According to a story from ‘The New York Times’, Louis Vuitton is expanding its business into the world of watches. Last month, a reported “endless crowd” of customers were pouring into the newest and largest store of Louis Vuitton in China. This supports the brand’s decision to open the location. This is now the 45th Louis Vuitton outlet in the country. It’s located in a shopping mall at Plaza 66 in Shanghai.
The store opening comes just a few months after Louis Vuitton’s expansion into another country with its watch business. It became the brand’s first store opened exclusively for the sale of watches and jewellery. It’s located on the Place Vendôme in Paris. “If you want to be important in watches and high jewellery, the Place Vendôme is the place to be,” said Hamdi Chatti, who is the brand’s head of watches and jewellery,
The shimmering four-story location was designed by Peter Marino who has also previously designed two other Shanghai stores. “This is a beautiful store, and I love working here,” said Vicent Chen, the supervisor of the Shanghai shop, “Chinese clients are familiar with Louis Vuitton watches. They like the design of the Tambour models, but very few have technical knowledge about watches,” he shared.
A Vision for the Future
Louis Vuitton is best known for its purses and leather goods. During the past two years, however, it has worked hard to make a name for itself in the watch world. Not only has the company raised its visibility within the industry, but it has also showcased its technical knowledge as well. Despite the recent fall in the Chinese economy, Louis Vuitton is determined to boldly continue its plans.
That decision is paying off, according to Hamdi Chatti. He explained, “Much of what we are doing today was decided three years ago. Our long-term strategy is to establish ourselves as a high-end watchmaker”. Chatti has been with Louis Vuitton since 2010 but has a great deal of experience in the business. Before being hired by the company, he was the former managing director of jewellery and watches at Montblanc. He was also the chief executive of Harry Winston Rare Timepieces.
Expanding into the watch industry
Chatti went on to explain how the company designs and creates its own watches. He went into depth explaining that since 2002, when Louis Vuitton launched their watch line, the brand has tried to ensure the watches are both assembled and developed in-house. Chatti also shared more of the brand’s strategy, “We are targeting the watch and jewellery connoisseurs. To become an important player in watches, we must be comparable to the established haute horlogerie brands that are now Louis Vuitton’s competitors.”
Louis Vuitton has also used other platforms to boost its efforts. The brand participated in the Baselworld watch fair for the very first time last season. This was done in an effort to increase media awareness of Louis Vuitton’s new watches. Although they don’t post their watch sales number, Chatti shared that they have experienced growth. Due to this most recent success, the brand’s head of watches and jewellery let on that they are now a big part of the company’s sales.
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