Marc Jacobs Goes Public Independently How Does LV Keep Top Designers

Surprising news came from the fashion industry that Marc Jacobs, who has served Louis Vuitton (hereinafter referred to as LV) for 17 years, will step down as design director at the end of October. At the same time, it was reported that Nicolas Ghesquiere, former creative director of Balenciaga and assistant of Marc Jacobs, would succeed the new director. The successor not only has a golden resume, but also has a close relationship with Delphine Arnault, the eldest daughter of the leader of LVMH Group and the new executive vice president of LV.

The world's largest luxury goods The group, the best selling luxury brand in China, and complicated personnel relations are destined to be the beginning of a good story. Not disappointed, the sequel will be launched a week later. On October 2, after Marc Jacobs finished his curtain call before leaving LV, the media reported that he would focus on promoting his brand IPO in the future.

LVMH is the largest luxury goods group in the world. In 2012, its sales reached 28.1 billion euros, and it has more than 50 brands in five major areas: alcohol, fashion and leather products, perfume and cosmetics, watches and jewelry, and boutique retail. It can be said that fashion and leather products are its most important business, contributing 35% of sales (9835 million euros) and 55% of profits in 2012.

　　 LVMH The fashion and leather products business segment of the Group owns LV, Fendi, Celine, Givenchy, Loewe and many other first-line luxury brands. Marc Jacobs is also one of them, and its weight is not light. In recent years, Celine, which is popular in China, and Loewe, which is relatively low-key, have annual sales of about 500 million euros, while Marc Jacobs is the sum of the former two. At the same time, Marc Jacobs, the design director of LV, contributed 7.3 billion euros of sales to the Group last year.

No wonder the columnist commented: "It is the existence of Marc Jacobs and other designers that has made LVMH worth up to 63 billion euros." Marc Jacobs, who is affectionately known as "Little Brother Ma", led LV through the most brilliant decade of development. At this time, "Little Horse" will step down.

　　 Marc Jacobs The departure of the LVMH Group led people to discuss more about the future of LV and the LVMH Group.

LVMH Group was founded in 1987. At first, LV was the only fashion and leather brand. After 30 years of continuous acquisition, it became a luxury empire with a large scale. For luxury groups, multi brand layout is extremely important. Every time we cultivate a brand, we will have more weight against the enemy. At the same time, when there are many brand bases, it is also more conducive to cultivating potential brands.

Among the three major luxury goods groups in the world, Richemont, the second largest luxury goods group in Switzerland, mainly focuses on watches and jewelry. Cartier, Van Cleef&Arpels, Piaget, and Vacheron Constantin are all its top generals. PPR ranked third, mainly focusing on department stores, fashion and leather products. Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Zegna, YSL, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, etc. are all the strong rivals of LVMH.

In 2012, the growth rate of LVMH was only 9%, and the proportion of LV single brand was too high. In the past 20 years, LV has maintained a double-digit growth rate of revenue, and last year's performance seems unsatisfactory. Nowadays, the demand of emerging markets represented by China is greatly reduced, and Marc Jacobs' departure has also brought great uncertainty to the future direction of LV brand.

At the same time, Marc Jacobs is listed independently. For LVMH, the one-third of its shares will inevitably be diluted, and its control will also be weakened.

No wonder investors will react like this when Marc Jacobs reports the IPO. When Marc Jacobs was listed, it was commented that this was a trick LVMH Group had come up with to retain top designers. Perhaps, this is the frustration of LVMH. For LVMH, the next step is to find and cultivate the next potential brand. In fact, it has never stopped, but now it needs to speed up.