Cover Audemars Piguet Southeast Asia CEO Stefanie Ng at the new boutique in Kuala Lumpur
Audemars Piguet Southeast Asia CEO Stefanie Ng at the new boutique in Kuala Lumpur
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Blending Swiss watchmaking heritage, nature-inspired design, and sustainable luxury, Audemars Piguet debuts its new duplex space at The Starhill. Southeast Asia CEO Stefanie Ng shares the vision behind the landmark venue
Recently Audemars Piguet unveiled its new global boutique concept in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, located within The Starhill. Spanning 425 square metres across two levels, this duplex space marks the third location worldwide to feature the brand’s redesigned retail concept—following inaugurations in Chengdu and Ho Chi Minh City—aimed at offering an immersive watchmaking journey in Southeast Asia.
Conceived by Vincenzo De Cotiis Architects in collaboration with Audemars Piguet’s in-house team, the interior pays tribute to the Manufacture’s origin in the Vallée de Joux. The architecture translates the rugged Swiss landscape into a contemporary setting using a rich interplay of liquid metal, opaque stone, frosted glass, and sculptural metallic tree trunks, all while integrating sustainable practices engineered to meet high LEED certification standards.
Read also: Audemars Piguet unveils three colourful new Royal Oak Offshore Chronographs
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Inside, the boutique unfolds in layers of discovery, guiding visitors through an artistic reinterpretation of horological heritage, floating timepiece displays, and an upper-level private lounge tailored for dedicated client presentations. To celebrate the launch, a special openworked installation was presented at The Starhill Piazza, showcasing the Manufacture's craftsmanship alongside its latest novelties.
Ahead of the official unveiling, we spoke to Audemars Piguet Southeast Asia CEO Stefanie Ng on the strategic vision behind this landmark opening, the evolution of client experience, and how the space seamlessly connects the spirit of Le Brassus with Kuala Lumpur.
Above Audemars Piguet nodded to the new boutique with exclusive installation outside Starhill
Audemars Piguet nodded to the new boutique with exclusive installation outside Starhill
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Can you tell us a bit more about the design philosophy behind the boutique?
So the design philosophy actually reflects the nature of our home in the Vallée de Joux. At the end of the day, we would like our clients to really feel how the origins is, the natural landscape coupled by the Malaysian hospitality.
How do the materiality and decor of the boutique link back to Le Brassus?
So we wanted to bring the natural landscape of our home Le Brassus and the Vallée de Joux into our boutique. So materials such as opaque stone, liquid metal, frosted glass, reflects the forest, the trees, the ice and also the beautiful rock stones of Le Brassus in the boutique itself.
How do you feel the boutique fosters that kind of emotional connection with customers and long-term loyalty?
I think at the end of the day, it's really how our team members make our clients feel when they step into the boutique. So our hospitality-led approach to the entire retail experience is key. We immerse clients into the world of watchmaking, into the world of Audemars Piguet through storytelling and also the personal interaction that our team members will bring to our clients.
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At the boutique, you'll have a few different types of customers. You'll have serious collectors, but you also have people who are completely new to the brand. How do you feel the boutique and the experience here balances those two very different demands?
I think it's important that we allow our valued clients to feel exclusive, yet we are also open and accessible to watch enthusiasts alike. So if you look at the space itself, we've got a little semi-private areas and the discovery zone actually welcomes everyone into the boutique, taking them through the story of our origins, Le Brassus. And this is where they can discover a little bit more about the brand and also watchmaking.
KL is the third location after Ho Chi Minh City and Chengdu to roll out this new boutique concept. What about KL makes it such a key location for Audemars Piguet?
Kuala Lumpur is an extremely dynamic city. There is also a very strong growing watch collector base and also a beautiful, refined luxury landscape that we see being a very strong potential for the brand.
What do you feel are some of the current challenges in the luxury retail landscape and how do you feel the boutique is set up to address those?
So in an increasingly digital connected world, everyone is consuming information through social media, through the worldwide web. It is important that we maintain a physical space that enables our clients to come in and really feel connected emotionally and physically connected to the brand through the stories that we tell within our retail.
Above Tawan Vihokratana at the Kuala Lumpur boutique opening
Above Pond Naravit at the Kuala Lumpur boutique opening
Tawan Vihokratana at the Kuala Lumpur boutique opening
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In prestige watch retail, the boutique really becomes part of the collector's story. So how do you feel like the boutique is set up to become a destination rather than just a store?
It's the experience that matters. I think what differentiates just a place of transaction versus something that a client would really want to keep coming back into is the people, the emotional connection that they actually feel and the many stories that they will bring with them with every visit that they have within the boutique.
Last but not least, what is your favourite room in the boutique?
My favourite room in the boutique would definitely be the brand discovery zone because this is the first point where clients or watch enthusiasts alike will better discover the natural landscape of our very own origins through the topography design and also understand a little bit more about watchmaking through the beautiful mechanical watch movement sculpture that really displays the inner workings of our timepieces.
