LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE To Finance Nicolas Ghesquière’s Own Fashion Label

PARIS — According to multiple sources, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH has agreed to finance the creation and launch of designer Nicolas Ghesquière’s own fashion label.

This confirms our original story that we posted in October 2018. We reported that Nicolas Ghesquière will soon launch his own label because his new Louis Vuitton contract allows him too (see it here).

In May 2018, Ghesquière signed a new contract with Vuitton, announced by Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French luxury conglomerate that controls Vuitton, the world’s most profitable luxury brand.

The main driving force behind the project is Delphine Arnault, daughter of Bernard Arnault. Delphine is a great fan of Ghesquière’s work. In tandem with CEO Michael Burke, Delphine hired him in 2013 after he left Balenciaga to head womenswear at Louis Vuitton.

The exact timing of the launch is not yet known internally but the first details are expected to emerge in the course of the year, the source said. The new fashion house will be based in Paris.

“Delphine is very close to Nicolas and she is the main person behind that project,” one of the sources said. Delphine Arnault, who was previously Dior‘s deputy managing director, this year became the first of Bernard‘s five children to join LVMH‘s executive committee.

LVMH has a history of backing the development of fashion brands led by designers who work for the group.

Examples include Marc Jacobs, who spearheaded Louis Vuitton’s womenswear from 1997 to 2013; and Michael Kors, who designed for Celine and left in 2003 to concentrate on his own New York brand. LVMH subsequently sold its stake in Kors, later regretting exiting too soon when Kors went public in 2011, turning that designer into a billionaire.

Two weeks ago, DM Fashion Book officially confirmed that LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, better known as LVMH and Rihanna have been in secret talks to launch a luxury house under her name (see it here).

Photos Credit: Yannis Vlamos / Indigital.tv