Luxury Club: ‘Our Alumni Have a Solid Reputation in the Sector’

The ESSEC Alumni Luxury Club rallies numerous members of our community working in a sector where our School boasts a solid footing and sound reputation. We learn more from its volunteer heads, Karine Cevoz-Goyat (E93) and Cécile Duval du Chesnay (E97).

ESSEC Alumni: Who is the Luxury Club geared towards?

Karine Cevoz-Goyat: We’re open primarily to ESSEC students and graduates working in the luxury sector, whether in fashion, beauty, accessories, jewellery, watchmaking, wines & spirits, gastronomy, hospitality or retail. They are numerous, thanks to the reputation of our school in this field with its LVMH Chair, Leading a Beauty Brand Chair and the Executive Master in Luxury Management (EMILUX). 

Cécile Duval du Chesnay: We’re also open to connoisseurs of luxury, in addition to anyone looking for inspiration or cross-fertilisation with their own sector.

EA: What services does the Luxury Club offer?

C. Duval du Chesnay: We organise around 2 events per month, in the form of in-person or remote meetings and conferences, around analyses, issues and challenges which are shared by the various luxury sectors. The themes we’ve covered in the past include the future of beauty, luxury Africa, funding luxury start-ups, beauty and the metaverse, or upcycling and eco-design in luxury. There are also our annual luxury overviews with Bain and our inspirational sessions with Peclers on the season’s fashion and beauty trends. We offer networking and link-up events with players and professions in the world of luxury, such as the recent visit to La Samaritaine with its asset management director. We give a special place to actions and feedback from our alumni colleagues, such as the recent contribution by Philippe Bénacin (E83), co-founder of Interparfums, but non-ESSEC guests are also a regular feature, both to benefit from their vision of the industry and to promote the ESSEC brand among all the sector’s players.

Karine Cevoz-Goyat: We also run the  ESSEC Alumni Luxury Club LinkedIn group, which provides information and shared feed to encourage interaction between members. Don’t hesitate to join us!

EA: What links does the Luxury Club maintain with the international ESSEC community?

C. Duval du Chesnay: Members of the ESSEC community overseas can join and participate in our events on Zoom - many already do. We also endeavour to regularly address international themes, and thus invite international (and English-speaking) speakers.  For example, we’re planning a conference on company governance in the Chinese luxury sector on 9 February. In the same vein, we’re in contact with certain ESSEC Alumni chapters to organise joint remote events in English in the near future. The seminars organised annually by ESSEC Alumni to bring together volunteers from around the world are a great help in this regard.

K. Cevoz-Goyat: I’d also just like to add that we happily welcome international students on programmes in ESSEC, to offer our services and forge ties with them now, before they return home.

EA: What links does the Luxury Club maintain with the school?

C. Duval du Chesnay: We’re grateful to the team which oversees the professional clubs as well as ESSEC Alumni management who help us to develop and maintain our links with the chair heads and EMILUX. This enables us to invite students on these programmes to our events and thus integrate them into our community more easily.

EA: How can alumni interested in luxury contribute to your activities?

Karine Cevoz-Goyat: You can become a member, publish news, questions, analyses or job offers on our LinkedIn group, speak at our events or simply attend and talk with participants.

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni

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