Very important client: a customer category used by some houses for a high level of personal service; each house sets its own criteria.
VIC status helps a house organise personal service for selected clients. Depending on the business, this can involve individual engagement plans, invitations, special orders or priority coordination between retail and production teams. Staff may record preferences, arrange appointments and follow an order through several departments so that the service remains consistent. The category has no universal spending threshold or fixed package of benefits. A newcomer should distinguish the client’s classification from the work used to maintain the relationship: clienteling can serve customers across several tiers, while VIC identifies a particular client group.
In job listings
Alaïa’s In-Store VIC Manager role in London required ownership of the store’s VIC and High-End client portfolio. The work included mapping client tiers, identifying potential and maintaining individual plans to retain, upgrade or recruit clients. This placed the classification within a concrete process for managing client relationships. Search local jobs for “clienteling”.
