The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
ZURICH, Switzerland —Johann Rupert, the billionaire who controls Cartier owner Richemont, envisions a future in which humans are displaced by robots in the workplace and have all the time in the world to travel. He's betting the company's money on it.
The Swiss luxury-goods maker, whose brands also include Montblanc, on Friday disclosed a 5 percent stake in Dufry AG, the world’s largest duty-free retailer. Dufry shares rose as much as 7.5 percent in early trading.
The purchase comes a week after Rupert predicted that artificial intelligence and robots will cause economic and social upheaval in the next two decades, drawing on the “Second Machine Age” theories of MIT professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. While a swathe of the population may become unemployable, the uptake of work by machines and computers will fuel demand for leisure among those who can afford it, according to the 66-year-old luxury magnate.
“Man will have more free time,” Rupert said on a call with reporters last week when Richemont reported financial results. “What are we going to do in 15 to 20 years’ time? Will they all play virtual reality games, will they be on Xboxes? I suspect travel will increase.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Rupert predicted a wave of Chinese tourists will buoy the economic prospects of France, Italy and the rest of Europe. Dufry said earlier this month its Asian growth prospects have been boosted after Chinese travel conglomerate HNA Group Co. built up a 21 percent stake. A 5 percent stake is worth about 460 million Swiss francs ($470 million).
Richemont’s purchase makes sense, as the luxury-goods maker needs more avenues to sell watches at a moment when many ailing retailers hold oversize inventories, Luca Solca, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, wrote in a note. The Swiss company follows in the steps of Louis Vuitton-owner LVMH, which owns the DFS duty-free chain.
Just as the Industrial Revolution created the concept of leisure and led to the birth of modern sports, the looming technological advances are set to fuel demand for cultural experiences, Richemont’s chairman said.
“Will people travel again?” Rupert said. “The answer is yes, especially in the Second Machine Age. We’ll have vast societal changes.”
By Thomas Mulier and Corinne Gretler; editor: Eric Pfanner.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.