Master’s in International Marketing Class of 2014 alumnus Olivier Van Laer has the business of fashion in his blood. Originally from Belgium, he built his career in London, specializing in marketing and ecommerce strategy for high-end fashion and luxury brands. It’s a competitive, fascinating, and fast-paced industry, and Olivier is not slowing down.

In the 10 years since graduation, Olivier has founded two marketing agencies, worked with some of Savile Row’s most illustrious tailors, expanded his expertise into the worlds of beauty, hospitality, and homeware, and, most recently, become involved in his family’s fashion production business. When we spoke to him, he was traveling to Dalian in China for an in-depth look at the production process.

We were honored for the chance to learn more about Olivier’s global career as part of our 12 over 12 series, showcasing the career journeys of 12 Hult alumni over 12 months. Read on to learn more about his path into a highly competitive industry and the mindset of continuous learning behind his success.

Hult: Tell us a little bit about your background.

Olivier: My grandparents started a fashion production company in my hometown in Belgium, which my father took over with his brothers, so it’s fair to say that fashion runs in my blood. This was in a small town called Beerse in Belgium, which is in the province of Antwerp, famously known for its fashion academy.

My biggest passions are travel and food, but above all art. Trying to discover and collect works from young artists is a great passion of mine.

“It’s fair to say that fashion runs in my blood.”

Hult: Did you always know you wanted to build a career in fashion?

O: Fashion definitely runs through my veins, and even though the focus of my family was more on the production side, I had a very keen interest in the wider business and marketing aspects of fashion. Hence, why I wanted to forge my career within this industry, but focus on the marketing and ecommerce side.

I have also been very keen to widen my reach with roles in beauty, and to try and build a client base in my agency across multiple verticals, ranging from fashion to homewear, jewellery, beauty, and hospitality.

Hult: Why did you decide to study your master’s at Hult in London?

O: I was already in London doing an internship at MiH Jeans as part of my undergrad at UCLL, where I wrote my dissertation on social media marketing in the fashion industry. 

I decided I wanted to continue my education, and I had definitely found a taste for living abroad. I had already finished six months in Paris as part of an Erasmus exchange at Pôle Universitaire Léonard de Vinci, so when I found Hult, the international aspect of the school, and the prospect of rotating to other cities, was a key factor in choosing to study there. 

It’s funny to think that, ultimately, I didn’t rotate after all, because I started an internship at Gieves & Hawkes, which would be the start of my career.

Hult: On campus, you were involved with the Lifestyle Club. What was the inspiration and purpose behind the club?

O: The Lifestyle Club was run by myself and my classmate Christina, as we both shared an interest in the luxury and fashion industry, and we wanted to bring more professional speakers to campus.

We invited speakers like SJ Thomson, who was head of social media at MiH Jeans. She was previously at Net a Porter, where she worked on “The Window Shop,” one of the first big uses of augmented reality in fashion marketing. We also had Lu Li, who came to talk to us specifically about luxury marketing for the Chinese market. It was great to combine the learnings from our classes at Hult with real-life examples. 

“It was great to combine the learnings from our classes at Hult with real-life examples.”

Hult: Any other highlights from your time at Hult?

O: David James was definitely a key professor at Hult and taught us to think outside the box. I bumped into him a while ago whilst working at Thom Sweeney, and hope to meet up with him again soon.

Another memorable time was our fundraising for Movember. Christina from the Lifestyle Club and I launched a fundraising campaign as co-captains of the Hult London Campus. Through this, we were lucky enough to meet some of the Movember founders and we learned a lot about non-profit marketing. 

We managed to raise a huge amount for charity. But, I must say, I have not sported a mustache since—it’s not a good look on me.

Hult:  What role did the Hult Careers Team play in helping you launch your career?

O: The Hult Careers Team, particularly Mark Daley, was instrumental to the start of my career in London. After a couple of sessions with him focusing on building my CV, we quickly realized that, if I wanted a career in London in the fashion industry, I needed more professional experience. With his help, I secured an interview with the Marketing Director at Gieves & Hawkes, and the next week I started working at their head office with the ecommerce and marketing teams. I was very lucky that the schedule at Hult offered this flexibility and that G&H allowed me to make my own schedule with them.

After graduation, I was offered a full-time position at the company and very quickly took over complete management of the entire ecommerce and digital marketing business. I worked on building out a team in London and eventually took on management of the sister brand, Cerruti 1881. There, I launched the brand’s very first ecommerce site and built a team at their head office in Paris.

Hult: Can you tell us a little bit about working in luxury fashion? What’s exciting about it? Any particular challenges?

O: The luxury industry is a tricky one. It can be quite a closed industry and isn’t always easy to break into. I was lucky to forge my way there via my internships at both MiH and Gieves & Hawkes. I can only recommend that people who want to make it into this industry network as much as possible. Who you know is still very important.

On the marketing side, the luxury industry has always been, in my mind, at the forefront. As we are working on considered purchases, rather than impulse buys or routine purchases (like with FMCG), we have always had to focus incredibly heavily on customer relationship management, education, and, above all, retention. 

I see other industries adopting similar techniques now. As it is becoming increasingly expensive to acquire customers, retaining them is paramount.

“Network as much as possible. Who you know is still very important.”

Hult: What’s the story behind launching your own agencies? 

O: I have started two agencies. The first, OV’L Marketing, which I closed and went back into full-time roles during the Covid pandemic, and now Not Quite Round, which will go into its third year in a couple of months. 

Both times, the agency was started with a couple of client leads, which all came through networking and contacts I already had. To start an agency or a freelance business, I can only recommend leveraging your network. About 90% of my clients come through recommendations from my network or via ex-colleagues. Obviously, you need to focus on business development and trying to get “cold” clients, but the success rate on this is notoriously low.

I am also in a very lucky position now that my current clients are recommending me to new ones. I take this as the biggest compliment and testament to my work.

Hult: What do you love most about your job?

O: Being my own boss is great and I love the flexibility. I also love working with a wide network of freelancers. Not Quite Round is built as a network of freelance talent, where I build a team specifically for each project or client. No job we get is the same, so it’s great to have talented people around me to plug the skill gaps I have.

I love working with a large number of exciting brands, ranging from smaller startups, who have only been going for a couple of years, to large luxury brands, which are very established in the market. No day is the same at Not Quite Round, and that is thanks to our clients, and also thanks to my team.

I also love how I am constantly having to learn. The smaller startups I work with are much happier to take risks and try new things, but at the same time, I am learning what works or maybe didn’t work at established brands. Continuous learning is very important to me.

“Being my own boss is great and I love the flexibility. I also love how I am constantly having to learn.”

Hult: Tell us a little bit about your current travels in China.

O: About 18 years ago, my father relocated to China and started his own fashion production company here in Dalian. I have always wanted to focus on building my own career, and intend to keep doing so with Not Quite Round, but I have recently taken the decision to also join the family business, Dalian WanLi, as I believe that my experience on the consumer-focused elements of the fashion industry can help grow the production business. 

This is a very new step in my career, and I am currently in China to learn the details of the production element. Luckily, I don’t have to start from scratch, as I have always worked very closely with the production teams in the brands I’ve worked for.

I am very excited to become part of a family business—family is very important to me—but I’m also excited to become even more of an all-round expert in the fashion industry. I use the term “expert” very loosely as I am far from an expert on all fields, but this kind of goes hand-in-hand with the name of my agency: Not Quite Round. 360 but not quite round, inspired by my initials and the name of my first agency OV’L, pronounced “oval.” I like to be an all-rounder—always learning and always growing.

Hult: Do you have any advice for current or prospective Hult students who might have an interest in fashion or luxury marketing? Or perhaps students who might aspire to launch their own agency?

O: In Dan Wieden’s words for Nike: “Just do it.” I recommend for everyone who is interested in luxury marketing or in starting an agency to take the risk and start. The worst that could happen is that it might not work. But in that case, Hult has given you such a solid base, you will no doubt find another job.

My other recommendation is to be flexible, evolve, and think outside the box (thanks, Professor David James!). I have had to do this in my career. For example, when I had to go back into full-time roles during the Covid pandemic when brands were dropping freelancers and agencies and OV’L Marketing was simply not working anymore. I don’t regret this though, as the roles I had after taught me invaluable skills that are now key selling points for my agency.

“Just do it. Take the risk and start. Be flexible, evolve, and think outside the box.”

Hult: Congratulations on your inspiring career journey so far, Olivier, and all the best for the future!