Fashionable ladies of the lake

He says Chinese clients are no different from anywhere else. “That’s a kind of evolution that women are more independent, from housewife to modern woman working by themselves and spending money for themselves.”

As for the slowing down economic, he says: “It’s not only Chanel that is affected. We have to be realistic and deal with it.”

But he is still positive with Chanel’s performance, saying the brand has double digit growth worldwide in the past three years, which means new customers.

While referencing Alibaba and Tmall, Pavlovsky says Chanel connects people on social media, but does not sell online, “because we believe that Chanel expense is more than just a click”.

“We don’t do e-commerce, except for fragrance and beauty. We could, but we don’t want to. We believe that we are not trying to sell more. We are trying to sell better, which means that we want to have this strong relationship with our clients, and that means the boutique. And it’s by choice. It’s not about by (online platform) challenge.

“In Hangzhou, I see people coming to our boutique, which gives us more energy to offer the best experience to our existing customers. It is quite important to be always focused on how to offer the best experience for our clients, giving advice while they are in boutiques.”

He says that in the showroom, clients are invited to see the collection closely, to touch them and feel them and to experience the craftsmanship.

“We continue to offer the best experience of our clients. We probably continue to develop our business step by step, not in hurry, not trying to go fast, but be sure that we’ll feel the best to our clients, best, engagement, best and timing of the brand.”

Yang Xiaoyu contributed to this story.

China Daily

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