Zadig&Voltaire presents 2025 global strategy including sustainability objectives

As it comes into its 25th anniversary year, luxury brand Zadig&Voltaire has unveiled its detailed global development strategy, focusing on the brand acceleration with ambitious objectives set for 2025.

Highlighted goals include that of a 36 percent increase in boutiques, 30 percent of revenue from digital sales, accessories to represent 50 percent of revenue and 100 percent traced and certified products. It also details the brand’s plan on expanding in China, with a general focus on growing its distribution network.

Global presence increase

As part of the company’s goal to expand in the Chinese market, Zadig&Voltaire has introduced the new company, Sàdigé, with China CEO, Jean Lahirle. As an addition to its 16 boutiques and Tmall presence, the brand aims to expand its distribution to 60 retail outlets by 2025, next to an increase in Chinese social media reach and e-commerce platforms.

“The message carried by Zadig&Voltaire, based on a more relaxed, nonchalant, and free approach to luxury, has been appreciated for the last 10 years by our Chinese consumers,” said Rémy Baume, CEO, in a statement. “The brand’s ambition is to broaden its audience through more noticeable communication and easier access to its collections by expanding its boutique network and digital platforms.”

Furthermore, the label has stated that it intends to increase its operating base by 36 percent, with the additional objective of opening 122 new stores in France and abroad, by 2025.

Digitalisation focus

Zadig&Voltaire reported that, since the beginning of the pandemic, the company has seen its digital sales double and stabilise at 25 percent of its total revenue. Last year it welcomed new marketing and digital director, Jonathan Attali, to the team and, with the implementation of a new global acceleration strategy, is now looking to reach 30 percent digitally generated sales by 2025.

Its approach to a strong omnichannel strategy revolves around pre-order policies and more control over responsible production.

Attali commented on the target: “Zadig&Voltaire has been growing with digital technology and we are determined to stay ahead of the market, by more and more focusing on innovation, in order to offer our customers not just a seamless global experience, but a real entertainment.”

Sustainable development

In further staff transitions, Hélène Jessua joined the team back in February as its director of sustainable development, with the label now announcing its concrete global sustainable development programme, VoltAIRe, complete with targets, again, set for 2025.

“The intention of the VoltAIRe programme is to resolutely accelerate the virtuous actions that have already been in place for a long time, in order to be recognised as a leading brand in this field,” stated Baume. “The name of the programme, VoltAIRe, conveys its main objective: to protect the air, our common resource, by contributing, on our own scale, to making luxury an activity more respectful of the environment and ecosystems.”

The programme is separated into four pillars, with the first focusing on sustainable products and packaging. The label states that it looks to use 100 percent environmentally traced responsible, traced materials, both raw and recyclable, with it already looking to the certification and development of organic cotton, virgin cashmere, responsible wool and leather from ‘leather working group’ tanneries.

Zadig&Voltaire already utilities certified paper and recyclable fibres for much of its packaging, including its boutique bags, but it further desires to cut out virgin plastic made from fossil sources, replacing it with biosourced polybags. It aims to implement this through all packaging, with the goal of 100 percent sustainable and recyclable packing by 2025.

Air quality and climate operations is the second pillar, set with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 2025, in line with the Paris Agreement. This means 100 percent clean air in stores and new and renovated boutiques aligning with sustainable store standards.

Its third pillar is based on transparency, focusing on product traceability, supplier code compliance and animal welfare initiatives. It looks to develop a certified and traced product range throughout the supply chain by 2025. Finally, ‘collective commitment’ is the label for the fourth pillar, centred around the mobilising of communities within the brand. Future goals within this pillar will include collective initiatives that further accelerate the sustainable luxury objective.