The first time Philippe Charriol started selling watches in the 80s, critics found no hint of artistic ingenuity from his design. But after almost three decades, Charriol is very much known in the world today for its twisted cable inspired by the ancient Celtic art.
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While Charriol has attained a a successful path in the global fashion industry, creating and managing a brand is not something that can easily be achieved. We have witnessed fashion houses that were sold off to another retail brand or have been passed on to another.
With an understanding of the cut-throat industry—where several have tried but few remained—Philippe Charriol flew to Manila and sat down with MEGA to share three things to keep in mind to thrive and establish a fashion label.
Be Uniquely Relatable
When Philippe started the brand, he was looking for something unique that the consumers could pick up because it’s simple and relatable. “When I had to start the brand, I was looking for something very different that the consumers could pick up without having it addressed by advertising which I did not have at that time.”
“And so I searched so many rules and ideas and so forth and then I finally discovered in a British Museum in London a Celtic jewelry made 45 centuries ago,” he shared. From there on, he decided to use the heritage piece that’s full of history by utilizing an actual steel cable.
Be Accessible
Philippe Chariol was already 40 when he gave up his job as the executive director of Cartier to found his own company in 1983. And as he worked for Cartier that’s focused on the Western market, Philippe opted to focus on the Asian market while basing his new business in Geneva.
He told MEGA that as they continue to develop wearable jewelry, they try to place an accessible price to every piece. While the maison also offers gold jewelry to the market, Philippe explained that they have other offerings and “doesn’t entirely use gold so the price is reasonable that’s why it’s well accepted in the Philippines.”
Innovate Without Sacrificing Identity
Being in the competitive market industry for so long, Philippe Charriol learned that consistency is key. As the Charriol brand DNA is based on the twisted cable, he explained that “once we tried to get out of that [design] the market always says no.”
As they innovate their designs, he mentioned that “like any brand, we have a core collection. But we have some different slight modification of the casing and the design of the dials. The main features remains for the bracelet. As for the jewelry, we put a lot of colors which is finally trending in the world.”
