September 29th, 2022 | Luxury Reimagined: A Conversation with Cartier's Global CEO Cyrille Vigneron and Cartier North America's CEO Mercedes Abramo
The Georgetown Retail & Luxury Association, in collaboration with the Global Business Initiative, was thrilled to host Cyrille Vigneron, Global Chief Executive Officer of Cartier, and Mercedes Abramo, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cartier North America, for an in-person conversation and Q&A event moderated by student Jules Lee (MSB ‘23). The conversation spanned a range of topics including career paths, experiences at Cartier, and their perspectives on the changing luxury industry.
Abramo and Vigneron had extremely different career journeys to date. Abramo was always interested in luxury and retail. The first eight years of her career were in the luxury hospitality industry. She then pursued an MBA and returned to retail to lead Cartier’s flagship mansion and was quickly promoted to CEO of North America. Meanwhile, at 37 years-old, Vigneron had the opportunity to become president of Cartier in Japan. He found moving there to be a difficult but worthwhile cultural shock and eventually returned to Europe to become president of Cartier in Europe, experiencing another culture shock. To manage this, he realized that the “point is not trying to be perceived as one entity, it is forging your own identity.”
In educating us about luxury, Abramo explained that the concept of time differs immensely between hard and soft luxury. Soft luxury is more time-oriented meaning a quicker turnaround and a much faster design process. Hard luxury is a much longer process. It requires more care and attention going into craftsmanship and development, as well as a longer decision-making process. The similarities between the two include retail stores and similar “codes of luxury.” Vigneron rejects the universal notion that there is only one “time” (day/week/year). To him, time is not only what has elapsed, but also what happens during. Some sectors go fast and some go slow, but this doesn’t mean one is structurally better or worse. In fashion, things change all the time, so brands have to move in that time frame. However, in high jewelry the “short-term” is ~ two years and long-term is where products last forever.
When discussing Cartier’s sustainable practices, we learned that they have diligently worked to ban any unethical practices. For example, 90% of gold used at Cartier is recycled. There is also a Women’s initiative at Cartier that has been in place for over 15 years and a grant program every year where small businesses can compete for capital. This support via capital aids in relationship-building and helping women at early stages. This speaks to Cartier’s long-term commitment to advancing female entrepreneurs. Internally, Cartier sources and hires from underrepresented groups and continues to do work to empower women in leadership. Moreover, the brand hired a head of DEI for North America to recruit and attract a diverse slate of candidates. Their internal DEI council represents a number of cultures, nationalities, and sexual orientations to ensure that client and employee experience is equitable.
Moving forward, technology and AI is changing the luxury landscape which in turn changes consumer experience. Amidst this new landscape, Cartier believes that a key part of innovation is looking back at old stories and making them new again. Vigneron has an obsession with innovation, but believes brands must only innovate when it has meaning.