On social media, people use "an all-round little fox" to describe the French brand Maison Kitsuné, a personified description that seems to tell a slash youth around him, but also tells the truth: Maison Kitsuné, born in 2002, has been aiming for a "cross-field lifestyle brand" from the beginning, in addition to the fashion line, it has also done a good job in the field of coffee and music, and even began to dabble in galleries and hotels.
Maison Kitsuné seems to have taken the lead in constructing its own "lifestyle" universe as more and more fashion and luxury brands begin to construct their own "lifestyle" universe from a variety of areas closely related to daily life, such as food, housing, and travel. It is this pioneering attitude that breaks the boundaries of the industry that makes Maison Kitsuné a popular target for brands such as fashion, technology and makeup.
Above: Maison Kitsuné brand founders Gildas Loaëc and Riya Kuroki
"In fact, creating a company like Kitsuné takes longer than you think." Brand founders Gildas Loaëc and Masaya Kuroki told Gorgeous. The birth of a lifestyle brand may have many coincidences, but it is more influenced by the background and experience of the founders, which is particularly evident in Maison Kitsuné.
Maison Kitsuné already has three stores in China, located in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, with a fourth store in Chengdu in October. Taking this as an opportunity, "Gorgeous" had the honor of exclusively interviewing the two founders of the brand, and we focused on discussing: How can a cross-disciplinary lifestyle brand maintain its strong vitality for a long time? How to promote the development of multiple business lines simultaneously?
- "Maison Kitsuné is passion, ambition and desire"
- Fashion, cafes and music labels: "Most of the time they stand on their own"
- "Advocating the art of living is the main reason for attracting brands to co-brand with us"
- "Having an outside perspective will help us grow"
- "Chinese customers have a special place in our hearts"
Above: Maison Kitsuné Beijing Sanlitun Taikoo Li store
"Maison Kitsuné is passion, ambition and desire"
The brand name maison Kitsuné is derived from the combination of the French words "Maison", "house" and the Japanese word "Kitsuné "fox", and this French-Japanese hybrid gene comes from the different cultural backgrounds of the two founders:
Gildas Loaëc was born in 1973 to a peasant family in Lesneven, Brittany, France, and when he was in middle school, he traveled to Paris with his classmate Loïc Prigent. (Loïc Prigent is now a well-known French fashion documentary filmmaker who shot the Signé Chanel documentary for French luxury brand Chanel.) ）
In 1995, 22-year-old Gildas Loaëc opened a record store in Paris called "Street Sounds", where he became acquainted with two members of the famous French electronic music band Daft Punk Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, who had been the manager of Daft Punk before founding Maison Kitsuné.
Another founder of the brand, Riki Kuroki, was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1975 and moved to Paris at the age of 12. In college, Riku Kuroki also studied architecture, and after graduation, he worked at the famous French architectural firm Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Out of his love of fashion, he worked in an antique clothing store to earn money while completing his studies in the School of Architecture. The antique shop happened to be right next to the "Street Sounds" record store, and it was at this time that Kuroki also met Gildas Loaëc.
In 2002, Gildas Loaëc traveled to Japan to promote Daft Punk's first film, Interstella 5555( Interstella 5555: The Secret Tale of the Alien Dream System), and invited Rio kuroki to serve as an accompanying interpreter.
After returning to Paris from Japan, the duo founded the Maison Kitsuné brand. "We want to build a business that showcases our art de Vivre: Maison Kitsuné, it's passion, it's ambition, it's our desire for what we're going to do," they say.
Gorgeous Chronicles: During your trip to Japan, who prompted you to decide to start Maison Kitsuné?
Gildas Loaëc & Riya Kuroki: In Tokyo, we saw a lot of boutiques selling clothing, furniture, coffee, records, etc., and we were inspired: it would be fun to be able to create a brand and bring different types of products together under this brand.
In fact, creating a company like Kitsuné takes longer than you think. We started the music label Kitsuné Musique, and then we realized the need to create a clothing brand inspired by a relaxed Parisian style, so we had the idea to start Maison Kitsuné. In the process, we also learn from people in other business areas around us to ensure that our business can grow and grow on a solid foundation.
Gorgeous: How did Gildas help you run the brand before you started the brand, when gildas was the manager of the band Daft Punk and Kuroki also had a background in architecture?
Gildas Loaëc & Riki Kuroki: These experiences were very important, and it successfully helped us build Maison Kitsuné. Gildas' musical background and knowledge of how the business operates in the relevant areas made the process of creating a music label very easy.
Ritsuya Kuroki's background in architecture is key to the development of the brand's stores and coffee shops, and he is also actively involved in the brand's creative work.
"Gorgeous Chronicles": How do the two currently divide their work within the company? You come from different cultural backgrounds in France and Japan, how do you balance these two different cultures in brand management?
Gildas Loaëc & Riya Kuroki: In the beginning, there were only two of us in the company, and we experienced everything from big and small, whether it was weekdays or weekends, we worked from day to night, thinking about the theme of each season.
Thanks to the growth and development over the past few years, the company has changed a lot now, and we are now a bit like a small multinational company with excellent teams and offices in different countries. I'm now primarily overseeing the direction of the company, while Kuroki is more in charge of working with the construction team, designing boutiques, and growing the brand's business in Japan. Of course, all the big decisions are made by us together.
We try to balance the inspiration of "Paris-meets-Tokyo" in terms of design and style choices. We start by selecting our favorite bits and pieces of our favorite culture, and then incorporate those bits and pieces into our collections, spaces, and drinks or meals served.
Fashion, cafes and music labels: "Most of the time they stand on their own"
There are many theories about the positioning of the Maison Kitsuné brand, but the two founders have always believed that they are building a lifestyle brand.
In 2013, Maison Kitsuné ventured into the coffee industry, opening its first coffee shop, Café Kitsuné, in Tokyo's Aoyama district, offering a variety of coffee drinks and French and Japanese desserts. So far, Maison Kitsuné has three major business lines: the fashion line Maison Kitsuné, the café Café Kitsuné and the music label Kitsuné Musique.
Speaking of Maison Kitsuné's consumer portrait, Gildas Loaëc & Kuroki describes it to Ornity: "Our customers are open-minded, curious and interesting. They love modern designs that can be worn every day and focus on comfort. ”
Above: Maison Kitsuné Shanghai Xintiandi flagship store
Gorgeous: Why did you decide to launch Café Kitsuné in 2013?
Gildas Loaëc & Riya Kuroki: Maison Kitsuné is about our own art de Vivre, including the costumes we like to wear, the music we're listening to, and of course, the coffee we love! Kuroki is passionate about coffee and is said to have been drinking coffee since he was 5 years old, so it was natural for us to expand into the coffee space.
As for why Café Kitsuné was launched at this point in time, it was because we needed to take a while to make sure we had the ability to build cafes in the best places in the world and provide quality coffee.
"Magnificent Chronicles": What is the relationship between the three major businesses of fashion line, café and music label? How are these three businesses performing so far? In the future, will you consider expanding into other businesses?
Gildas Loaëc & Riki Kuroki: We always wanted the three major businesses to stand on their own and have their own identities, and we didn't want them to be seen as an excuse to market to each other. They can be interconnected and integrated, but most of the time they exist independently of each other.
In addition, we have never stopped enhancing and developing these three businesses in order to provide our customers with the highest quality products: for Maison Kitsuné, we control the craftsmanship, details and final finishes of the ready-to-wear collection through our in-house workshop in Paris; For Café Kitsuné, we have set up roasteries in Paris and Okayama, Japan, to better control the quality of coffee; For Kitsuné Musique, we carefully select the artists we work with and the songs that will be released. Currently, Maison Kitsuné accounts for 85% of the company's total revenue, Café Kitsuné 10% and Kitsuné Musique 5%.
We recently opened our first gallery Galerie Kitsuné in Brooklyn, New York, and we're also developing a hotel business, so stay tuned!
"The art of living is the main reason for brands to co-brand with us"
Since its inception, Maison Kitsuné has attracted many young, avant-garde or already well-known brands to cooperate with it, and its cross-border field has now extended to technology, sports, makeup and other aspects.
In the eyes of the two founders, the art of living advocated by Maison Kitsuné and the fun of the "Little Fox" motif are the main reasons for the brand to work with it, "We also like to work with brands with different styles and different craftsmanship to communicate with different audiences".
In June last year, Maison Kitsuné partnered with Montblanc, a German brand of fine pens, watches and accessories owned by Richemont, to launch a capsule collection, and Montblanc said: "Everything Maison Kitsuné does reflects its 'Art de Vivre' (art de Vivre), which transcends industry boundaries in multiple areas such as fashion, music and coffee culture."
In addition to Maison Kitsuné, Café Kitsuné has also frequently crossed borders with brands in the field of furniture and technology in recent years, launching co-branded mobile phone cases, water bottles, tableware and other products. In November 2021, Maison Kitsuné and Café Kitsuné crossed the border for the first time, launching a joint ready-to-wear, accessories and handbag product.
"We're excited to explore different markets and reach consumers who may not yet know our brand or only know part of our business," the founders say.
Above: Maison Kitsuné X Montblanc
"Having an outside perspective will help us grow"
In 2018, Maison Kitsuné appointed Korean designer Yuni Ahn as creative director of ready-to-wear collections, marking the first time the brand has appointed an external designer to that role, after all of the brand's collections had been designed by the two founders and an in-house creative team. In January 2020, Yuni Ahn announced his departure.
In December 2021, British designer Marcus Clayton took over as Creative Director of the Maison Kitsuné brand. Marcus Clayton graduated from central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and previously worked for the LVMH Group, where he designed louis Vuitton (Louis Vuitton), Givenchy and Fenty (Rihanna's personal brand). Prior to LVMH, Marcus Clayton also served as Womenswear Design Director at VERSACE and Alexander Wang brands.
Gildas Loaëc & Riki Kuroki also told Ornate: "Having an external perspective can help the brand grow and succeed further, help us improve our style and design while staying true to the brand DNA, and is an important step in bringing Maison Kitsuné into a new chapter." ”
"Chinese customers have a special place in our hearts"
In July 2015, Maison Kitsuné opened its first Hong Kong boutique, marking the brand's first entry into the Chinese market.
In 2019, Maison Kitsuné established a joint venture with China menswear group Jiumuwang Co., Ltd. ("Jiumuwang") to promote the brand's expansion plan in the mainland market with the help of local Chinese companies, and in January 2020, Maison Kitsuné Chinese mainland the first flagship store in Shanghai Xintiandi. But the partnership lasted only a short time before it ended.
However, this vignette did not affect Maison Kitsuné's continued expansion into the mainland market, and in March of the same year, the brand's Tmall flagship store was officially launched; In May 2021, the Beijing store opened in The North District of Taikoo Li, Sanlitun; In May this year, Maison Kitsuné entered the JD.com platform and launched the official flagship store.
At present, Maison Kitsuné has a total of 3 stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and according to the brand, the Maison Kitsuné Chengdu flagship store will also land in October this year.
Hualizhi: How do you view the position of the Chinese market in the brand business? What are the future development plans in China?
Gildas Loaëc & Ritsuya Kuroki: Opening a store in Shanghai is a milestone for Maison Kitsuné, one of the world's most important fashion, financial, business and economic hubs, so it has naturally become our preferred destination.
We came to China very early to promote the Kitsuné Club Night music gala, and since then we have traveled to China many times. We have many friends in China and we love the people, culture and cuisine here.
We are delighted that we have been warmly welcomed by Chinese consumers in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Our Loyal Chinese customers enjoy experiencing our art de vivre first-hand and are pleased with both the Maison Kitsuné boutique and Café Kitsuné.
However, as Chinese consumers are more driven online, their offline consumption accounts for a relatively small proportion.
We are very excited about expanding our distribution network in China, but we still want to start this big project at a steady pace, with several stores and coffee shops opening soon in the future. In addition, we also plan to hold more events in China, such as parties, exhibitions, etc., through which we hope to keep Chinese customers excited.
We put Chinese customers in a special position to treat. Currently, 80% of our sales come from international markets outside of France (especially Asia), and China is at the forefront of all Maison Kitsuné markets worldwide.
In September 2016, Japanese fashion group Stripe International made a minority investment in Maison Kitsuné.
According to the most recent data available, in 2018, the total sales of the Maison Kitsuné were around 40 million euros.
In November 2021, Maison Kitsuné announced her involvement in venture capital with the launch of kitsuné Ventures, the first venture capital fund, which was first invested in American start-up fashion brand Connor McKnight.
Speaking about the original intention of entering the investment field, Gildas Loaëc & Kuroki also told Luxe:"Kitsuné Ventures aims to incubate talent through continuous collaboration, which is not only the basis for our investment work as a brand, but also an integral part of helping emerging designers to succeed. This is the next phase of Maison Kitsuné, and before that, we've spent a lot of time learning about different cultural movements, discovering a variety of young, cross-cutting talent, and mentoring wherever we can help emerging designers. In the new phase, we will be using capital to support designers, which is a very exciting step. ”