Integral DNA – Interview with Isabel Marant’s CEO Anouck Duranteau- Loeper

INTEGRAL

At the core of Isabel Marant’s DNA is sincerity and integrity. Always staying true to their contemporary and cool designs, the brand’s CEO Anouck Duranteau-Loeper discusses the importance of a strong team and how this luxury label continues to stay ahead of the curve

What inspired you to go into the fashion industry? It came quite naturally. I’ve always had a very precise idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like. From a young age, my mother was teaching me how to knit and that type of craftsmanship has always interested me. And then when you work in Paris, it’s quite easy to work in fashion at the end of the day, because it’s a big industry. So I started to work as a sales assistant and then I went to business school, and it came very naturally. What I love about fashion is the mix of creativity and business, blending in the creativity is super important, but at the end of the day, you need to make it real – it needs to make sense. You’ve been in your role as CEO of Isabel Marant for over five years. How have things evolved over that time? So, I would say there have been two phases during my time at Isabel Marant. The first phase was pre-COVID, where we found at the time it was the moment to invest in more retail stores. So, we expanded quite significantly at the time from 10 stores to 67. We expanded in China, Europe and the USA, so we were really into the brand to make sure that it was accessible and available for more women in the world – that was phase one. And then, of course, the pandemic hit and the attention went more on digital. Conversations came about on how to create a relationship with your customer, even if you’re distant. So, it was about acquiring all the tools that can help you start a conversation with your client, and really make sure that you can provide the store experience even if the store is closed. How does Isabel Marant continue to stay ahead of the curve? First of all, because the brand has always been relevant and modern. When it came to the pandemic, of course, the sales of evening pieces went down, but the size of casual pieces went up. At the end of the day, we’ve managed to compensate one by the other. The bottom line is, we’ve always made sure to be true to our clients locally. The business was not based on tourism, either here [Dubai], or in Paris, or in New York, we want to sell to the real women who live in the cities. Then in terms of styling, I think that’s one of the key talents of Isabel, she understands what people really want – she has a sense of what’s in the air and she’s really strong about that. So, she went more casual during the pandemic and now she’s going more evening. She has that type of intuition of what women will want next season. It’s really interesting to see her creating because she understands things, she feels things and then she tries to digest them and to see how it could be relevant for her and for our customers. Congratulations on the opening of the new flagship store in this region. What does the Middle Eastern market represent to you? For us, it’s still quite small, but a growing one, because we are basically relaunching the brand in the market. We previously had a store in Mall of the Emirates but in another location, but we are super proud to have this location that is way more visible and with a new concept. So I think for us, it’s the starting point of a new expansion in the area. I’ve recently been to Saudi Arabia and we are looking into that, I’m sure we can have a few stores there in the coming years. It’s definitely an important market for us for the future. What is it like a philosophy you live by in business? There’s a saying in French that means desire and disorder. It’s a question of what you want what you feel like having. We’re a very agile type of startup company and want to be very fast. So, it’s a little bit of a mess and we love it. We love the little imperfections of life, as that makes your life more exciting. During your time at Isabel Marant, what have you found to be the most important aspect of the brand? Your team is the most important asset that you can have. Because at the end of the day, you need to be happy to do the work and that happens when you have an excellent team. Isabel and myself have been incredibly proud, particularly through the pandemic, because, you know, it was smart working digitally, but at the end of the day people were craving to come to the office, to be around others. I think that’s what we’re really proud of, our team. This is The Integrity Issue – what does this mean to you? For the brand, we definitely have integrity, but one of our core values is also sincerity. It’s really something that we really value because we always want to stay true to ourselves and I think that’s integrity in whatever you do. You treat your customers, suppliers, and everyone well, you do things nicely and it’s going to pay off. So I think integrity and sincerity are very, very important values to us.

IMAGES: SUPPLIED