“At a time when so much of the news feels heavy, it’s energizing to come to a city with such a vibrant energy and talk about something positive,” Cyrille Vigneron, Cartier chair of culture and philanthropy, tells me, speaking from the 35th floor of the Dusit Thani hotel in Bangkok with the sprawling city’s skyline in the backdrop.
The next day, on Wednesday night, around 700 guests attended a ceremony at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, where Cartier honored 30 female impact entrepreneurs with a combined $1.9 million in grants. The program is open to “women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social or environmental impact”, according to the initiative. Since 2006, the Cartier Women’s Initiative has provided a total of $16 million in financial support (including this year’s $1.9 million) to 360 entrepreneurs from 67 countries. Amal Clooney took the stage to present the top awards and deliver a speech.
Amal Clooney, Cyrille Vigneron, Yanina Novitskaya, Kiyo Taga-Witkin and the 2026 awardees on the stage of the ceremony for the Cartier Women’s Initiative in Bangkok.
Photo: Courtesy of Cartier
“Amid global uncertainty and the reallocation of government resources, corporate philanthropy plays an important role,” Vigneron says. “The house has been doing quite well over the past 10 years and therefore has no reason to reduce its [philanthropic] activities.”
Vigneron was CEO of Cartier between 2016 and 2024, during which the brand’s sales more than doubled to €10.5 billion, per Morgan Stanley estimates. In September 2024, Vigneron passed the baton to Louis Ferla, and assumed the role of Cartier chair of culture and philanthropy. Vigneron is also president of the board of Cartier Philanthropy for People and Nature, a foundation that has invested CHF 170 million ($212 million) in NGO grants since its 2012 inception, as well as VP of Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. (He is also chair of the Watches & Wonders Geneva Foundation and co-chair of the Watch and Jewelry 2030 initiative, launched in 2021 by Cartier and Kering.)
Cartier defied the odds of the luxury downturn. Parent company Richemont’s jewelry maisons, which also include Van Cleef & Arpels and Buccellati, reported a 14% increase in sales for fiscal 2026. According to Morgan Stanley estimates, Cartier generated €11.23 billion.
Cartier’s Women’s Initiative launched in 2006 under then CEO Bernard Fornas, as part of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, a conference, France, focused on the economic participation and leadership of women. Under Vigneron, the Women’s Initiative was restructured as a standalone program, increasing the number of regional awards from six in 2018 to nine in 2023; there’s also a science and technology pioneer award. The prize amount also increased: for each category, the Cartier Women’s Initiative grants $100,000 to first place awardees, $60,000 to those in second place, and $30,000 to third. (Previously, there was only a first place prize of $20,000.) They then benefit from a one-year fellowship program, as well as access to the Cartier Women’s Initiative community.
