Mad Lords was established in 2012 when Paris-based Serge Muller and his wife Caroline embarked on a journey of discovery in search of avant-garde jewellery pioneers. As the name suggests, the pair specialise in elevated pieces that are as subversive as they are authentic. At the boutique at 316 Rue Saint-Honoré, the new satellite store in Deauville that opened in early 2021 or on the eponymous website, pieces from leading fine jewellery labels including Foundrae, the Korean avant-garde artist Holzpuppe, Mad Precious & Ethical or Elé Karela are selected all according to their aesthetic, artistic or spiritual significance. No wonder then that the clientele is international, discerning, and informed, often returning to the boutiques or to shop online in search of exciting, eye-catching pieces imbued with meaning. They’re a community of people that, in conversation with Darren Hildrow, Serge is inclined to describe as an “agora” or his “tribe.” 

Serge, what do you mean when you talk of tribes?

Mad Lords came from my belief that we all belong to tribes and that society is organised around this idea. You can belong to one tribe or several tribes — vegans or bikers could be described as tribes. People wear jewellery to indicate that they belong to a tribe. It’s a way of making sense of society. 

How did you get started?

I've always been passionate about diamonds, fascinated by these very magic stones for reasons that I cannot understand. After 30 years of investment banking — it was a bit too much, I was a bit sick of investment banking — I switched to a much more, let's say, luxury, fun type of business to do something that I really liked. Investment banking was not my passion, investment banking was a job. 

So, both you and Caroline decided to do this together?

Exactly. This idea about the organisation of a society, I created this concept talking to my wife. We had this discussion. I said, "Let's create something together." I thought it was a very good idea. My wife already had experience at LVMH and at Ralph Lauren as a PR, and I had this passion. We wanted to do something together so created Mad Lords.

As a French retailer how has COVID-19 impacted you over the past year?

At the very beginning, everybody thought that COVID would be a short-term issue. I also thought the same. But I soon realised that after COVID we would have even more problems. More events, more demonstrations, some more troubles and problems related to bricks and mortar. So, I decided to focus even more on digital to have a clearer strategy and instead of only using external people I developed an in-house Mad Lords team. I hired six people including a head of the website, a head of community management as well as a photographer. I also invested much more than before in paid digital marketing. Now, after one year, it's a success, with a fantastic, highly motivated team, full of ideas, who are very reactive. Instagram has changed and we also use Pinterest and YouTube. The website has been upgraded too. It is now much more efficient and more consumer friendly. Frequently, my regular clients use digital instead of the store. I also have a clearer vision for the main flagship store. As you know, it is hidden in a courtyard. A secret spot. So slowly it is going to become a club that only top VIPs can access. We also have plans for small satellite stores around the world with digital and the website at the centre of everything. From Paris to Deauville then Saint Tropez and Lille too — these will be the cities where you have people open to the Mad Lords universe. 

What about collaborations? Have you ever thought of joining forces with someone like Joyce in Hong Kong?

I would be very interested. I want to have a presence in Asia. The day I have a good partner and good contacts then I will. 

Online shoppers now have more choice and they’re not afraid to shop directly from the brands themselves. What are you doing to stay relevant and to keep the consumer coming to you?

There are several reasons why customers come to us, not to the individual brands. Firstly, we offer a universe where you have some big brands that have their own digital store or even their own stores. But there are also many, many small brands and designers that cannot afford, now, or in the future, either a digital or physical store. When you come to Mad Lords, you have access to a huge choice that you will obviously not get if you were to head directly to individual designers or brands. Secondly, it’s the lifestyle. Mad Lords is a universe. As a retailer, we are a strong brand ourselves. A brand means a lifestyle. Meaning our choice of perfume, our choice of music, our choice of furniture. And people like this. Plus, the shopping experience is just as important on the digital side as it is in the physical store. Finally, Caroline and I realise that people want to meet us. We're nice to people, extremely attached [to what we have created], full of sincerity, authentic.

Yes. I think authenticity is a really, good word. 

Definitely. That's our key word, authenticity. Authenticity for our choice of designer, authenticity for ourselves, for our clients. When you see typical clients, they’re authentic. We don't have those people, high fashion, always smiling... We are authentic people.

What are your thoughts regarding the community within the jewellery industry? Because I find a lot of people like to hold back and hide things and be too exclusive. What are your thoughts on creating more of a community within the jewellery industry? 

Community is key. Community ties in a lot with the discussion about tribes being the source of creation of Mad Lords. Community is the modern way of referring to tribes. Community means you share common passions and ideas. A community expresses itself in an agora. An agora is a place where a community gathers and exchanges ideas openly. So, we love this idea of community.

It’s like a philosophy? 

Exactly. Though I would say we are dreamers more than we are philosophers. Of course, I'm an entrepreneur but at the same time, I'm a dreamer. And I have an idea, I'm an idealist. And for me, I want to meet nice people, I want to give them happiness by providing them with nice jewellery. Jewellery is something that creates happiness because it's something that allows you to express who you are. Meeting authentic people that are looking for something that will be the source of their happiness, that's what I want. 

What about finding new designers? How do you go about it?

Before COVID, we were travelling. We were travelling in America, Japan, India, and Northern Europe. But many people are now coming to us. I mean, it's an open world, so people are always moving. As much as we can we travel. And we are very happy to be able to travel again. 

What is it that you look for in a designer when you take them on? Is it just design? Is it to do with integrity? Is it to do with their social media? What is it?

Well, again, we need to appreciate the person, the designer as a human. Second thing, we make sure that the work is high quality. We choose certain materials. We never work with bronze, and we've never worked with vermeil. We stick to 18 or sometimes maybe 14 carat gold. We prefer real materials. When diamonds are used, we want them to be real diamonds, not synthetic. We make sure that the stones are natural stones. Materials are the second filter. The first filter is human. The third filter obviously is the design, the ability to create, the ability not to copy others. You can be inspired by other designers but obviously not copy. We protect our designers. A good example is with Jackie H. Jackie H. is very often copied by many people because she's very successful, so we never go to people that are copying Jackie H. We like originality.

The way that people shop has changed a lot. It shifted from physical stores to trunk shows. Next, online became significant. What do you think is the next step? How do you think people going to purchase in the future?

I believe we are only at the beginning of the digital age. It's going to take another three, five years to have digital become a trusted marketplace somewhere where people freely make purchases without fear or hesitation, as easy to shop as a physical store. The improvement of imagery is key and is down to the ability to create high quality, easy-to-download 3D pictures. There is a lot of room for improvements to make digital more and more consumer friendly. 

Virtual reality shopping. That'll be interesting. I see that. So finally, if you were going to give one piece of advice to a designer who wanted to come into Mad Lords, what would it be?

Be yourself. When you create something, use your history, your own roots. Don't copy others. Create your own style. Do not think: “am I going to sell, or am I not going to sell?” Ask whether [the collection] corresponds with who I am, to my own history, to the people I belong with? This is what I’d say.