Luxury mogul builds Great Wall of Fendi in China
Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury empire, LVMH, poses with Jeon Do-youn, who won the best actress award at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival. [JoongAng Ilbo]
Arnault is the richest man in France and the seventh richest in the world, according to the business magazine Forbes earlier this year. He recently attended a fashion show at the Great Wall in China for Fendi, part of his business empire.
Out of some 100 world media outlets, Arnault chose four to speak with, and the JoongAng Ilbo was the only newspaper, together with CNN and Time magazine.
Arnault began the groundwork for building his luxury empire when, at the age of 35, he bought the mother company of Christian Dior, the luxury fashion brand.
Now 58, he is a luxury business magnate whose more than 60 brands yield 20 trillion won ($22 billion) in revenue every year. Over the years he has expanded his territory step by step, buying luxury brands that ran small-scale fashion, cosmetics and jewelry companies.
Arnault is particularly adept at attracting highly talented designers to his empire. “I like to identify new people and brands,” Arnault said. “If I support them and wait for a few years, they never disappoint.”
Arnault brought Marc Jacobs and John Galliano to his business empire. Asked how he spots talent, he said, “When I saw Galliano for the first time, I could see his originality. I knew consumers would appreciate him and his work.”
However, he added, individual talent is just part of the equation. “LVMH has a number of teams that back up Galliano and Jacobs, and they make things much easier for the designers,” he said. “I call it inspired ‘management.’”
Arnault believes his role as CEO is to ensure such relations work smoothly. He said he makes it a rule to hold regular discussions with his designers.
“Creative work and business strategies have to go together,” he said.
Arnault called the luxury business a “business of passion that takes time.” He said he is ready to wait a decade for the different brands in his empire to grow like that of Louis Vuitton.
Those brands make up 50 percent of his conglomerate. Asked how he simultaneously manages several dozen brands, he said he runs each one like a venture capital.
Arnault is not without his detractors. His critics call him a “monster that swallows luxury brands.” His response? “I have strategies and principles that see if they [the brands] fit into my conglomerate’s portfolio.”
Regarding the fad for luxury brands in Asia, Arnault said, “Japan is a matured market. Its consumers have used luxury goods for a long time and they know value. China is a little different.”
What about Korea? “Korean consumers have different tastes for brands. A brand that is successful in Korea may not be well-received in China,” he said.
Asked about his definition of luxury goods, Arnault said, “History. History is the base that makes up luxury goods, where originality and quality are added. Buying a luxury brand is like purchasing a part of European culture. This is the reason why we can be successful.”
Then what are his strategies to sell culture? “Time,” he said. “We need time for consumers to understand the history and tradition behind our luxury brands.”
His brands have never broken their pledge to offer the best quality, he added.
Has he ever dreamt of doing anything other than working in the luxury brand business? “That’s a question that I’ve never had to answer. Maybe I am just so deep into the luxury market.”
Pondering for a moment, he said, “One thing is clear. I should be doing a consumer-related business. I live and breathe with consumers.”
By Ghang Seung-min JoongAng Ilbo [sujiney@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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