Luxury as a lifestyle experience

• Former French Parliamentarian and former President of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton shares key insights in exclusive Q&A

Renaud Dutreil is an expert in luxury lifestyles. The former French Parliamentarian and former President of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton was in Sri Lanka over the weekend to launch his own luxury brand product and to partner in the development of Krrish Square a three-tower luxury complex in the heart of Colombo Fort. Dutreil believes the ‘Square’ will become a signature of the ‘New Colombo’ in a country that he says is excellently positioned on the north-south and east-west axes of the world to become a hub of international trade and commerce and the ‘Riviera’ of the Indian subcontinent. Dutreil is conceptualising a luxury goods mall inside the square that will feature a wide portfolio of brands and luxury items which he says Sri Lanka will be ready for as the country grows in strength economically.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

By Dharisha Bastians

Q: What brings you to Colombo?

A: I am here to prepare the launch of a new brand, which I have been conceiving and developing over the last three years. It’s a luxury product with a mix of heritage and innovation, which I like to instill in what I am doing. This brand is a French Lifestyle brand and it is also a great product in terms of quality. It is going to be launched in Sri Lanka in the coming weeks.

Q: Could you explain your association with the Krrish Square Project?

A: I am also associated with the Krrish Square project, with the idea of bringing a lot of nice brands into this lifestyle centre. Bringing my expertise in terms of high quality or luxury complexes. Bringing a French touch in terms of quality of life, good food and nice fashion. Everything that makes people willing to be together in a new place in a city that is changing very fast.

I am interested in participating in projects which are able to combine two dimensions. I pay a lot of attention to people who are able to respect the past and what has been able to survive from the past. Unfortunately in today’s world we destroy, or forget or neglect what we have inherited from our predecessors. I also like being part of a futuristic project that will be able to change the face of a city, or a community or a business. With Krrish Square you have these two dimensions. You have the preservation of heritage, but you have also a very futuristic project in terms of real estate, in terms of shopping. That is my contribution, to bring this kind of French touch and to introduce new brands to the Sri Lankan market.

Q: Why the interest in Sri Lanka at this juncture?

A: First I have a personal taste for islands which have been able to develop a specific culture. Insularity to me has great value. Today islands are not cut off from the whole world like they once were because of a lack of access. Today islands become a destination more and more. You have the ocean and very specific cultures. I really like Sri Lanka as a new high potential place in the world.

Q: Is Sri Lanka as a country ready for luxury brands?

A: I think Sri Lanka is at the beginning of a very positive new page – for many reasons. Geography and people are the two major elements that make a country thrive. Geography wise, Sri Lanka is very well positioned. On the North-South axis, Sri Lanka could become the Florida of the Indian subcontinent. People, the more they can afford travelling, the more they got to the south. That is something you can see all over the world. In North America, people travel to Florida. In Europe people travel south on the French Riviera, etc. Sri Lanka could become the Riviera of the Indian subcontinent, so that is an asset. To be successful in that you have to provide a nice quality of life, good hotels, culture, good food, beautiful landscapes – all of these things that Sri Lanka is able to provide.

Then there is the East-West axis – which is I would say the Doha-Singapore axis. And it is a highway for business and trade. Colombo is in the middle so very well positioned on this axis too. Colombo has the ability to build a hub or a city centre that is not going to look like the Middle East cities or the East Asian cities. It will have its own signature. And that is why I am so happy to contribute to Krrish Square because I think this building designed by very talented architect Edouard Francois is going to be like the signature of the new Colombo – the Colombo of the future, the Colombo that does not forget where it comes from. That is why we have been very careful in integrating the heritage building and connecting with the city. Everything is going to be opened on the ground floor. Some new projects are disconnected from the city. But here, it is going to be a dialogue with the city. So this is a very interesting project in a very interesting country, in a very valuable city, which can have a very successful future tomorrow.

Q: Do you see this project as being more attractive to Sri Lankans or people who are visiting the country?

A: People like to go to happy countries. They like to visit happy people. It is very difficult to be tourist friendly if the local populace is not progressing and does not have access to greater wealth, education and comforts and so on. So the first question of course is to be able to contribute to the prosperity of Sri Lankan people. That is what hospitality means – you have someone who hosts someone else. So the more people here are able to create jobs and business, to develop their country, to protect their environment, to protect their culture and heritage and not to be washed by this globalisation phenomenon, the more people will come here and spend money and enable the people to create jobs.

Q: The old Transworks House building in Fort is to be transformed into a luxury mall. Can you explain what type of the building’s architectural features you would seek to retain and how it will change?

A: It will be a good mix of heritage and contemporary architecture. We will have three towers, all very elegant. This French architect is very talented – he has been working a lot on how to harmonise nature and architecture. So the first dimension is heritage. The second is innovation. It will be a very modern building. The third dimension is nature. The foot of the towers are going to be like a field on a hilly slope, with tea trees and lots of flowers and vegetation so it will be a nice mirror of what Sri Lanka is today. Sri Lanka has an amazing past. Sri Lanka is discovering its potential as a country after many years or dehumanisation because of the war. Sri Lanka is discovering its ability to join the fast-growing countries and it is a very natural and rich environment. So this building it can really become the face of the new Sri Lanka.

Q: You see it as becoming iconic?

A: I think it is going to be an iconic destination. I would define it this way. A destination is a place where you don’t come by chance, but you come because you want to visit it. And you want to visit because it is different. This project is not going to be like the hundreds of new malls and residential and commercial buildings that are propping up over Asia. It is going to be very different, very qualitative and very strong in terms of visual identity. When you see a picture of Krrish Square you will immediately it is Colombo. It is like the Eiffel Tower in Paris – when you see it, it is a marker of the city of Paris. These buildings are going to be a signature for Colombo city.

Q: What are the biggest challenges to the project in Sri Lanka?

A: I think when you have something new like this, people are impatient. They want it to be immediately done. But if you want to bring quality to it, you need time. So it is not necessary to rush, it is necessary to do a good job. Sometimes in Asia, you see buildings that come up in a few months – the result is a catastrophe. Maybe here the challenge is to make people understand that it can take some time but the result is going to be for a very long time and that is where the real value is going to come in.

Q: What’s the estimate of how it will take for Krrish Square to come up?

A: I think it will take probably three to four years. It depends on the rhythm of the work and the obstacles you can overcome in such a project. It will go at a good rhythm but it is not going to happen in six months.

Q: So this mall coming up in the square is going to be a luxury mall with branded products?

A: It will be a luxury mall but also a lifestyle mall where you can find a very large choice, from affordable products to high end products. It is important that everyone can find something there. It has to be open. It cannot be a kind of luxury ghetto; that is terrible. Luxury is a lifestyle experience, so it has to be welcoming.

Q: But with Sri Lanka being a small developing country, the faction of the population that can afford luxury products is fairly minute.

A: That is why we are going to have a portfolio of brands that are accessible to everyone. But of course also some luxury brands because Sri Lanka is going to grow and you will have more and more people with higher purchasing power. And people are going to want those brands.

Q: What do you think is Sri Lanka’s greatest potential in these early years following civil conflict?

A: I think there is economic and cultural potential. I think there is economic potential because Sri Lanka is well positioned on the north-south and east-west axis. It is the south, where people will want to go in the Indian subcontinent and it is also on the road of international trade between east and west, which has for centuries been the international trade route. Secondly, the people of Sri Lanka are open and moving forward fast through education, so the people are your asset.

Then the third environment is that the legal environment is changing - everything that is relating to core business environment is transforming. I think if there is no big mistake the economic future of Sri Lanka can be very positive.

And then there is the culture. Culture means differentiation. The nightmare today is people all over the world having the same food, same clothes, same ideas. That is not what I wish for. Here in Sri Lanka I think there is a very strong identity that can be totally preserved while being combined with opportunities of globalisation today. I trust Sri Lanka will be able to protect its own personality and not to be mixed in the global community and completely swallowed by that.

Social progress is the third dimension which is driven by education. If we want to give to our children the tools to be happier than we are, for that we must go through education.