 18 Year Old, 21 Year Old Archive and the 25 Year Old. Visitors can interact with a motion-sensored storyboard that tells the story of The Glenlivet.

Kim Tse, brand manager of Pernod Ricard Asia Travel Retail, said: “The exceptional large-scale brand space allows us to engage with travellers and whisky enthusiasts in a luxurious setting that brings them back to the Scottish origins of The Glenlivet. We are proud to launch this pop-up space in Taiwan airport, bringing a unique brand experience to this sophisticated malt whisky market.”

The boutique will run until the end of March.

DEWAR’S CAMPAIGN AT NEW DELHI AIRPORT

Scotch whisky brand Dewar’s launched a promotion at New Delhi Indira Gandhi airport celebrating its status as the “World’s Most Awarded Blended Scotch Whisky”. The Bacardi-owned brand has won more than 400 awards in independent tastings.

Developed with Indian travel retailer Delhi Duty Free Services, the campaign featured Dewar’s 12 year old Special Reserve, Dewar’s 18 year old Founder's Reserve, the luxury blend Dewar’s Signature and Aberfeldy single malt, which is used in each of the blends.

The promotion, which ran from 1 February for six weeks, centred on the brand's distinctive ‘World’s Most Awarded Blended Scotch Whisky’ gold medal-style crest.

The Dewar's Scotch whisky range

Irving Holmes Wong, Bacardi Global Travel Retail regional director Asia-Pacific and MEA, said: “Asia Pacific is a core market for Dewar’s and it's a key brand to watch in the fast developing market of India. New Delhi Indira Gandhi International airport has a growing profile of affluent, brand-conscious travellers seeking the very best luxury brand experiences.

“Renowned for their appreciation of whisky, the affluent Indian customers are highly discerning and don't want to follow the mainstream. Their pursuit of in-the-know brands drives them to seek out supreme quality and authenticity and our high-profile Dewar’s activation leads them to a new discovery, with the added kudos of the 'World's Most Awarded Blended Scotch Whisky'."

Dewar's promotion at New Delhi airport

Delhi Duty Free Services CEO Duncan Lawley said Dewar’s was ideally suited to the airport’s passenger profile. "At Delhi Duty Free we are developing a powerful premium retail experience and we're delighted to further strengthen our working relationship with Bacardi Global Travel Retail. As the world's most awarded blended Scotch whisky, Dewar’s holds a unique position in the blended Scotch category in Asia and we are confident that this powerful large-scale promotion will excite our shoppers."

Zilli debuts ultra-luxury China flagship

Zilli is one of the world’s few authentic ultra-luxury menswear brands. Specialising in superbly crafted leather jackets made from exotic skins, the French family-owned brand was founded by Alain Schimel in 1970. Here, his son Laurent Schimel, now Zilli’s CEO, reveals the brand’s first steps in China and his plans for the future.

What are the most dynamic international markets for Zilli, and how much has turnover grown in these markets over the past year?   

Laurent Schimel: Russian-speaking countries were historically our first market from the 1990s to recently, contributing 70% of sales. Since our development in China (in 2012 five stores, 2013 two more), the CIS represents 50% of the market as Asia, Middle East, US and Europe are split over the other 50%. Our turnover is made up of Europe 21%, Asia 15%, US 6%, Middle East 9% and CIS 49%. Our turnover has increased by about 15% each year since 2010.

Alain Schimel (far left), founder of Zilli, with his family

In which countries/territories are you expanding? 

We plan to continue our expansion in Asia in the following year and maintain our strong presence in the CIS with bigger shops and other cities there. We will open in the US in Miami next September in the Design District. In the Middle East we have plans in Qatar.

How important is travel retail in your overall company strategy?   

Our travel retail distribution is strong in Russia with three airports in Moscow, over many years. It’s great we opened last year a big corner in Vienna, one of the best places to capture customers from Eastern European countries. Our future plans will be focused on Asia airports in the future; we have to reach Hong Kong, Singapore.  

Zilli Spring/Summer 14

What is your strategy for Zilli in China specifically? Do you have a Chinese brand ambassador? 

First of all this year we will work on the brand awareness, launch a digital media campaign by the middle of the year, organise some retail events regularly, trunk-shows... We have not yet come up yet with a Chinese ambassador but this is something in progress.

What are the opportunities for Zilli in the Chinese market?

It’s true we arrived quite late in China which is actually a very good thing. The Chinese market is now more mature than 10 years ago. The understanding of our brand is not easy as we are quite “niche”, extreme luxury... we feel that the Chinese customers are very happy to discover a brand which is not overexposed, very exclusive, with handcrafted made in France products. They want to feel unique, and this is something Zilli can offer.

What challenges you have faced so far in China?

Our lack of notoriety in China, which turned recently to an advantage compared to overexposed brands. Mainly we had problems at the beginning with production, as we opened a 600sq m flagship in Shanghai. Our production of leather and furs in Lyon is limited (we have 100 craftsmen) so we had to increase our teams in the workshop to deal with the quantity of jackets, belts, etc, requested, as my father and I do not want to have production outside of our own workshop.

Zilli backpack in crocodile leather for SS14

In terms of products, which categories are you expanding? 

Mainly sportswear: leather jackets, belts, shoes, jeans, eyewear. [We will expand] from 5% to 7% in these different categories. Leather and furs are still our core business. 

What other plans/initiatives are you working on over the next 12 months?

We will focus our efforts in the US. In Europe, we are opening a Harrods corner and our first shop in Berlin.

What was the highlight of your business year in 2013?

The achievement of our store in Hong Kong, at the Peninsula Hotel, and Shanghai with the first Zilli Chinese flagship store: it covers 600sq m on the historical Bund  at no 6.

Bacardi celebrates catwalk shows in style

To mark the international fashion show season, Bacardi created a series of fashionable activities with leading French travel retailer Aelia at its Paris and Rome airport stores.

Bombay Sapphire, the drinks maker’s best-selling premium gin brand, collaborated with British fashion designer Holly Fulton on a special-edition luxury gift set featuring a unisex scarf. The scarf incorporates the designer’s graphic embellishments and playful twists, which were again reflected in the vibrant point-of-sale centrepiece. Sales staff also modelled the scarf in the stores. The gift box is decorated with a striking design inspired by the distinctive shape of the Bombay Sapphire bottle.

This Bombay Sapphire gift set includes a Holly Fulton-designed scarf

Sandrine Verrecchia-Godin, liquor senior buyer at Aelia, part of LS travel retail, said: “Backed by the category-leading appeal of the Bombay Sapphire brand, the Holly Fulton activations provide eye-catching theatre for the traveller. We are confident that the on-trend limited-edition scarf will encourage stronger conversion in our Paris and Rome stores.”

Bombay Sapphire's stylish airport store promotion 

Aude Rocourt, regional director Europe at Bacardi Global Travel Retail, enthused: “Bombay Sapphire is such an exciting brand around which to innovate on the lifestyle appeal of the brand personality and the visual impact in-store is certainly exceptional, emphasised by the added connection with the key fashion season in Europe, amplifying the appeal both as a self-treat and as a gifting option.”

The promotion ran from late January to mid-February.