Global brand building is the outcome of long-term vision rather than short term, and Victor Luis is no stranger to this task. A visionary who has transformed Coach to Tapestry, Luis is now doing the same with Moose Knuckles. In early 2022, students in the Master of Management in Retailing (MMR) had the opportunity to sit down with Victor Luis, the Chairman and CEO of Moose Knuckles and the Independent Director of Farfetch and Deckers Outdoor Corp, during the most recent Bensadoun School of Retail Management Retail Leaders Talk. His talk covered the story of how he rose through the ranks to become the CEO of Coach Inc. in 2014, revitalizing the Coach brand and turning it into Tapestry. With a career spanning over thirty years, his insights gave the students a unique way to view success, showing them the value of paving one’s own way rather than following upon others’.
Luis' career is an unconventional one, to say the least, and it all began as a Portuguese immigrant who decided to pursue his master’s degree in the UK. Luis was studying at Durham University and taking a course on Japanese economics and history. He befriended a fellow Portuguese student, and they decided to move to Japan and open their own business, however shortly after, the stock market bubble in Japan burst, complicating their plans.
Despite this, the pair decided to stay and began the Portuguese Trade Cooperation, where they imported Portuguese goods to Japan. Although the market was difficult, they managed to find success with cork and ended up selling their business to Portugal's largest cork exporter. Although the company wasn't the success Luis had hoped it would be, it opened the door for a career filled with creative opportunities around the world, including as a sales rep for Jardine Matheson in Paris, President and CEO of Givenchy Japan, and North American President and CEO of Baccarat.
Ultimately, his career would lead him back to Japan after it became clear that if he remained at Baccarat, he would never rise to the top and become the CEO of a global company, a realization which hit him hard. He decided it was time for a change, and in 2006 left for an opportunity at Coach, a company he felt would offer the opportunity for merit-based unlimited growth.
Within just two years, Luis became CEO of Coach Japan and Coach China, which had immense and rapid growth and success. By 2010, Luis was named CEO of all international business within the company and moved his family back to New York. He was highly successful in his role, and with the retirement of Lou Frankfort in 2013, Luis took the reins as the brand’s Global CEO. With his new title came a realization that Luis defines as the most important one of his life. He found the value of pausing and leveraging invention and creativity within himself. His role as CEO allowed him to decide where the brand was going and work with thousands of people, which brought him immense joy.
Until this time in his life, he was running the corporate marathon, but this role showed him that value comes through innovation, creation, and invention, and bringing different brands together to create something new brought him incredible professional satisfaction. It was then that he decided to work with young companies and teams to develop new business models.
When asked about what he believed are the essential elements for success, Luis replied emphatically - resilience, relationships, and self-awareness. Resiliency to continue on even when it's easy to quit, relationship building which allows you to learn from others, and self-awareness to know your strengths and weaknesses and evolve as a person.
Luis feels that growing a global brand means you must create a brand story that the consumer can become emotionally invested in, which is how you continue to drive sales even when the market is down. You have to think long-term and not worry about short-term problems. To accomplish this, he points out three fundamental ideas you must embrace: understanding the consumer's culture and needs, knowing how to portray your merchandise, and having a clear vision of your brand's story. He stressed the need to understand that brand building is a multi-year narrative you create; it takes time and shouldn't be rushed.
According to Luis, a brand has three major touch points, the product, the store, and the marketing. These three come together in the mind of the consumer to create the brand, and the story associated with the brand, forging the brand’s value. Brands in the fashion industry have multiple divisions that work simultaneously, like a massive symphony, making collaboration imperative. The strategies are easy to create, but difficult to execute. It is essential that teams understand the strategy and are provided with the requisite tools, because the more they understand, the better they can execute and duplicate.
In the digital age, Luis understands the need to evolve and change strategies to increase consumer engagement and maintain their connection with the brand. He pointed out that the evolution of digital marketing is mandatory and opens the door to reaching more people than ever before. It allows brands to analyze data faster and make better decisions, which helps them stay ahead of the curve.
Driven by his years of experience, he sees his ability to bring value through mentoring and using his entrepreneurial skills to help businesses grow. In the fashion industry, Luis believes that creativity isn't just for the designer; every great leader has to add value to the company by leveraging their imagination. He encourages those seeking success to find joy growing someone else's corporate ladder rather than forging their own path. There is no shame in expanding an existing company, and his career is proof that success comes in many different forms.
Written by: Kavya Jhanji
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