HEC Luxury Certificate HEC Luxury Certificate
As the N°1 French business school, HEC Paris has built close ties with the world-renowned Paris luxury business. Now competing in a global market, luxury brands are facing specific issues which require not only solid groundings in the field but also creativity and dedication to excellence. This is what the HEC Luxury Certificate brings to our students.
Since 2010, HEC Paris and Kering have joined forces to nurture the talents of driven students in the field of luxury management. The HEC Paris x Kering Luxury Certificate harmoniously blends the academic prowess of HEC Paris with Kering's industry-leading expertise.
Over the past decade, luxury has lived through quiet revolutions: new generations of consumers, redefined desirability, heightened responsibility. Today's moment is different. Transformation is visible, urgent, and real. Across Kering, artistic directors are changing, brands reinventing themselves, and new CEO Luca de Meo charts a bold course for renewal.
The HEC × Kering Certificate exists for moments like this - an immersion into living transformation.
The curriculum is designed to equip the next-generation luxury leaders with critical competencies to navigate complexity, drive innovation, and sustain brand excellence. These competencies include (1) strategic thinking and your ability to develop a long-term vision in volatile markets, (2) creative leadership and your ability to balance innovation and heritage, and (3) sustainable impact by integrating ESG as a competitive advantage.
You won't just learn and apply theory - you'll collaborate with one of Kering houses in real-time adaptation, helping them manage transitions in voices, identity, sustainability, and market strategy.
As part of the program, you'll have the privilege of hearing from Kering's senior leaders, who will share their personal experiences in luxury management.
Core Courses
- The Essence of Luxury (Jean-Noel Kapferer): Timeless principles of desirability, profitability, and what makes luxury truly aspirational
- Futures of Luxury (Guest speakers): Technology, innovation, and navigating market tensions
- Fashion Culture & Business (Gachoucha Kretz): The heart of Kering's activities, representing over 50% of group revenue
- Luxury & Sustainability (Alexia Tronel): Transforming sustainability from obligation into strategic competitive advantage
Kering Seminars
Distinguished leaders from both Kering Corporate and Kering Houses will share their perspectives and experiences in luxury management. These seminars provide a comprehensive understanding of how to lead a luxury brand to outstanding performance in sales, influence, and social impact. Topics may encompass:
- Financial management in the Luxury industry
- Luxury retailing and merchandising
- Sustainability in Luxury management
- Empowering talent and making diversity a business priority
- Intellectual property and counterfeiting
- Corporate communications
Immersive Visits
To understand the emotions that drive the luxury business, we will invite you for behind-the-scenes and experiential learning. Over the past years, visits have included assisting to a sales briefing at a Kering boutique, a guided tour to learn about the craftsmanship of the Manufacture de Sévres, deep dive into the legacy of Yves Saint Laurent at the Saint Laurent Museum
Kering Consulting Challenge
A pivotal component of the certificate is the Kering Consulting Challenge. Leveraging the knowledge and skills acquired during the program, you'll collaborate in small teams to employ critical and creative thinking to identify innovative, feasible solutions to real-world luxury brand management challenges. These solutions will be supported by pertinent data analysis.
Recent briefs include:
2025: DoDo-Pomellato Group – How to attract new generation of customers in Italy as well as expand DoDo as an upcoming desirable Accessible Luxury brand in France, Germany and Spain first? How to leverage ecommerce and new technologies to offer innovative client experiences as key drivers of expansion?
2024: Saint Laurent – What new business could Saint Laurent invest in to add sources of revenues with minimal carbon impact?
2023: Gucci- How can Gucci create sustainable revenue streams considering metaverse and gaming dynamics as main drivers with a global perspective by 2025
2022: Boucheron - How to relaunch watchmaking segment with a 360 approach?
2021: Identify different potential business opportunities that are relevant for Saint Laurent and are in keeping with the brand DNA.
2020: Build the online client experience of tomorrow. This project focused on enhancing the Balenciaga omni-channel customer experience to sustain the brand's success. Working groups gave the Balenciaga management team innovative approaches that built on the unique aspects of the House to introduce a seamless experience between physical and digital channels.
- Kristine De Valck, HEC Paris Professor of Marketing, Dean of Degree Programs
- Gachoucha Kretz, HEC Paris Professor of Marketing, Executive Director of the L'Oréal Chair
- Jean-Noël Kapferer, HEC Paris Emeritus Professor, Author, 2004 American Marketing Association Award for the most influential contribution to marketing thinking
- Alexia Tronel, Cultural Sustainability Expert
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