Lanvin has been struggling financially as a result of slumping sales following Alber Elbaz's surprise sacking in 2015 and upheaval at the house. In 2016, Lanvin's revenues were just €162 million, a 23 percent dive from a year earlier and its first loss in more than a decade (2017 revenues were even lower, according to sources). Now a majority stake has been acquired by Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group last month.
Lanvin has let go of artistic director Olivier Lapidus, less than a year after his initial appointment. The remaining in-house design team will be responsible for the women's collection until a replacement is found. The struggling brand has announced additional leadership changes: Joann Cheng, president of Fosun Fashion Group and chairman of the Lanvin board of directors, will become the interim chief executive of the house. Nicolas Druz, who has served as Lanvin general manager since 2017, will take up the new position of managing director of Fosun Fashion Group to "support the group's current and future business expansion in Europe." Ms Cheng continued "We sincerely thank Mr Druz and Mr Lapidus for their contributions to Lanvin's glorious heritage". "In seeking candidates for the permanent positions of CEO and artistic director, we want to ensure we find people who share the spirit of Lanvin. The re-launch of Lanvin with fresh talents, while adhering to the values that the brand has maintained since 1889, is fundamental to returning the maison to its rightful position at the top table of the world's most lauded and innovative fashion houses."
The first campaign video got launched on 7th Jan during the Golden Globes. We love the tag line " Everyone deserves a comeback " which is a direct play at Winona's career and the L'Oreal Paris's Elvive line of products.
“She has something very real [about her], and here we wanted to take that reality to a new level. I felt that, on a classical shoot, we couldn’t get that depth.” she said. Ramsay-Levi seems determined to establish: the personality of the women she is designing for.
France's LVMH is helping projects by upcoming entrepreneurs in the luxury goods space, including a start-up whose software might help detect counterfeits. The owners of Louis Vuitton, aim to support the new businesses by hosting them in a mega-campus where they can collaborate with its in-house brands.
LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, is following in the footsteps of French cosmetics giant L'Oréal in grabbing a corner of Station F, a vast startup incubator in Paris where it offers rent-free space to the startups.
"The idea is to animate and activate those conversations around the things that might affect the luxury industry," said Ian Rogers, who is a former Apple executive who joined LVMH in 2015 as chief digital officer.
Paris is among one of the major European cities bidding to displace London's dominance in the startup scene as BREXIT looms and President Emmanuel Macron pushes a pro-reform agenda to promote business and investment.
Station F was launched last year by French billionaire Xavier Niel, who is also the partner of Delphine Arnault, an executive at Vuitton and daughter of LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.