Since arriving on our shores to help enhance the organic growth of brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Puma, Laurent Claquin, Head of Kering Americas, has crafted a strategy of artistic support for designers and brands (including CFDA Member Joseph Altuzarra, whose brand Kering owns a minority stake in).

As part of The Impression/CFDA fashion week partnership, The Impression founder Kenneth Richard sat down with Brittany native to discuss the fine art of management, museums, social initiatives and the big picture. Here, CFDA.com highlights the best moments; go to The Impression for the full interview.

Kenneth Richard: Laurent, great to catch up and talk about you and all the goodness at Kering. How did you get started in this business?

Laurent Claquin: “I would say almost by chance… After business school, I started my career at Price Waterhouse Coopers as a consultant. I then spent eight years in art and culture, first at the National Gallery of Jeu de Paume, then Centre Pompidou, and finally with the Minister of Culture as his chief of staff. I met François-Henri Pinault at that time and have now been working with Kering for more than 10 years.”

K.R.: What type of lessons did you pick up during your experiences with the [Pinault] family that you are grateful for now?

L.C.: “I’ve always been grateful to work close to strong leaders. I had the honor and pleasure to meet François Pinault Sr. when I started working for the Group. I learned from the family that success in business is really about entrepreneurship, taking risks, believing in something, daring and taking action. I am always impressed how François-Henri Pinault makes decisions very quickly and is a true entrepreneur.”

K.R.: What is your role [at Kering]?

L.C.: “As the Head of Kering Americas, my role is to support the brands’ expansion in the region, to coordinate projects among the brands and to represent the Group. We are now a team of 140 people working for corporate functions and shared services for the brands (human resources, tax, legal, logistics, etc.), in six locations throughout the region. I’m very proud of what we do and the sense of belonging that the team has created in this region. We’ve built strong relationships through our physical presence, by being Kering ambassadors for our brands.”

K.R.: You also support initiatives for the Group, right?

L.C.: “Indeed. Our Chairman and CEO François-Henri Pinault believes that Kering needs to go beyond its role as an industry leader by developing sustainable initiatives, business and HR practices that deliver economic, social and environmental benefits.

On the social front, François-Henri Pinault launched the Kering Foundation in 2009, with the purpose of combating violence against women. Violence against women is a universal issue that affects all populations and all classes around the world, but it’s still a taboo. It does not receive the attention and response it deserves. We need to change behaviors and improve women’s condition worldwide, in Europe, as well as China or the Americas. To date, more than 140,000 women have benefitted from the foundation support worldwide.

On the environmental side, sustainability is at the heart of Kering business strategy. In fact, this is the only way to answer many of the major issues of the twenty-first century: population growth and increasing demands, resource scarcity, loss of biodiversity and, of course, climate change.

As a leading luxury group, we are in a unique position of influencing and setting the trends and aspirations in fashion. This can help drive and inspire change… to ultimately reach a tipping point where sustainability is embedded in the way we all make and sell our products.”

K.R.: I know that you are involved with new designers through Parsons. Can you share a little bit about that?

L.C.: “Sure. We work mostly with creative talent and need to cultivate our relationship with the next generation of designers, of talent, and with anyone who wants to work in our industry. Our partnership with Parsons started 4 years ago with a competition that we developed with their team according to the students’ needs. We previously awarded the winner an internship within our brands. Now, we have developed a week-long program for them in Italy to learn about the production process. We also partnered with Voguerunway.com so the students gain mentoring with media experts and Saks Fifth Avenue to connect the students with retail experts. So, we really help them with their first foothold in the industry. The partnership is very meaningful for the students. From the feedback that we get, the first four years were very beneficial for everyone and we are already entering the fifth year of the collaboration.”

K.R.: What are you looking forward to this year?

L.C.: “I look forward to seeing the new collections from our brands’ creative directors, particularly Alessandro Michele at Gucci and Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga. It’s like art. You never know what the next exhibition will be. Also for Kering Americas, we are now in our fifth year and looking forward to the next five years.”