Luxury magazine: May

‘From the beginning, Saint Laurent was a rebel brand, bold and unconventional’

Freedom, connectivity, creativity, coolness – these are the defining features of the Saint Laurent brand, says its president and chief executive Francesca Bellettini.

A fashion powerhouse with a background in banking, Bellettini is respectful of Yves Saint Laurent’s rich history – but also acutely aware that modernity and nonconformity and have always sat at the heart of this much-loved French maison. “Modernity comes from letting creativity express itself,” she maintains.

Much like the company’s founding CEO, Pierre Bergé – who was credited with nurturing and guiding designer Yves Saint Laurent’s boundless talent – Bellettini believes in crafting an environment that allows creatives to do what they do best. And then standing back and allowing them to do exactly that. “I strongly believe in generating an environment that fosters creativity as opposed to fear and oppression.”

The Italian Bellettini started her career in London, working for Goldman Sachs International, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group and Compass Partners International. At the age of 29, she made the move into fashion, initially joining the Prada Group and then, in 2003, Kering, the parent company of Yves Saint Laurent. She took on her current role in September 2013, and has been a formidable force in bringing the brand back to its former glory, recasting it as bold, cutting-edge, sometimes controversial – but always bitingly cool.

To coincide with the launch of a new Saint Laurent store in the Fashion Avenue extension at The Dubai Mall, we spoke to the inspired executive. In her first-ever interview with a publication in the Middle East, Bellettini tells us about the challenges facing the luxury industry, how she measures her own success and why Saint Laurent has always stood as a symbol of female empowerment.

Is it true that you took a 50 per cent pay cut when you left the banking industry? Why did you decide to make the move into fashion?

Yes, it’s true. I was 29 and I thought it was better to follow my passion – I valued my aspiration to work in the fashion industry more than money. And I was lucky to have a family that supported me in this decision. I always liked fashion; even when I was working in banking, I was dedicating myself to projects related to fashion and luxury companies. My move to fashion came thanks to Mr [Patrizio] Bertelli, the owner of Prada, with whom I worked on several projects while I was in banking and who offered me a job at Prada. And that’s where it all started.

Why did you accept the job at Saint Laurent? What was it about this brand that appealed to you?

When François-Henri Pinault offered me the position, I was strongly attracted by the extraordinary heritage of the maison and, at the same time, its present relevance and great potential for the future. I arrived at Saint Laurent in September 2013; the repositioning of the brand had already started, and I strongly believed in it. Kering decided to further invest in it and in Saint Laurent’s great potential. Not every entrepreneur would have done this, and François-Henri Pinault has been a visionary, fully supportive of the project.

The company was ready to take the challenge. When I arrived, I could immediately see the willingness of everybody in the team to make it happen. We started to focus on all the processes and organisation, aiming to build a successful future. With no compromise. We brought clarity back to the brand and built a solid business on it.

Why was Anthony Vaccarello the best person to take over as creative director of Saint Laurent? What does he bring to the brand that’s new and fresh – and to what extent has the direction of the brand shifted under his stewardship?

The creative director of any brand has to be able to express its values naturally and in an authentic way. What I could see already, by observing the work of Anthony even before I met him, was that he was going to be the one able to do this for Saint Laurent. Meeting him reinforced this idea, and made me feel secure enough to give him the creative helm of this incredible maison. And he was indeed the only person I met for the position. Now our results have proven this clearly to everybody.

Anthony Vaccarello is very determined and is not afraid of challenges. He is pushing the brand forward with clarity and modernity. Today we are in a further phase of growth, Anthony is mastering perfectly the house’s dynamics and its power over the collective imagination. He is developing an all-round vision, which is generating excellent response and results.

I strongly believe in letting creativity express itself, and in generating an environment that fosters creativity as opposed to fear and oppression. For me, this translates into letting talented creative directors express their vision in all possible ways. Anthony has his own vision and identity, and he is using his own language to take the brand to the next level, bringing it into the future while respecting its DNA. This is modernity and gives longevity. It is excellent for me to lead this inspiring maison together with such an open, modern and creative mind as Anthony, and evolve Saint Laurent together to its full potential.

What are the Saint Laurent codes? How have these evolved since you took over five years ago?

Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé created Saint Laurent Rive Gauche in reaction to the gap or differentiation between “the elites” and “the street”, between “the bourgeois” and “the people”. Yves Saint Laurent wanted to bring couture and style to the people and to open the doors of the haute couture salons to them.

Saint Laurent codes today have re-established this juxtaposition and synthesis between the street and the salons, which is at the heart of the identity of Saint Laurent. From the beginning, Saint Laurent was a rebel brand, bold and unconventional – as it is today. Both Monsieur Saint Laurent and Monsieur Bergé were not afraid to push boundaries forward, shocking, provoking. Not for the sake of it, but in the name of empowerment and freedom of thought.

The maison was actually the first to be at the same time revolutionary and luxury, and this is what we are now. These codes make Saint Laurent relevant today. Anthony is naturally embracing this spirit with a 360-degree vision for the brand, and he is bringing back the silhouette and elevated offering, still focusing on empowerment, new generation, freedom, connectivity and coolness. He is able to take references, transforming them through his vision and making them modern and relevant today, both for those who know the history of the maison, as well as for those who do not, but share our values.

Is there pressure at a historic brand such as Saint Laurent to honour the company’s history and legacy? Can this sometimes stifle progress?

Mr Yves Saint Laurent founded the eponymous maison along with Mr Bergé by putting creativity at the centre of the brand. As there was an incredible creative talent to be placed at the centre, whom Mr Pierre Bergé believed in. Each of them had his own clear role and each of them was respecting the other one in that role, and they worked together, with a common vision that was built by daily practice. Creativity is fundamental in a fashion brand, and believing in it is the key to success. This incredible heritage is the DNA of the brand, and we are lucky to have the chance to bring it into our era, while maintaining its values and spirit.

What are the biggest challenges facing the luxury industry today?

Definitely, the fast evolution of technology, which has broken barriers, expanded audiences and made the luxury industry more reachable and inclusive today than it used to be. Still, luxury was and still is about creating desire, a dream to which people aspire and with which they want to engage.

A challenge today is to take the opportunity that technology offers, but remain consistent with who we are. Which means to be consistent in all different dimensions and touchpoints with the end consumer, to connect with them in an authentic way. In order to do this, we need to hire and retain the best talent, so in the end the challenge is and remains this one.

You have said that it is important to out-behave the market. What do you mean by this?

Out-behaving means behaving better than others, as opposed to simply outperforming others. It means focusing on relationships and engagement, as opposed to simply economic performances. We are trying to achieve our economic goals without compromising on behaviour. We focus on building authentic relationships, as opposed to short-term opportunistic ones, and we do not compromise on the positioning of the brand.

Would you like to see more female executives at the highest levels of the fashion industry?

For me, it is more a matter of competence than gender. I would always like to see competent professionals in the right positions, no matter what their gender is. This fosters personal growth for everybody and enriches everybody. Concerning my own personal experience, I never felt discriminated against because I was a woman, and I always felt that [I was given] the same possibilities as men. I was born in a world where women have a lot of opportunities and I work for a group, Kering, that looks at gender equality as one of its most important values and has made it a mission.

At the same time, I recognise that not all women have been and can be as lucky as I have been, and I feel a responsibility to make sure that equal opportunities are given to [both] genders and fairness is guaranteed. The maison has always stood – maybe more than any other fashion house – for the empowerment of women and gender equality, and against gender stereotypes.

Empowerment means, above all, the freedom to express. We have always expressed this value with creative freedom, notwithstanding the risk of shocking, displeasing or being misunderstood by some. Saint Laurent empowers women and their freedom to express their conscious femininity. It is part of the house’s DNA and always will be.

What is the most important lesson that you have learnt since joining Saint Laurent?

At Saint Laurent, I learnt the importance of not being afraid to take risks when you know they are right for the brand, and how important it is to project the brand identity into the future without compromising on its value and positioning.

How do you measure your own success?

The company’s success is what makes me proud, and it is the success of all the people that have worked together with me to make this happen. It is never one person, job or merit, and I strongly believe in this. Success needs the passion and participation of a whole team that believes in a common vision and wants to make it happen.

And how do you de-stress?

To de-stress, I play sport. In particular, I love running and I do it regularly. It is very good for me also to fight jet lag when I travel.\

Selina Denman

In attendance at the Saut Hermès showjumping competition

Selina Denman is a spectator at the action-packed Saut Hermès competition in Paris, an event that reiterates the luxury brand’s enduring love of the horse – its most loyal and long-standing customer

To truly understand the house of Hermès – to appreciate its quirks and curiosities, and the way that the past is constantly informing the present – one must travel deep into the building at 24, Faubourg Saint-Honoré that is home to the brand’s Paris flagship; through the hidden corridors and narrow staircases that were so charmingly referenced in Nigel Peake’s Promenade au Faubourg scarf; and enter the secret space that houses the private collection of Emile Hermès.

Here, you will find zoetropes and praxinoscopes, ancient Japanese saddles, 18th-century bridles and spurs from Chile. There’s a copy of Della Cavalleria (1609), a guide to all things horse-related; stools crafted from stingray; and studded collars that undoubtedly acted as the inspiration for the Collier de Chien bracelets. There’s a tricycle that once belonged to the son of Napoleon III; and one of the first bags that Hermès ever created with a zip.

A deep-seated curiosity about the world; an inherent sense of whimsy; a respect for the horse and all that it has done to further civilisation; and the understanding that objects can become more than objects when they are cherished by someone. These are the guiding principles of Emile’s collection – and the Hermès brand.  

Emile is the man credited with bringing Hermès into the present. During the First World War, he travelled to North America, where the motorcar was already taking over the streets. Until then, Hermès – founded in 1837 by Emile’s grandfather, Thierry – had been solely preoccupied with crafting harnesses, bridles and saddles for horses, then the primary method of transportation. As the company’s employees still like to point out, for more than half its existence, Hermès’s only customer was the horse. 

Nonetheless, on his return to Paris, Emile was smart enough to realise that a company with no other customer might soon find itself out of business. His brother and business partner maintained that if there were no horses, there would be no Hermès, and promptly extricated himself from the company. Emile, meanwhile, expanded into fine-leather goods and luggage, laying the foundations for a brand that now applies its expertise to bags, homeware, clothing, shoes, jewellery, watches and fragrances.

That’s not to say the horse has been forgotten – to this day, the animal enjoys exalted status within the maison. There’s the logo, of course, which features two horses and a carriage flanked by a groom; there are the horse motifs that appear, in countless guises, on Hermès’s scarves; the closure of the Verrou bag, which mimics the bolts commonly found on stable doors; and the Samarcande paperweights, shaped like sculptural horse heads and reinterpreted in different materials every season. But the brand’s horsey heritage also manifests itself in more subtle ways, explains Marion Larochette, equestrian métier director at Hermès.

“There are some hidden influences. For example, in the leather goods, all the metallic parts are functional, not just for decoration. I think that the style of  Hermès, the elegance that it brings to its products, is also directly influenced by its equestrian heritage.

“In the very beginning, Hermès harnesses received some very famous prizes and were very different from what existed at the time – harnesses then were very decorative. The Hermès idea was that there is nothing more beautiful than a horse. So instead of hiding the horse with decorations, you have to reveal it. Hermès harnesses were very pure in their design and as light as possible, and I think that this kind of sober elegance remains in all of the brand’s activities,” Larochette explains.

“We always say that Hermès pays a lot of attention to details; for example, in a jacket, we might put a leather lining in a pocket, just for the wearer. I think that also comes from our equestrian heritage. Hermès saddlers used to say that when your client is a horse, you really need to pay attention to details,” she adds. “Because if your client is a man and there is something wrong, he will come back and complain. But the horse can’t complain.”

A few floors down from Emile’s former office, master saddlers continue to craft accessories for horses, much like they would have done in Hermès’s earliest days. On a shelf in a corner of the room, a row of ledgers dating back to 1909 contains a handwritten record of every order ever placed, with every saddle lovingly sketched out in ink, amidst carefully penned details about each customer. This lesser-known arm of the Hermès brand is still an important one – 500 saddles are handcrafted on these benches every year.

A folder contains pictures of some of the more unusual custom-made creations that have been made here over the years. There are saddles crafted from crocodile and ostrich leather, and others decorated in leopard print, cashmere and embroidery. There is one that bears the initials RR, for former United States president Ronald Reagan; one with wings, reminiscent of the mythical stallion Pegasus; and one created specifically for Bartabas, the famed French horse trainer and equine impresario.

“What makes our saddles special is two things,” says Larochette. “The first is the quality of our leathers. The second is the craftsmanship. We are the only ones still making saddles this way. Each saddle is made from A to Z by one craftsman, which is unique – it means they need to be excellent in saddlery know-how. We are also the last to use certain techniques.”

It takes about 30 hours for a more classical saddle to be produced and each order is made entirely from scratch. Hermès offers a number of saddle models, including the Arpège, Cavale and Allegro, but each piece is built to order from scratch, so that it fits the horse and rider exactly. “When you want to buy  an Hermès saddle, we send an expert to the barns, to do a saddle-fitting. All of our saddle-making experts have a special tool that looks like a spider. You put it on the horse’s back. We use this tool to send to the workshop 100 points of measurement of the horse’s back.”

Huddled against the icy cold under the exquisite domed-glass ceiling of Paris’s famed Grand Palais, the crowd lets out a collective groan as Patrice Delaveau and his horse Aquila HDC bring an obstacle crashing down. The stakes are almost as high as the mammoth 1.6-metre jumps. Delaveau is one of the last competitors in the jump-off for the Grand Prix Hermès, the final and most prestigious class of the three-day Saut Hermès showjumping event. A total of 13 riders have raced against the clock to complete the course – and the chances of more than one have been dashed by that same obstacle. The stands are full, even though an unexpected icy snap has rendered the spectacular nave of the Grand Palais semi-Arctic in temperature. The tension is palpable.

It is Delaveau’s fellow Frenchman Simon Delestre who eventually emerges victorious, racing around the course in an awe-inspiring 34.54 seconds. The victory is particularly sweet, I imagine. There is the €400,000 (Dh1.8 million) prize, of course – but Delestre is also one of Hermès’s partner riders, a select group of 20 equestrian athletes whom the brand collaborates with. His horse bears the Hermès name, while his saddle and bridle have been handcrafted by the artisans at 24, Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

“Hermès Ryan performed brilliantly; I don’t have the words to explain how amazing this horse is,” Delestre, who is currently number 9 in the world rankings, enthuses after his win. “This competition is really special for me. I knew that the jump-off would be quick, but Ryan is a fast horse. He’s my favourite horse. He always gives 110 per cent.”

Saut Hermès came into being nine years ago as a way of reiterating the brand’s long-standing connection to the equestrian world. And while it may have initially lacked legitimacy from a sporting point of view, it wasn’t difficult to get top-class riders to participate, says Anne-Sarah Panhard, managing director of Hermès Distribution France. The 2018 edition of the event attracted such legends as Kevin Staut, Harrie Smolders, Marcus Ehning, Roger-Yves Bost, Bertram Allen and Edwina Tops-Alexander.

“I think the relationship with the horse is so authentic and so real at Hermès, that we managed very quickly to convince the best riders to come here. Something else that really helped is the magic of this place. If you’ve been to many horse competitions, you will know that it is quite rare for a competition to be in such an environment. Technically it is a competition that is very singular because it has the light of an outdoor competition, while it is held indoors. It has both complexities,” explains Panhard.

Sitting proudly on the Champs-Élysées, the Grand Palais was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900, and serves predominantly as an exhibition hall and museum complex. But in its early days, it played host to countless equestrian events, says Larochette. “For almost one century, and half of its existence, Hermès had the horse as its only client. And Hermès was surrounded by horses everywhere on the streets of Paris. Then cars replaced horses. The Grand Palais is a perfect illustration of that because it was built for the Universal Exhibition, but also, in the beginning, to hold horse competitions. From 1900 to 1952, there were horse shows held very frequently in the Grand Palais, and there were stables in the basement.

“Eventually, in the Grand Palais, like the streets of Paris, the car replaced the horse. And instead of horse shows, there were car exhibitions. The idea behind the Saut Hermès was to give back the streets of Paris, or at least the Grand Palais, to the horse. It’s a tribute to the horse.”

This is quite literally the case as, for the duration of the event, the horses are housed in temporary stables that sit directly on the Champs-Élysées. Of course, the Saut is also another way for the brand to communicate that ever-present interplay between past and present (for those who might never get the chance to see Emile’s treasures). “We were at the Grand Palais before 1957, when there were equestrian competitions here, we were a part of that,” says Panhard. “So in a way, this is a return. It’s part of our history.”