EXCLUSIVE: Jacquemus Will Stage Its Next Show at Versailles
PARIS — Jacquemus, the French brand known for staging cinematic runway displays in spectacular locations including a lavender field and a salt mine, is heading to the Palace of Versailles for its next fashion show on June 26, as part of a brand elevation strategy that includes plans for an international retail rollout.
Designer Simon Porte Jacquemus, known for his Mediterranean aesthetic and slick use of social media, follows in the footsteps of mega-brands like Dior and Chanel which have used Versailles as a backdrop for shows and advertising campaigns, capitalizing on its association with Louis XIV, the Sun King, considered the father of French luxury.
More from WWD
“Being able to do a show in Versailles has always been a childhood dream,” he said in a statement shared exclusively with WWD.
“I was so inspired by this historical place during the design process that it led me to explore many new creative possibilities, different from my past shows, but still very Jacquemus. I am really honored and proud to be able to do a show there, as an independent fashion house. It’s going to be a very special moment for Jacquemus,” he added.
Bastien Daguzan, chief executive officer of Jacquemus, said it was part of a long-term strategy to elevate the accessible luxury brand, whose bestselling Chiquito handbags sell for prices starting at 490 euros. But he pledged that Jacquemus would treat the regal location in a spirit in keeping with its reputation for playful and unexpected settings.
“We are not going to take a literal approach, so it will be a slightly more poetic Versailles than the classic Versailles extolled by the big French houses,” he told WWD.
“The aim is to create, in the collective unconscious, increasingly strong luxury brand signifiers around Jacquemus. It may not be luxury in the traditional sense of the term — perhaps it’s a new way of approaching luxury,” Daguzan added. “We also wanted to signal a more cultural, artistic, long-term approach that places the brand in a different ecosystem.”
While Jacquemus may not have the same budgets as luxury conglomerates like LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which owns Dior and has helped to finance important restorations at Versailles, it has another powerful currency: youth appeal.
“What’s important to me, on a personal level and almost in a civic sense, is for a brand like ours, which has such a strong connection to youth, to help reconnect Versailles with people who may not be interested in it,” Daguzan said.
It was the third big announcement this week for the brand, following its partnership with the Indie Beach restaurant in Saint-Tropez on a temporary boutique and beach club featuring custom sunbeds and parasols, and the reveal of a look for the Marseille leg of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour.
Jacquemus has an outsized presence on social media thanks to its founder’s engaging personality and eye-catching initiatives such as the viral video of cars shaped like Bambino handbags whizzing past the Paris Opera. The work of 3D artist Ian Padgham, the clip has garnered 45 million views on Instagram since it was posted in April, according to Daguzan.
Surfing on its rapid growth in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the brand signaled it was ready to vault into a bigger league with the opening last September of its first ever boutique on Avenue Montaigne, one of the world’s most exclusive shopping streets.
Jacquemus recently signed a long-term lease on the 2,150-square-foot space, which was initially set to remain open for a minimum of five months and features quirky window displays including a giant popcorn machine or an oversize lemon squeezer.
In addition to opening summer pop-ups this year in Portofino, Como and Saint-Tropez, the company is scouting for permanent locations in the U.S. and the Middle East, with plans to open several stores overseas by 2026 as it seeks to rebalance its sales channels in the face of a global slowdown in e-commerce, Daguzan said.
“Ideally I would like to open five very beautiful Jacquemus flagship in ultra-selective locations,” he said. “There is a shakeup in the channels. Our online was powering ahead and now we feel that brick-and-mortar is making a comeback, so we have to mitigate those risks.”
Jacquemus posted gross revenues of 212 million euros in 2022 versus 102 million euros in 2021, he reported. Daguzan declined to provide a forecast for 2023, but said another doubling of revenues was out of the question. The executive previously said the company has a medium-term ambition of reaching 500 million euros in revenues by 2025.
“Right now, we are in a phase of stabilization,” he said. “I feel this year requires adaptability.”
At present, 40 percent of the brand’s revenues comes from its direct-to-consumer business, and 60 percent from wholesale. “The objective is to reverse the split in 2025, to be 60 percent direct and 40 percent wholesale,” Daguzan said.
Jacquemus continues to look for quality partners to drive its expansion. It recently launched an exclusive summer capsule with Saks Fifth Avenue and is said to be finalizing a partnership with Chalhoub Group, the largest luxury distributor in the Middle East.
“The aim of the brand is to have always a very strong editorial voice, with surprises and emotion, but at the same time to have the strength to start developing retail spaces in line with a very long-term luxury brand development strategy. It’s combining a short-term, intuitive mindset with a more stable business development mentality,” Daguzan said.
Best of WWD
