Louis Vuitton's Nicholas Ghesquiere and Rianne van Rompaey for W Magazine China

Louis Vuitton's Nicholas Ghesquiere and Rianne van Rompaey for W Magazine China

Louis Vuitton French-Belgian creative director Nicolas Ghesquière carried the celebration of his 10 years in the role into the April 2024 Archives issue of W Magazine China [IG]. Vuitton muse and Ghesquière’s close friend Rianne van Rompaey joins him in a fashion story highlighting the iconic looks from more than 30 collections.

Marie-Amélie Sauvé styled the spare and crisp presentation lensed by Alasdair McLellan [IG]./ Makeup by Hiromi Ueda; hair by Damien Boissinot

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Sailing to Paris 2024 Olympics with Louis Vuitton Nautical Summer Capsule, Crewed by Women

Sailing to Paris 2024 Olympics with Louis Vuitton Nautical Summer Capsule, Crewed by Women

Louis Vuitton is in Olympic Games Paris 2024 countdown, as a lead brand in LVMH’s role as a top sponsor of this summer’s games.

Dropping the new Louis Vuitton Nautical Capsule 2024 this weekend reminds us that some fashion trends truly possess heritage status — in the way that the Olympics are heritage.

Women, Sailing and the Olympics

The world has changed almost beyond recognition since the summer of 1924 — the last time Paris hosted the summer Olympics. One simple statistic grabs our attention immediately: 2954 men competed in the 1924 games and 135 women. AOC digs deep into women in competitive sailing a century ago.

Louis Vuitton's foray into the prestigious realm of sailing and its premier position in the LVMH sponsor umbrella of the Paris 2024 Summer Games spills next into Barcelona, where Louis Vuitton hosts in late August 2024 the America's Cup Challenger Selection Series. Hosting the event since 1983 and subsequently renamed the Louis Vuitton Cup, it culminates in the race for a new America’s Cup Winner.

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Rumor: Louis Vuitton Is At Bat for Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc Property

Rumor: Louis Vuitton Is At Bat for Beverly Hills Cheval Blanc Property

WWD shared the unconfirmed rumor that Louis Vuitton hopes to take over the defeated proposal for a 109-key Cheval Blanc hotel on the 50,000 sq foot property on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

LVMH thought they had a deal going last spring for the Cheval Blanc in Beverly Hills. AOC knew LVMH had the wrong team negotiating on their behalf, long before we wrote the end of the very close vote story.

Weekend Paris Protests at New Louis Vuitton Hotel Site

The circumstances of the 2023 Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills no-vote is even more relevant today, after protesters took over the Paris construction site of the new Louis Vuitton hotel and store in Paris this weekend.

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Tod's Group and L Catterton Sign Deal to Delist from Italian Stock Exchange or Merge

Tod's Group and L Catterton Sign Deal to Delist from Italian Stock Exchange or Merge

On Super Bowl Sunday, the Tod’s-LVMH decades-long business connection went into high gear with news that Tod’s Diego Della Valle, his brother Andrea Della Valle and the LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton have entered an agreement involving the launch of a tender offer at €43 per Tod’s share. The goal of delisting Tods’Group from the Italian stock exchange is in sight.

Today’s financial offer will leave the Della Valle Family with a 54 percent stake in Tod’s Group capital and assets; L Catterton will indirectly own 36 percent and Delphine SAS [a fully-owned subsidiary of LVMH] will retain a 10 percent stake.

Tod’s first announced a desire to delist its company from the Italian stock exchange in August 2022. That effort failed in October 2022, when a bid launched solely by the Della Valle family failed to reach the 90% threshold required to delist.

Anne of Carversville wrote days ago about about our growing understanding of the management style of LVMH/Bernard Arnault-trained executives. The trees planted have deep roots that bear premium fruit with long-term alliances, strong interpersonal friendships, trust and loyalties. It’s impressive.

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LVMH Maison Acqua di Parma Yellow Cafe Opens in Seoul, Korea Designed by Dorothee Meilicjzon

LVMH Maison Acqua di Parma Yellow Cafe Opens in Seoul, Korea Designed by Dorothee Meilicjzon

Italian Maison Acqua Di Parma, a member of the LVMH family of artisans and artists-inspired maisons, brings its Italian heritage and Milanese creativity to Seoul with the Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. The design by Dorothée Meilichzon fuses Italian charm with the dynamic spirit of Seoul.  

Located at Lotte Avenuel Jamsil B1F, Acqua di Parma Yellow Café is much more than a café, proposing an immersion into the Maison’s unique aesthetic and heritage.   

Indeed, you are seeing a ‘wavy plate’ on a shelf [below] in Seoul’s new Acqua di Parma Yellow Café. If you seek a concrete signal about the hoped-for evolution of the new cafe in Seoul, recall the March 2022 pop-up in Milan for the brand’s new fragrance Colonia CLUB.

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Can LVMH Write the Book on Developing Human Potential in Brands and Businesses?

Can LVMH Write the Book on Developing Human Potential in Brands and Businesses?

The more AOC studies LVMH from every angle, the more impressive the organization becomes. I’ve been researching ways in which LVMH has addressed the philosophy of humanism. The concept flourishes across the maisons, and it seems that great care is given to developing both the executives and the artisans.

Fundamental to the maisons is a similar vision for how the brands interact with their clients — and not only their elite-class clients. LVMH plants deep, dynamic forests for their brands.

As everyone says, LVMH moves fast, but it’s also the case that huge mistakes are avoided because of a culture of deep roots and also deep knowledge about the humans who work in their businesses.

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LVMH Reports Record 2023 Financial Results Adding $30 Billion to Market Value

LVMH Reports Record 2023 Financial Results Adding $30 Billion to Market Value

Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon and Hennessy [LVMH] reported 2023 year-end sales of 86.15 billion euros [$93.46 billion], representing a 10% organic increase in fourth quarter and a 13% organic growth yearly increase against 2022.

Profit from recurring operations stood at €22.8 billion for 2023, up 8%. The current operating margin remained stable with respect to 2022. In addition, LVMH has advised the markets that it anticipates no further price increases across its business units in 2024.

Now that he is back to being the richest man in the world, thanks to a 12% rise in LVMH’s stock price on Friday, Arnault’s practice of engaging his children in collective conversations around every aspect of the entire LVMH business over Zoom lunches — early breakfast in New York — reminds us that the family is not a Rupert Murdoch-like clan of cannibals.

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America’s Black Cowboys, As Tributed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection: Pt 1 of a French-American Cowboys Story

America’s Black Cowboys, As Tributed by Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection: Pt 1 of a French-American Cowboys Story

Historians estimate that in the latter half of the nineteenth century, one in four American cowboys was black. Anne of Carversville seriously doubts that this reality is taught in the history classes of American schools. Additionally, an estimated 12% of cowboys were Mexican.

Thanks to the January 18th Louis Vuitton Fall-Winter 2024 Men’s Collection show at the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris, this historical lens of exploration is opened wide. AOC is both incredulous and excited to tell this story. But first — a look at the highly-praised, Louis Vuitton Men Creative Director Pharrell Williams Fall-Winter 2024 show.

Black Cowboys and Slavery

The history of black cowboys in America is deeply intertwined with the legacy of slavery and the Civil War. Prior to Emancipation, many enslaved African Americans were forced into labor on plantations, including working with cattle. Other African Americans went west to California as slaves of gold miners and to Utah as slaves of Mormons.

Texas became the largest home to black cowboys.

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K-Pop Louis Vuitton Ambassadors LE SSERAFIM in Seoul-Exclusive Bag Campaign

K-Pop Louis Vuitton Ambassadors LE SSERAFIM in Seoul-Exclusive Bag Campaign

The South Korean girl band LE SSERAFIM were the stars at the after party following the Pre-Fall Louis Vuitton show in April, 2023. Today they are ambassadors for Louis Vuitton, the largest, most dynamic and culturally-engaged luxury brand in the world.

Their debut act places LE SSERAFIM in a campaign for a bag capsule exclusive to the South Korean market, against a visual backdrop of Jamsugyo Bridge.

Vuitton enlisted "Squid Game" director Hwang Dong-hyuk to help build the scenography for the April 2023 show, the first-ever fashion production on the landmark Jamsugyo Bridge in Seoul.

Knowing Seoul as well as Anne does, the Louis Vuitton fashion show on the iconic bridge was surely was a landmark event and source of enormous cultural pride and good will for Louis Vuitton in South Korea.

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Les Gastons Vuitton Fine Jewelry by Francesca Amfitheatrof Is Not Only for Men

Les Gastons Vuitton Fine Jewelry by Francesca Amfitheatrof Is Not Only for Men

“Men used to wear a lot of jewellery, and it’s now finally turning around,” Francesca Amfitheatrof, Artistic Director for Watches and Jewellery at Louis Vuitton, tells Vogue Business. “Men are much more adventurous and interested in jewellery.”

The men’s fine jewelry market remains a fraction of the women’s business, boasting revenues of about $7.3 billion in 2023 compared to an estimated $44 billion, according to Euromonitor. Its annual growth rate is 7.3 percent, however, compared to 7.3 percent for women.

The acquisition of Tiffany & Co by LVMH in 2020 and the arrival of jewelry-loving Pharrell Williams as the new creative director of Louis Vuitton Men in 2023 created a major appetite for the spectacular entrance of Louis Vuitton into Fine Jewelry for women, followed now by the introduction of a Louis Vuitton men’s [or unisex] 18 piece fine jewelry collection called ‘Les Gastons Vuitton’.

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Louis Vuitton SS-2024 Lookbook Lensed by Amit Israeli and Gabriel Moses

Louis Vuitton SS-2024 Lookbook Lensed by Amit Israeli and Gabriel Moses

The Louis Vuitton machine is in high gear for the release of the first Pharrell Williams Louis Vuitton Men collection and these new lookbook images lensed by Amit Israeli [IG] and AOC tag and also Gabriel Moses [IG]

Models include Awwal Adeoti, Dara Gueye, Ridzman Zidaine, Teo Abihdana and Thatcher Thornton styled by Matthew Henson. / Hair by Christian Eberhard; makeup by Christine Corbel

Creative Direction for the shoot is credited to Pharrell Williams [IG] and Lina Kutsovskaya [IG].

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First Louis Vuitton Hotel Will Open in Paris on Avenue des Champs Élysées

First Louis Vuitton Hotel Will Open in Paris on Avenue des Champs  Élysées

The world’s largest luxury brand Louis Vuitton is opening a hotel in Paris in 2026. Located at 103-111 Avenue des Champs Élysées, the 6,000 square metres property will be located next to — and will absorb — the brand’s largest shop on the world-famous boulevard.

Instead of an ugly scaffolding construction site, the new Louis Vuitton’s hotel’s façade will be disguised as one of the brand's legendary trunks during construction. That is SO Louis V.

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Louis Vuitton Expands Monogram Vernis and Monogram Denim Y2K Updated Classics

Louis Vuitton Expands Monogram Vernis and Monogram Denim Y2K Updated Classics

Four Louis Vuitton faces — ‘Bridgerton’ actor Phoebe Dynevor, Congolese-Belgian singer and rapper Lous and the Yakuza, Taiwanese singer, musician and actor Nana Ouyang and Shay Mitchell of ‘Pretty Little Liars’ — will launch a new Louis Vuitton digital campaign on January 1.

Louis Vuitton is reviving its Monogram Vernis and Monogram Denim designs with a range of leather goods, shoes and accessories targeted towards Gen Z consumers who shopped the Monogram Vernis collection launched in 2000 and Monogram Denim, following in 2005.

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Louis Vuitton Winter 2023 Ski Collection Delivers Big Style Statement

Louis Vuitton Winter 2023 Ski Collection Delivers Big Style Statement

Five models Ahmadou Gueye, Angelina Kendall, Dana Smith, Indiana Van’t Slot and Victoria Fawole convey just how important the 2023 Campaign ski campaign is to Louis Vuitton.

Marie-Amélie Sauvé styles the quintet for the winter 2023.24 campaign, with art direction by Veronica Ditting. Ethan James Green [IG]. / Hair by Damien Boissinot; makeup by Christelle Cocquet

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HTSI Magazine Celebrates Nicolas Ghesquière and 10 Years at Louis Vuitton

HTSI Magazine Celebrates Nicolas Ghesquière and 10 Years at Louis Vuitton

As Louis Vuitton artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière [IG] celebrates his 10-year anniversary with the brand, as well as the renewal of his contract for another five years, HTSI Magazine [IG] launches a huge celebration around the designer, the label and the muses.

Ethan James Green photographed Ghesquière himself for a HTSI [Financial Times How to Spend It] interview with the designer ‘First, we have fun’: Nicolas Ghesquière on a decade at Louis Vuitton.

Bibi Cornejo Borthwick with WeFolk [IG] agency photographs the 10 models, talents and ambassadors for these remaining images, styled by Isabelle Kountoure.

Models and talents expand on HTSI’s IG comments quoted on AOC in a separate online article. They appear in chronological order of their first project with Nicolas Ghesquire for Louis Vuitton.

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Ida Heiner Covers Vogue France December 2023/January 2024 by Theo De Gueltzl

Ida Heiner Covers Vogue France December 2023/January 2024 by Theo De Gueltzl

Vogue France celebrates the communion of art and fashion in its December 2023/January 2024 issue. Underscoring the increasingly critical pairing of these two dominant influences in global culture, Vogue France puts model Ida Heiner on the cover, wearing a superheroine-worthy cape, custom-created for the magazine.

Celebrating a decade as artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s Women’s, Nicolas Ghesquiere’s [IG], contract was just renewed for another five years. In this cape project, Ghesquiere worked with contemporary artist Philippe Parreno [IG].

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Louis Vuitton Spreads a Contagious, Human Joy for the 2023-24 Holidays

Louis Vuitton Spreads a Contagious, Human Joy for the 2023-24 Holidays

Louis Vuitton delivers smile-worthy holiday cheer in its first episode of a multi-segmented campaign lensed by Oliver Hadlee Pearch [IG] with video by Lope Serrano.

The Maison’s Mascot Vivienne and her friend Teddy arrive to explore all the Maison’s creations. As regulars, they might become treasured ornaments as the years go by — and we are eager to keep track of them.

These darling little creatures pop up everywhere in a distinct statement that whimsy is part of the holiday season and we are quietly encouraged to get “out of ourselves” and into the world of humanity.

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Louis Vuitton Cruise 2024 Campaign Delivers Modern Mermaids in Italy's Isola Bella

Louis Vuitton Cruise 2024 Campaign Delivers Modern Mermaids in Italy's Isola Bella

British actor Emma Laird has attended multiple Louis Vuitton [IG] shows, including the women’s Cruise 2024 show, held on the picturesque island of Isola Bella in Italy.

The ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ star stepped into the lens of photographer Jamie Hawkesworth [IG]for the Louis Vuitton 2024 Cruise Collection campaign.

Laird joins models Chu Wong, Ida Heiner, Mica Argañaraz and Valentina Castro in the campaign ads styled by Florent Buonomano and Marie-Amélie Sauvé. Creative directors Charles Levai and Kevin Tekinel made a marvelous contribution to this campaign concept.

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