Luxury Retail Experts Share Insights at IUM Career Week
As part of IUM’s Career Week, the university hosted a roundtable on luxury retail, featuring professionals with diverse backgrounds who have transitioned into the sector. Geraldine Biava, Store Director for Prada Monaco, Antoine Grego, Assistant Store Director at Prada, soon to join Fendi, and Eric Galliano, former Store Director at Balenciaga Monaco, shared their experiences and advice with students eager to explore careers in retail.
From Finance, Psychology, and Acting to Retail
The panelists highlighted the diversity of paths leading into luxury retail. Geraldine Biava began her career in finance before pivoting to retail, Antoine Grego studied psychology before joining Prada, and Eric Galliano spent two decades as an actor before moving into store management. Their stories emphasized that retail welcomes candidates with varied backgrounds, provided they bring passion, adaptability, and curiosity.
The Skills That Matter Most
Students learned that success in retail is not only about technical knowledge but also about soft skills.
- Empathy and patience: Building trust with clients and finding solutions without ever saying “no.”
- Curiosity: Staying open to new ideas, trends, and people in a fast-paced environment.
- Resonance and adaptability : Connecting with clients on a personal level, mirroring their needs and energy. The panelists stressed that retail is about creating experiences and relationships, not just transactions.
Inside the Hiring Process
The speakers explained that recruitment in luxury retail can be rigorous, with multiple interviews across HR, talent management, and global retail teams. Beyond CVs, recruiters look for agility, resourcefulness, and storytelling ability, qualities that reveal how candidates can connect with clients and colleagues.
A recurring message was the importance of starting in-store. Even for those aspiring to head office roles, direct experience with clients and teams is considered indispensable. As Geraldine Biava noted, “It’s not about hierarchy; sometimes, client advisors in luxury retail earn more than office managers. It’s about passion for people and products.”
Training and Development
Students discovered that training in retail focuses on two pillars :
- Product knowledge: Understanding collections, brand history, and styling.
- Customer service: Mastering techniques such as open, closed, and invitation questions to engage clients effectively. This combination ensures that advisors can both tell the brand’s story and adapt to each client’s needs.
Managing conflicts, absorbing client emotions, and maintaining resilience were identified as the toughest aspects of retail. Yet, the panelists emphasized that passion and empathy transform these challenges into opportunities to build long-term trust. Exceptional advisors often become more than salespeople; they are confidants, trusted partners, and even friends to their clients.
Key Advice for Students
The round table concluded with practical guidance :
- Be resilient and adaptable—retail is about energy management as much as it is about sales.
- Never judge a client by appearance—luxury customers can surprise you.
- Focus on passion, not money—success follows naturally when you love serving people.
Bridging Education and Industry
This session perfectly reflected the mission of IUM Career Week: to connect academic learning with professional reality. By engaging with experienced retail leaders, students gained a deeper understanding of the skills, mindset, and opportunities that define careers in luxury retail.
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