Professional expertise and investment in human capital are increasingly essential to
make a difference in a luxury market that is facing a host of new challenges. At a time when luxury giants are honing their weapons, gearing up for the post-pandemic recovery, Kering has created the post of strategy director, entrusting it to Mélanie Flouquet, one of the most prominent luxury market analysts worldwide, who joined the French group owned by François-Henri Pinault on May 10.
Flouquet is based in Milan and reports to group CFO Jean-Marc Duplaix. She is tasked with “spearheading Kering’s strategic thinking, while continuing to expand the group’s analytical capabilities with reference to macroeconomic indicators, consumption trends and the competitive environment,” indicated Kering in a press release.
Flouquet, 47, was born in France and has worked in Paris, London and Milan. She is a graduate of the EM Lyon Business school, and holds an MBA from Lancaster University in the UK, where she also qualified as a chartered accountant.
After a three-year stint as auditor and chartered accountant at KPMG, in 2000 she joined US investment bank JP Morgan, where she spent the bulk of her career. In 2015, she was appointed head of European equities research for luxury goods, sporting goods and general retail.
Flouquet was ranked multiple times among the top 10 analysts across all sectors and all banks, and was ranked the number one luxury goods analyst individually in her last year of tenure at JP Morgan, in 2020. She is recognised by investors and luxury groups as a top market expert, highly knowledgeable about business models and the ways in which macro-economic factors can influence the financial performance of luxury industry players.