Louis Vuitton

"In 1821, the year of Napoleon's death on Saint Helena and the year of Louis Vuitton's birth in Anchay in the Jura, who like Thierry Hermès, will set out to "conquer" Paris, the latter permanently leaves Krefeld. In 1898-1900, during a business trip to Saint Petersburg, at the court of Tsar Nicholas II, Thierry's grandson, Émile-Maurice, will stop in Krefeld to meet a relative."

"In 1987, 45% of the company's sales were made in the Asia-Pacific region, with crazy margins. In Japan alone, the profits displayed reached a third of the turnover, which amounted to 9 billion francs! Louis Vuitton will also create stores in the United States and Europe. Racamier's strategy is clear: directly from producer to consumer. To make more money, Vuitton's CEO wants to combine the margins of the manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer."

"On both sides, grievances accumulate. Racamier's explanation: "The people at Moët-Hennessy experienced the merger as an absorption of Louis Vuitton and not as what it really was, namely an association." Chevalier's version: "Racamier is a difficult man who wants to control everything down to the smallest detail; you can't run a business with him." The disillusionment is great for Chevalier, who thought he could put the Vuitton family in his pocket as he had previously done with Moët, Chandon, Hennessy, and others Mercier."

"The head of Louis Vuitton and the head of Financière Agache sign a six-point protocol to jointly take control of LVMH. The document exists in only two copies and has only four pages. Each term has been weighed. It states in the preamble that "given the project under way to introduce a foreign shareholder to a significant extent into the capital of LVMH, a project carrying a very great danger in the long term for the unity and integrity of the company, Messrs. Racamier and Oligastro have deemed it necessary, for the protection of the company and its shareholders, especially the Vuitton family, to approach the Arnault group... The intention of the two parties is to maintain the LVMH group's belonging to the typically French domain of high quality and prestige, as well as to protect it against the risks of dismantling2"

"Three days later, the Paris Commercial Court rules in his favor and grants the request: it appoints a judicial representative at Louis Vuitton, responsible for convening a general meeting to change the statutes. In his reasons, President Philippe Grandjean justifies himself with the massive argument already raised by Arnault and Godé: "It is not healthy to let the company be run by a team on probation and in disagreement with 98% of its shareholders." Racamier is not defeated. He immediately appeals."

"LVMH. Bernard Arnault is infuriated by this move. Seeing the head of a subsidiary (even if he is the second-largest shareholder of the group) act in this way is a transgression of all the rules of capitalism, compounded by a personal affront, on which he cannot compromise. The chairman of the LVMH management board will therefore initiate a legal process to remove Racamier from Louis Vuitton by calling for an immediate general meeting of the company. Intoxicated by victory and blinded by resentment, Bernard Arnault has not had the patience to wait a few months for the ordinary general meeting scheduled for June 1989, during which he could have easily dethroned the old man. Instead, his criminal proceedings will only delay the deadline! Arnault has indeed fallen into a trap. He has no other choice but to convene a general meeting to dissolve the management board he has just appointed, himself!"

"Sornay made three main accusations (which would not come to fruition). Firstly, the Louis Vuitton company was unduly bearing the salary costs of Vuitton Investissement Gestion (VIG), the holding company of the Vuitton families. There was supposedly 12 million francs involved. Secondly, shell companies domiciled in tax havens were intervening in invoicing in Asia, allowing for significant sums to be diverted (the figure of 20 million was being mentioned for the years 1987 and 1988). Thirdly, exorbitant benefits had allegedly been granted to Louis Vuitton's minority partner in Hong Kong, Mr. Michael Goemans."

"The report first analyzes the internal sales of Christian Lacroix and Céline. Christian Lacroix lost money every year from 1988 to 1998. Initially belonging to Financière Agache and La Belle Jardinière, mostly owned by Bernard Arnault, the company became the property of Louis Vuitton from 1993 onwards, which bought this loss-making machine for 80 million francs. "Subsequently, from 1993 to 1998, Louis Vuitton supported Christian Lacroix's losses for a total amount of 270 million francs," says the report, which continues: "The Christian Lacroix operation results in a profit for BSF, a company owned by Mr. Bernard Arnault, through various holdings, to the detriment of minority shareholders of LVMH, a listed company, all for an amount of around 300 million francs.""

"Interestingly, it is not LVMH that is launching a public offer to buy back the remaining 3% that it does not control, but rather Louis Vuitton is buying back its own shares... to destroy them. This is a clever, and fiscally advantageous way to charge the cost of this buyback, which amounts to 2.1 billion francs, to Louis Vuitton rather than LVMH."

"This failure has little consequence, as in July, LVMH publishes its half-year results, which suggest a record-breaking year. Internal growth and store openings are behind a 40% increase in sales. This figure even reaches 68% in the United States, partly due to the rise of the dollar against the euro. The group praises the success of Sephora, which has multiplied store openings, and DFS, whose turnover has grown by 31%. But it is Louis Vuitton that leads the way with a 50% increase. LVMH's share price reaches its peak: the general meeting decides to split it by five so that at less than 100 euros per unit, it is once again accessible to very small portfolios."

"Perhaps inevitably as the public face of the company, Miss Boo quickly became the chief cause of concern. For the past few months she had been sporting a red ponytail and looked like a high school cheerleader, which wasn’t nearly good enough for the cool, urban image we had been trying to create. She seemed barely old enough to order milkshakes in the local diner let alone hang out in down- town bars. So the design team tried to make her more sophisticated by giving her different hair. But none of the styles they experimented with, from white dreads to black Afro, was quite right. The trouble was that she almost seemed to be trying too hard. As Kajsa put it, ‘She’s so cool, she’s really uncool.’ It was difficult to know what could be done. ‘Maybe she should change her hair all the time,’ Kajsa said, ‘like every three months. She’s such a fashion victim that she’s always on top of what’s going on.’ One way or another, it was clear that we needed some expert advice. So we booked the world’s top hair-stylist, Eugene Soulemain, whose clients included top Holly- wood actresses and fashion houses like Prada, Louis Vuitton and Hussein Chalayan. For a few weeks, while she waited for Eugene to fit her into his busy schedule, Miss Boo sat bald but beautiful in a quiet corner of Niclas’s Macintosh. But it wasn’t enough that she should just look cool. She had to talk cool too. A journalist called Lucy Ryder-Richardson wrote some lines for her, but the style-was thought to be too European when the point of Miss Boo was that she was the kind of girl who felt at home all over the world. So at the beginning of October we brought the New York style commentator Glenn O’Brien over to London for a couple of days to make her hip but transatlantic. Glenn had begun his career working for Andy Warhol at Interview magazine and went on to be variously a comedian, poet, author and copywriter. Michael Skidmore had known him at Barneys, where Glenn had been creative director for advertising."

"Nevertheless, André Battestini decides, against everyone's advice, to engage Paribas in the venture. He wonders if he has embarked on a strange adventure... but he perseveres and in October 1981, a consortium that will remain the same for years is finally ready: Penhoët, a portfolio company close to Paribas, takes 10%, Fidic of Serge Desmarais, a former oilman, and Pascal Gruzon (a subsidiary of Elf Aquitaine) share the remaining 10%. Louis Vuitton has taken the first step towards a future IPO. Always"

"It is on the sixth floor of 70 Champs-Élysées that Racamier organizes his shadowy meetings. When he agrees to receive or speak to a few privileged individuals, he brings them to the luxurious Vuitton decor of his hideout. It reflects perfectly the Vuitton philosophy: a few trunks, travel photos, fawn tones, a leather smell, and of course, a glass of Veuve Clicquot for the guests and a glass of Tio Pépé for the host. In this outdated setting, he tells the story of Louis Vuitton and explains his concern to make it a distinct brand: "The alchemy was not easy to achieve. We often tend to go for the easiest option. If we had not held the bar firmly, Louis Vuitton would have become a larger Lancel." He justifies himself: "The merger was intended to balance the risks. The strategy had already begun with the acquisition of Veuve Clicquot. But the graft with Moët did not take.""

"The president of Louis Vuitton likes to muddy the waters, it's his nature. When he takes a taxi, he almost always asks to be dropped off a few numbers away from the final destination, out of a taste for secrecy. He is used to booking tables in several restaurants under different names, never his own, so he can choose freely at the last minute where he wants to spend the evening. Some say it's in his genes. In any case, Henry Racamier takes a wicked pleasure in sowing doubt."

"On Thursday, May 25th, at 8: 30 PM, on Avenue Montaigne, the party is in full swing. On a beautiful summer evening, Henry Racamier inaugurates the new Vuitton boutique, which is to become the company's headquarters. The marble building is sumptuous. The invitation states: "Come take part in Louis Vuitton's imaginary journey." As soon as they arrive, the guests are transported to another world. The desert sand, in which two huge statues are stuck, surrounds the gate. After crossing the store, all of Paris finds itself in Yemen... Giant slides transform the garden, which is covered for the occasion, into an oasis."

"H&M begins to hire so-called supermodels, exclusive photo models with the same aura as movie stars. And with equally high fees. Instead of Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, these women will now showcase H&M's low-cost fashion. And it will be light clothing for Christmas."