Plus Ça Change
LVMH is facing a big sexual harassment suit and charges of sourcing in an Italian sweatshop--again.
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Also in this issue:
Back Row Substacker and I discuss Paris Couture Week, the $10 million Birkin Bag, and candidates to be Anna Wintour’s successor at Vogue.
A Downton Abbey auction at Bonhams
Charles Frederick Worth exhibition in Paris
Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the French luxury conglomerate that owns more than 75 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Moët et Chandon champagne, is having a bad July. LVMH sales have been dropping, and therefore so has the company’s stock—precipitously so, which means Arnault’s wealth has taken a tumble: Now he’s only number five on Forbes’s richest people list, with a total wealth of $178 billion.
Last Friday, the Financial Times reported that Moët Hennessy, the group’s wine and spirits division, has been hit with a sexual harassment suit. And this week, news came that Loro Piana, the group’s very posh, very expensive, Italian cashmere brand has been accused of sourcing from illegal sweatshops in Italy, just as a Dior subsidiary had been last year.