The couple behind the Kennedy Group share their success

THE Kennedy name evokes images of style icon Jackie and powerful former US President John F. But another Kennedy name is about to make its mark in Melbourne trackside at Flemington this weekend.

WHEN you hear the name Kennedy, it evokes images of powerful former US president John F. Kennedy, his style icon wife, Jackie, and their dashing, jetsetting son, John Jr.

But another Kennedy name is about to make its mark this Spring Racing Carnival, bringing luxury, wealth and celebrity glamour to Flemington.

The Melbourne-based watch and jewellery brand has done a deal with the VRC to be the official timekeeper and naming rights partner for the famous Oaks at Flemington for the next five years and it’s entering the field with a bang.

Kennedy’s luxurious French-inspired Birdcage marquee will host a roll call of celebrity guests on Thursday, including Elvis’ former wife Priscilla Presley, actors Melissa George and Jessica McNamee, internationally renowned curvy model Robyn Lawley, Olympians Sally Pearson, Mack Horton and James Roberts, boxer Jeff Horn, tennis champ Lleyton Hewitt and wife Bec, and soccer star Tim Cahill.

Unlike well-established big-name brands such as Myer, Emirates, Lexus, the Herald Sun, Lavazza and Mumm in the exclusive Birdcage, little is known about Kennedy and the family behind it.

CEO James Kennedy, 38, along with his principal creative adviser and the face of the brand’s current campaign, his fiancee Jaimee Belle, 24, hope to change that.

James Kennedy and fiancee Jaimee Belle at Flemington. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“In six years we’ve gone from two stores in two cities to what is almost 25 stores in nearly every (capital) city in Australia. From four staff to over 200,” Kennedy says.

“I had aspirations to be successful but the speed at which it’s happened is more than I’d expected.”

Kennedy’s father, Louis, and mother, Martha, started LK Boutique, a luxury watch and jewellery business, in Double Bay, Sydney, 41 years ago.

At 29, James was catapulted into the family business when his 83-year-old father passed away.

“I had my own career in finance for a long time after school and then Dad died in 2008, Mum was in her 50s at that point,” Kennedy says. “Dad had been sick for a long time
and Mum had had enough of the business.

“She asked me to come in and so I gave up the life of finance and came in and took over the business. It was probably always the intention, but it came a bit sooner than I thought.”

He admits nine years down the track he unintentionally ruffled feathers in his early days in the traditional high-end watch and jewellery industry.

“I was trying to do what was right for the family and the business and feel my way and I think I was misconstrued as an arrogant little upstart because I’m this young guy that’s trying to call the shots and demand things,” he says.

“But to be honest, I was terrified. You’re dealing instantly with grown men in powerful and senior positions and I’ve come to learn business is cutthroat and you’ve got to fight and claw for every inch and I respect that and understand that’s for the most part how it is.”

While he grew up in a privileged home and he and Belle enjoy a life of luxury now, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for either of them.

Kennedy says while he had respect for his father and they were a tight-knit family, they didn’t have a close relationship.

Jaimee Belle at Flemington wearing Alex Perry and Gregory Ladner from Myer as the VRC announced luxury watch and jewellery retailer Kennedy as The Oaks Day sponsor. Picture: Jason Edwards

“My father had me when he was in his mid-50s and so it’s always a challenging relationship when you’ve got a much older father,” he says.

“We didn’t have that father-son throwing the ball around the backyard type of relationship.

“I’m all business and I’m not an overly emotional person. My dad came from the Holocaust, he was hard.

“When you come from that environment how else are you supposed to be? We can’t fathom when you’re 16 years old and you’ve got bullets flying over your head.

“Then my mum, she worked in the business and drove it for 30 years. I had two very shrewd, tough business people as parents.”

Kennedy says he was bullied at school but, rather than letting it defeat him, he used it to drive him.

“I was bullied a lot as a kid growing up and a lot of people I’ve spoken to say a lot of successful business people come from that type of background because you’ve constantly got this desire to prove something and show people,” he says.

“For me now I’m past that, I do what I want to do for myself. But I think early on I took it on as a challenge — I’m in the deep end and all you people who said I couldn’t do it or second-guessed me, look what I’ve done.

“I’m more mature now, I’ve got a fiancee and I’m going to start a family soon and so that’s where the focus starts to shift.”

Belle was born and raised in Melbourne. Her mother worked hard to support Belle and her siblings after her father died when she was young.

“I come from humble beginnings, my father passed away when I was five years old and I was raised by my single mother with my siblings,” she says. “It hasn’t always been easy but she worked her butt off to send us to private school and gave me every opportunity that’s led me to where I am today.”

Jaimee Belle and James Kennedy. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis

Belle was a promotional model when she met Kennedy at Nobu restaurant at Crown almost three years ago. They were engaged in May.

Kennedy credits Belle as being a positive influence on him and the business.

“She mellowed me, which was an important step for me in my life. I was quite a selfish person, but it just clicked straight away,” he says.

But they almost never made it to their first date after Belle inadvertently typed one digit incorrectly into Kennedy’s phone when he asked for her number.

“She gave me her number and a few days later I messaged her and I got no response, nothing,” Kennedy says.

“Now, 9.9 times out of 10, I’d say forget it, but I felt we’d had such chemistry that particular night. So then I basically stalked her on Facebook and I sent her a message.

“I was leaving the next day to go to Baselworld, the watch fair, and said, ‘Please let’s have dinner tonight before I go?’ She said yes and I bought one little rose and she came over.”

Belle says she felt overwhelmed but charmed by their first date.

“It was so sweet but I was also embarrassed, I hid the rose behind my back in the restaurant,” she says. “It was cheesy, but so sweet. We had a great conversation, then we were talking a lot while he was away.”

They reunited upon his return and the rest is history. They now work closely together and claim talking business is far from a bore.

“I know people say they don’t think it’s always the best to work with your partner, but we don’t have any issues ever with it,” Belle says.

“We really enjoy talking business, even over dinner, it’s something we love to do.”

The Kennedy Luxury Group, recently renamed from the Emerald Group, has three divisions. The largest is Kennedy, the watch and jewellery arm, selling brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex and Cartier. Then there is a tech and innovation division, incorporating the Australian licence for Bang & Olufsen, and the fashion division, which currently is home to international brands Kenzo and Loewe.

James Kennedy in Kennedy’s Crown boutique. Picture: Aaron Francis

At a time when many retailers are struggling, Kennedy is flourishing, with a new store opened last week in Perth and two branded boutiques opening in Collins St next month.

Kennedy says the success is centred around an emphasis on customer service as well as the strength of luxury brands.

“Luxury retail stands on its own, much like consumerable retail. Woolworths and Coles, they’re going to perform simply because people need to buy bread and milk. At the luxury end there’s continual wealth and continual spend and migration and tourism that is going to drive that,” he says.

He says consumers in Australia are also more educated and discerning.

“Irrespective of wealth, consumers are choosing whether to buy at the lower end for certain products and at the higher end for others,” he says.

“They’ll buy a Rolex watch but on the weekend they’re at Kmart buying flower pots. There’s something in that, that a customer from one end of the scale will be a customer at the other end of the scale as well.”

Kennedy sells watches ranging in price from $1500 to $1.5 million and the couple says the emphasis on quality customer service means every customer is treated the same.

“The service for the $1500 piece has to match the $1.5 million piece,” Belle says.

“That could take someone years to save up for and it’s something special. We would never want anyone to feel any different, it’s the same for everyone.”

The shopping experience is one of the keys to the brand’s success and Kennedy says part of that stems from the fact that a watch or special jewellery piece purchase usually has some meaning.

“I think for anyone buying a watch there’s always a story behind it,” he says. “I had a friend ring me the other day who said his grandmother had passed away and she had left him a little bit of money.

“He didn’t want to touch the money, he didn’t want to see the money, but he said, ‘James, please get me a watch, that way I’ve got something on my wrist that’s from my grandmother.’ So there’s always a backstory.”

James Kennedy and fiancee Jaimee Belle at Flemington. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Kennedy and Belle clearly adore one another and are keen to start their own family after they marry next year. And while they live a life of luxury they also enjoy the simple things, particularly downtime at home with their beloved malamute puppy, Henry.

“We’re not gallivanting around on yachts and jets or anything like that,” Belle says.

“It’s just really nice to spend time together in the house watching our shows when we get the chance.”

Their primary focus is on growing the business at the moment, but they have also begun the process of setting up a foundation for the protection of women and children.

“The name is our legacy now and we want it to stand for something,” Kennedy says. “We want to give back and support the community and that’s what we want Kennedy to represent.

“It’s all well and good to work hard and enjoy your life, but your legacy needs to be more than just that. It can’t just be transactional.”