LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault built his luxury conglomerate on heritage brands and centuries-old notions of craftsmanship. But the 77-year-old tycoon it is now embracing AIlike many of his peers. Speaking at this year’s VivaTech conference in Paris, Arnault said he personally regularly experiments with AI-assisted product design. “Every week, we have a design session with AI,” he said during an on-stage chat with VivaTech’s co-founder. Maurice Levy yesterday (June 17). “With a young guy who is making the program work, and I and we design products. And then we make them come true. And maybe one of them would be a huge success.”
The remarks provide a glimpse of how LVMH is engaging with AI as the luxury sector adjusts to softer demand after a pandemic-era boom. At VivaTech, LVMH unveiled DreamGallery, an immersive experience showing how AI is being applied across its value chain, from product creation to traceability and customer experience.
IN Louis Vuittonwhich includes a partnership with Comelz, an Italian leather processing machinery specialist. The companies are developing a machine that creates a digital pair of skins, then uses AI to identify their characteristics and suggest optimal cutting patterns. Artisans can then validate or adjust the suggestions and “retain full control over the final decision,the company said.
Louis Vuitton designers are also using AI tools for it test colors, visualize materials and produce e-commerce assets, Soumia Haxhalia senior director of digital development and client at the brand, said during an NRF event in January. At the same time, the company is drawing a clear line around the customer relationship, keeping technology out of direct interactions. between client advisors and buyers.
Céline, meanwhile, has developed Celia, a personalized AI agent powered by MaIA, LVMH’s in-house AI platform. The tool is designed for retail operations and “supports sales teams, customer services and head office teams in their day-to-day needs, from product knowledge to performance analysis, after-sales support and internal procedures,” according to LVMH.
Beyond individual brands, the group has built a broader AI infrastructure. LVMH says its AI Factory, an in-house library of algorithms, works alongside its partnership with Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence to develop tools rooted in “Human-centered AIVogue Business has described the AI Factory as a set of modular algorithms that brands can adapt for e-commerce recommendations, forecasting and customer-advisory support. Axel de Goursacwho runs the AI Factory, told the publication that the goal is “not automating or replacing people,” but adding employees.
The push comes as growth stops. In its latest quarter, LVMH reported 19.1 billion euros (about $22 billion) in revenue, with organic sales up 1 percent — a figure the company said would have been 2 percent if not for the conflict in the Middle East. Fashion and leather goods, its largest division and the home of Louis Vuitton, Dior AND Fendidown 2 percent. In an earnings call in April, CFO Cécile Cabanis said store traffic had fallen but conversion was improving, adding that the group had “worked hard, especially with AI” to drive those gains.
LVMH’s initial pipeline
Arnault has led LVMH for nearly four decades and is also a founding shareholder and co-creator of VivaTech, the technology conference in Paris now marking its 10th anniversary.
“I consider my group as a startup and we are a conglomerate of startups,” he said in his conversation with Lévy. “Each of my brands was, at one point, a startup.”
He added that LVMH has discovered and worked with more than 200 startups through VivaTech since its inception. “I like meeting a lot of startups, seeing the interaction between our brands and what they invent, what they think,” he said.
The group engages startups through several channels, including La Maison des Startups, an accelerator program at the Paris startup campus Station F. In 2017, it also launched the LVMH Innovation Award to recognize startups developing new technologies for the luxury sector.
For participating companies, the award can serve as a gateway to the LVMH ecosystem. Finalists are invited to exhibit at the LVMH Laboratory during VivaTech and present to a jury of digital experts. Winners receive trophies designed by Tiffany & Co., along with support from LVMH’s investment specialists and opportunities to develop partnerships with the group’s brands. Both winners and finalists can also join La Maison des Startups.
This year, LVMH named three VivaTech Innovation Award winners. Paris-based Fairly Made received the top impact award for its supply chain transparency and environmental impact platform. UK-based Synthesia won the best business award for its AI-powered video tools, while New York-based Bluefish AI took home the most promising award for a platform that tracks brand image and product positioning across AI engines. All three companies are already working with LVMH houses, according to Vogue Business.
