Luxury according to Bernard Arnault
"He is one of those who invented a new industry in the world: the industry of luxury." It is in this way that Yves Messarovitch defines Bernard Arnaud in his book - "La passion créative", published by Éditions Plon. The group president of LVMH reveals his passion for luxury, in particular for Christian Dior. "Luxury is a field which always attracted me..."
"Luxury is a field which always attracted me. And at the same time it is a combination of circumstances which enabled me to be in the ideal situation to create this group, at the right moment.
For a long time, I was fascinated by artistic creation searching for perfection, for the highest standards.
When I was working in the construction industry, what fired me most was to spend time with the architects on the design of the buildings that we were going to build for the investors, to make them more attractive."
"To build a group like LVMH now would be impossible..."
"At that time, I already liked going to Christian Dior to buy their products. So it is true that on a personal level, I had a passion for luxury products.
But when I was in a position to acquire the Boussac group, which possessed Christian Dior, I immediately sensed that with this extraordinary and unique asset, whose name was known all over the world, there was scope to build a great conglomerate, at a time when this type of activity was not yet very much developed. It was a formidable opportunity to gather several companies whose potential had not yet been perceived.
We did not look at the luxury business then in the same way we do today. The value of the brands was much lower. To build a group like LVMH now would be impossible, taking into account the value reached by other companies in the luxury sector and the negligible number of star brands available.
My team and I had seen, I believe, this potential well before the others."
For a long time, I was fascinated by artistic creation searching for perfection, for the highest standards.
When I was working in the construction industry, what fired me most was to spend time with the architects on the design of the buildings that we were going to build for the investors, to make them more attractive."
"To build a group like LVMH now would be impossible..."
"At that time, I already liked going to Christian Dior to buy their products. So it is true that on a personal level, I had a passion for luxury products.
But when I was in a position to acquire the Boussac group, which possessed Christian Dior, I immediately sensed that with this extraordinary and unique asset, whose name was known all over the world, there was scope to build a great conglomerate, at a time when this type of activity was not yet very much developed. It was a formidable opportunity to gather several companies whose potential had not yet been perceived.
We did not look at the luxury business then in the same way we do today. The value of the brands was much lower. To build a group like LVMH now would be impossible, taking into account the value reached by other companies in the luxury sector and the negligible number of star brands available.
My team and I had seen, I believe, this potential well before the others."
Décembre 2008
