Van Cleef & Arpels picks Hong Kong for second global outpost of jewellery school, key element in its pursuit of young customers

As recently as 10 years ago, opening new stores was the fastest, and most profitable, way for brands to grow and expand their reach. This was especially so in Hong Kong, where many global luxury labels still boast five to eight boutiques. Some of them are within walking distance of each other. Things are different now. With online sales growing faster than sales in physical stores, and young consumers less loyal to big-name labels, retailers are starting to realise that creating a new flagship store in a glitzy mall won’t add much to their image or, more importantly, their bottom line. The recent opening in Hong Kong of K11 Musea, a self-described “art mall” aimed at a new generation of consumers, is the latest example of how the retail scene is evolving. Besides a smattering of stores from luxury labels such as Cartier, Alexander McQueen, Loewe and Roger Vivier, K11 Musea also includes spaces where transactions take a back seat to “experiences”. French luxury company Van Cleef & Arpels, which has operated a jewellery school in the heart of Paris in France since 2012 offering classes ranging from stone cutting to the history of gems, has just opened L’Ecole Asia-Pacific, the second outpost of the institution, at K11 Musea. “We were thinking of exploring something in Asia, and of possible locations, and had a lot of discussions with Adrian Cheng on business and art,” says Van Cleef & Arpels president Nicolas Bos. Cheng, the K11 Musea founder, is also an art collector and an investor in a number of lifestyle companies. “He [said] that he believed that an element of education and craftsmanship had to be part of [K11 Musea] because you have art and commerce, and L’Ecole for him was a good example of this idea to bring all together.” Cheng’s plans for K11 Musea are very ambitious, especially in a city like Hong Kong where mall penetration is very high, and where the retail scene has been affected by anti-government protests and a drop in visitors from China and other Asian countries. L’Ecole, designed by Japanese architect Sou Foujimoto, is an example of how luxury brands are changing their strategies – from launching pop-up spaces to create buzz, to holding exclusive events for their VIP clients. The school’s principal purpose is to educate consumers about jewellery, a rarefied field, even if they can’t necessarily afford to buy gems. “The primary role of L’Ecole is to give access to knowledge and education,” says Bos. “It’s an opportunity to become a connoisseur and to learn. You appreciate more what you know and understand. We believe that you can’t push people to buy [ …]. We’re about expertise, craftsmanship and quality of stones … and [our] clients need to understand the quality Nicolas Bos “It doesn’t mean that you can’t appreciate jewellery or fashion or paintings spontaneously and with no knowledge, but if you know what to look at you will appreciate it more. It’s even more relevant to jewellery because there are so many things you need to understand.” While the school has never had a permanent presence outside Paris, it has in recent years travelled around the world. Used designer fashion could be next Christmas shopping trend L’Ecole is obviously an important aspect of Van Cleef & Arpels’ marketing strategy, but Bos explains the brand is not just trying to convert students into jewellery customers. “We never go for the low-hanging fruit,” he says. “We believe that you can’t push people to buy [ …]. We’re about expertise, craftsmanship and quality of stones. That demands a certain level of customers also, because our pieces are expensive and [our] clients need to understand the quality. “We try to inform and educate, but we don’t change or adapt what we do to a market or a generation in a way that will jeopardise the future of the house.” Since its acquisition by luxury group Richemont in 1999, Van Cleef & Arpels has been one of the best success stories in the hard luxury sector, thanks in no small part to the huge popularity of entry-level lines such as L’Alhambra, especially among Asian customers – and those from Hong Kong and mainland China in particular. “Twenty years ago, we were known by a handful of jewellery connoisseurs in Asia,” says Bos. “That group [of people] has tremendously developed and is present in cities in China and Southeast Asia and they’re all at the same level. They’re global and travel and, because the economies of China and Asia have grown so much that group has become bigger, allowing for more visibility of the brand.” “I actually find that the conversations we have with clients in Asia [are] the same [as] our conversations with clients in Europe or the US,” adds Bos. “There are, of course, some small cultural differences but the level of knowledge, sophistication, access to information, requirements and what they expect is the same around the world.”