MCM president Sabine Brunner on ‘mavericks’, marketing and the metaverse

'Modern Creation Munich' - that's what MCM once stood for when the fashion brand was founded in 1976. But how do you guarantee that creations always remain modern and how do you manage the balancing act between tradition and innovation for a new generation of luxury customers?

These are all questions that Sabine Brunner was confronted with when she took up her post as global commercial and brand officer and president at MCM Global AG last year. However, Brunner, who previously worked as managing director at Tod's in Hong Kong, Roger Vivier, Bonpoint and La Double J, among others, did not shy away from this challenge; in fact, this was precisely the appeal of taking the helm, as she revealed to FashionUnited in an interview. ‌

A return to heritage and a 'forgotten' customer group

“I came to MCM because Sung-Joo Kim, the chairwoman of the MCM Group, wanted to bring the brand closer to its original position without drastically changing it," Brunner told FashionUnited. The decision to strategically realign the brand came after the departure of creative director Dirk Schönberger ), who quietly left the Munich fashion house at the beginning of 2023.

After four years at MCM, the designer, who had once brought Kanye West and Adidas together, left behind a brand identity "rightly" characterised by streetwear, subcultures and plenty of backpacks, but times had changed. Kim, chief visionary officer of MCM's parent company Sungjoo Group, had anticipated this shift and understood "that the brand needed to return to its heritage to challenge conventions and push boundaries”.

"Together, we decided to respect and retain our existing customers, but continue to develop the brand to drive innovation within our current product portfolio, such as our ‘Visetos’ monogram," explained the MCM brand manager. The main focus will be on developing new products that are multifunctional, technology-orientated and aimed at the younger generation. "We have re-evaluated our brand DNA and our key customer groups and realised that we have overlooked some parts of the community that should be MCM fans."

The group that has so far been neglected are the people Brunner calls 'mavericks', i.e. those who go their own way. They go hand in hand with Brunner's view of the brand as an 'enfant terrible', as she firmly believes that this is the emotion from which the brand was born in the late 1970s.

"The spirit of the brand has always been rebellious, but it's a sophisticated rebellion,” she explained. “MCM is a brand that doesn't chase trends. And it's a brand that's loud and bold - and we had to unite all of that in our communication so that we could appeal to like-minded people."

Credos, mantras and mottos of MCM

The keyword communication is an important one, because since Brunner's arrival, the Munich-based brand has launched a veritable marketing offensive, including hiring the design and advertising agency Baron & Baron. "The very first goal was to take all the elements of today's MCM and all these internal conversations, our internal credos, mantras and mottos and rewrite who MCM is, where it comes from and who it's aimed at. The first campaign we developed with Fabien [Baron, a French art director] was a consequence of all of that. We drew on our own history with Cindy [Crawford] and chose the woman who was the brand's muse in the 90s, because that's what people remember about MCM."

When she moved to MCM, Brunner's friends are also said to have asked her about the campaign from the 90s starring Crawford ), who was initially photographed by Herb Ritts, reinforcing the decision to recreate the campaign with German photographer Jürgen Teller in the present day. "He was someone we always wanted to work with, not only because he is German and lives in Munich, but also because this was our only chance to use a single image to announce that MCM is back."

The subsequent ‘Mavericks’ campaign with model and actress Cara Delevingne and model Xu Meen was created as a natural consequence of the brand identity that had been developed and gave the aforementioned customer group a figurehead "who could embody the spirit of MCM" and who would now continue to be built upon.

However, special attention is paid not only to the 'mavericks', but also to the 'digital nomads', although these are by no means mutually exclusive. According to Brunner, the former are primarily looking for products that are uncomplicated, cool, multifunctional and intelligent, and whose ethos is reflected in both the positioning and pricing of the brand.

A smooth transition at the creative helm

As for the exact positioning of MCM, Brunner emphasises that MCM is by no means measuring itself against the "giants" of the industry, but rather "enjoying" the space they free up in terms of products and pricing. Products from the Munich-based brand's SS24 collection range in price, from 175 euros for a dog collar with the Visetos logo to 2,700 euros for a black leather jacket with Visetos lining.

However, she sees a certain similarity between MCM's customers and those of brands such as Balenciaga or Gucci - at least insofar as logo lovers would find what they are looking for. Swapping logomania for quiet luxury still doesn't seem to be an issue for the Munich brand, regardless of the trend. Instead, Brunner and her team are focusing on ‘Smart Luxury’, which in this case stands for Seasonless, Made for Movement, Ageless, Responsible and Transformative. "These are elements that we incorporate into every product we design," says Brunner, who mentions a German design veteran in the process. "It's a return to the Bauhaus philosophy: form follows function."

Since the reorientation of the brand, which has also placed an increased focus on ready-to-wear, the products in question have been designed by Katie Chung, with whom MCM will "move into the future with a fresh commitment to creativity, vision and innovation". However, things didn't quite go according to plan, as the label was originally supposed to have a creative dual leadership consisting of Chung and fashion designer Tina Lutz. The two designers were entrusted with the global design and creative direction of the Munich-founded label last year, but were based in different parts of the world and had different titles.

Seoul-based Chung took on the role of creative director and Lutz, as MCM's global creative lead, was responsible for the design and creative direction ) of the global design studio in Milan. The spatial separation is nothing unusual for MCM, as the brand's AW24 collection may have been entitled ‘From Munich to Mars’, but in reality MCM currently operates between its place of origin Munich, the Swiss city of Zug, the South Korean metropolis of Seoul and the Italian fashion Mecca Milan ), which Brunner described as an important location for design, creativity and sourcing. "We produce in Italy, so it's important to be closer to the factories, which is helpful."

Seoul has been home to the global functions since the company was bought by the South Korean Sungjoo Group in 2005 and is now also the creative core of the company, which has to make do without Lutz again less than a year after her appointment.

"Tina is still part of the creative board, but her own brand [Lutz Morris] is doing so well at the moment that unfortunately she can't spend as much time with us as originally planned," said Brunner. "She has had to reduce her responsibilities at MCM, but she is still part of the creative board and part of the family."

Brunner herself completes the geographical puzzle from her base in Switzerland, where "a large part of the global functions" are situated, but is therefore by no means far removed from creative decisions. Her title as global commercial and brand officer and president already suggests that Brunner is a kind of 'Jack of all Traits', although she emphasises that although she "wears all these hats at the same time", she does not interfere everywhere. "I have no influence on the design or the creative process, but we have design meetings to make sure that everything is not only moving in the right direction, but also in the same direction."

"There are different types of profiles in the industry: product-oriented and non-product-oriented. I am and have always been a very product-oriented person," adds Brunner, who categorises herself in this way partly due to her time working under Diego Della Valle at the Italian fashion group Tod's, which has long been very product-oriented, but also PR-savvy. "If you really want to know and manage a company, you can't separate ‘creative’ from ‘commercial’. We can only be commercially successful if we have the right product and the right communication - everything is connected."

'There are many things in the pipeline'

When asked about commercial success, Brunner did not give any specific figures, but emphasised that the results to date have far exceeded the company's expectations, even if change always takes time. The response in shops since the delivery of the SS24 collection last November has been "overwhelmingly positive" and in-store sales are currently expected to double.

The brand's product portfolio has also been further expanded via licence agreements with eyewear manufacturer Marcolin and a new perfume called 'Crush' with beauty group Interparfums, among other categories. Added to this are sustainable endeavours such as a collaboration with the sustainable suitcase brand Harper Collective, for which suitcases are made from recycled fishing nets, and a new Mirum material, with which MCM launched its first vegan and plastic-free bag on the market. However, these are by no means the only new products this year, as Brunner teased: "There are many things in the pipeline. You'll be hearing from us over the course of the year."

The (digital) future

Growth is currently a top priority at MCM, but not just through further expansion into distant countries, even if some places are still missing from the list of 46 countries in which the brand is represented. One such location, which may not necessarily be on the list, but which MCM is determined to conquer, is the metaverse. Not least because Kim, the group's chairwoman, firmly believes in the digital future.

Brunner calls her boss a visionary and emphasises that she is ahead of her time, which has also driven a further step into the metaverse and the upcoming launch planned for June of a project that is extremely challenging and progressing very quickly. The project, developed together with collaborative partner The Caliverse ), is described by the global commercial and brand officer as a “fully-fledged environment” in which you can lead a parallel digital life. However, there are also connections to real life, as MCM products that can be purchased there for your future personalised avatar will also be available at home. "This project will open many doors - and it is very sustainable."

Despite all the digital plans, the company is still planning to open up to another country in the real world this year, namely India. Even if the main focus is on "achieving a lot with what we already have", noted Brunner. "Ultimately, we want MCM to become more present and more visible.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. Translation and edit by: Rachel Douglass.