Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XXI

1 6 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I S ergeCajfinger,founderofthe fashionbrandPauleKa,was born in Lille in 1955 and spent his childhood in Brazil. Returning to France in 1968 he opened his first multi- brand store in his hometown, with his mother and aunt Paule, and called it Paule Ka.Moving to Paris in 1987, Cajfinger created the ready-to-wear brand under the same name, and opened the firstParisianPauleKaboutiqueintheMarais.Inspiredbythegrace of the 1950s and 1960s, he sought to give a modern twist to the timelesseleganceofthewardrobesoficonssuchasJackieKennedy, AudreyHepburn andGrace Kelly. The brand’s style was and remains today geometric and simple, sophisticated yet urban, with a number ofmust-havessuchastheLBDandluxurioushandbags.Nowamajorplayeronthefashionscene,Paule Ka is an independent French house offering a wide range of premium products for the contemporary woman. From prêt-à-porter to an extensive accessories collection including bags, shoes, small leather goods, belts and eyewear, the brand is a symbol of the ultimate French elegance. The label’s signature consists of couture references, graphic cuts, pure lines and urban sophistication. With sales approaching € 50million Paule Ka is established in 57 countries and distributed throughout 475 points of sale, 60 of which are stand-alone stores dedicated exclusively to the brand in cities such as Paris, London, New-York, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. 2005sawtheappointmentofCatherineVautrinasChairmanandChiefExecutiveOfficerofthecompany. She is a graduate ofHECbusiness school, holds amaster’s degree in law and has awealth of experience in the fashionworld. Her previous roles have included CEO of Cerruti, where she implemented a significant repositioning of the brand with an overhaul of its image and design, and CEO of Emilio Pucci, where she was responsible for the relaunch and international expansion. Prior to this, she worked for Louis Vuitton Malletier, where she was successively head of global store image and then head of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear.Since2009,shehasalsobeenamemberoftheboardofdirectorsatYoox,oneoftheleading international fashion e-commerce sites, listed inMilan. MarcellaClarke speaks toCatherine about her career in the fashion industry and her role at Paule Ka. Howmany years have youbeen in fashion? Twenty years. Howdid you get involved in the fashion industry?What was your first job? I got involved because I looked for it. My very first job was a product manager with a home textile company Descamps and there began my love for beautiful design. It also provided me with a good schooling inmultitasking and in experiencing all aspects of a business fromcompany product manager, to collection merchandising and collaborating with design teams through to fixing prices, negotiating with suppliers and training retail teams. From there Imoved into fashion. Andwherewas that? ImovedontoLouisVuittonMalletier,whichwasluxuryaccessoriesmorethantruefashionatthattime, and then toEmilioPucci, Cerruti andnowPauleKa, which are all pure fashion. Iwent toLouis Vuitton Malletierasworldwidestoredirector:thisjoballowedmetobeattheverybeginningofthatperiodwhere luxury understood how retail was key to global brand image as well as international development. I was very closely involved in opening the first Louis Vuitton global stores introducing ready-to-wear at Louis Vuitton in spectacular stores featuring a strong universal brand, which was all very new at the time. At LouisVuittonIfinallybecamedirectorofready-to-wear,accompanyingMarcJacobs’sandLouisVuitton’s early steps in the fashion adventure, structuring a compact new activity within a powerful accessories organisation. Talk us through your career fromLouis Vuitton through toPauleKa. In 2000 I was offered to take the helm of Emilio Pucci, a ‘sleeping beauty’ beautiful brand. I moved to Italyandforsevenyearsembarkedupontheequallydemandingandrewardingadventureofrelaunching the venerable Florentine Maison. I finally moved back to Paris, and back to menswear, staying with Cerruti for three years. And since February 2015 I’ve been the head of Paule Ka. What led you to take this role? I took the helmat Paule Ka with a view to guiding the strong evolution of this beautiful elegant Parisian fashion house, following the departure of its founder the year before. I am writing a new chapter for Paule Ka together with the young and very talented creative director, Alithia Spuri-Zampetti. Who are yourmentors? I have been lucky from the start to have always had very high calibre managers, and two of them have been really important forme. The best known is the late YvesCarcelle, who guided the success of Louis VuittonMalletier for 25 years as its president. My mentors have been inspirational inmany ways, but I wouldsaythatkeytraitsarebeingquick,cleverandalwaysastepahead.It’salsoimportanttohavestrong delegation skills whilst remaining flexible and accessible, and to have vision and strong ideas. The best lessontheytaughtmehasbeentodaretobeinnovativeandtobeefficientanddeterminedintheexecution. What is PauleKa’s brandDNA? PauleKaexpressesaParisianchicattitudewithitssoberandgeometricyetveryfemininestyle.Thebrand isrenownedforofferingtheperfectdressforeachoccasion,fromsharpbusinesschictococktailandlong glamorous ‘black carpet’. Paule Ka is about affordable luxury, a refined and well-made product at a reasonable price. Howhas the brand changed? PauleKahasevolvedintimeratherthanchanged,forexampleaddingaccessoriesaswellasafullcollection oflongdresses.Italsohasbecomeaninternationalbrand.FromitsbeginningsinFranceandJapan,Paule KanowhasshopsinEurope,theUS,ChinaandtheMiddleEast.WearepresentinQatar,Dubai,Kuwait, AbuDhabi and Saudi Arabia. Where do you see the brand in the next five years? As I said, the brand is evolving. We aim to keep developing the brand in theMiddle East in partnership with professional and strong local partners. Paule Ka presents its full collections in the region, but its success is particularly driven by our black carpet collections of glamorous evening gowns.We also enjoy aloyalMiddleEasternclienteleinourLondonandParisboutiquesandwehopetoseethiscontinue.We plan to infuse everyPauleKa collectionwith a freshproposition around its heritage of Parisian chic. And we remain very close to our customers, with a high quality of service. Howdid you choose your creative director? I chose Alithia Spuri-Zampetti for various reasons: excellent training at Central St Martins in London, serious experience at Bottega, Valentino and six years at Lanvin, a great sense of colour and femininity, andarefinedandsophisticatedtaste.Sheisalsocosmopolitan,bornItalo-AmericanandParisianbychoice, and as such relates with ease to our global world – a flexibility that is precious inunderstanding different cultures and customers. All these qualities are in tunewith Paule Ka’s identity and business. Howdo youbalance creativitywith commercial acumen? It’s amatter of teamwork, organising fluid feedback from themarkets through our shops and sales and having the creative team treating these requests in a nice and creative way, refreshing the brand’s iconic styles and bestsellers at each collection. Key trends for SS16? The bow, the lace and pink colour block – femininity. Who is your style icon? Maybe Amal Clooney who is chic, active, glamorous and international. She is incredibly stylishmixing all sorts of designers as well as couture clothes, and regularlywearing Paule Ka! What is your favourite country to visit? Itravelalotworldwideandreallyenjoyit.IalsolivebetweenParisandMilan,andholidayinginthesouth of Italy remains a constant marvel with itsmix of beautiful cities, food and nature. What do youdo to take time out and relax? Go to the cinema, theatre, art fairs and enjoy good foodwith friends. Whowould you like to seewearing your collection? Real women engaged in their life, proud of their femininity, independent and joyful. Whatmotto do you live by? Don’t be afraid, just try. Do youhave any advice to peoplewanting to get into the fashion industry? 1. Be in lovewith fashion 2. Be in lovewith fashion 3. Be in lovewith fashion An Interview with Catherine Vautrin CEO of Paule Ka