LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton opened this year’s China International Import Expo, the nation’s largest import fair, in Shanghai with a high-profile delegation of senior executives, underscoring the group’s growing engagement with the country across culture, craftsmanship and the arts.
Centered on this year’s theme of “New Generations,” Marc-Antoine Jamet, LVMH‘s general secretary, gave opening remarks by referencing the group’s chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault‘s recent visit to Washington, D.C., and his conversations at the State Dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The theme we have chosen this year is what we need to learn to succeed,” said Jamet. “Never before did we have such an intense dialogue with China, last month in Washington, D.C., during the state visit of his excellency President Xi, Mr. Arnault was the only European invited at the official dinner…that’s a sign of friendship,” said Jamet.
Calling the annual trade fair a “Swiss Army knife” for political, commercial and artistic exchange, Jamet voiced the group’s strong alignment with China’s economic position, echoing the government’s calls for free trade and opposition to unfair tariffs and trade wars. He referenced Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang’s keynote address at the opening ceremony earlier that morning.
Pietro Beccari, chairman and CEO of LVMH Fashion Group and Louis Vuitton, took to the stage with several surprise announcements — on Nov. 26, Chinese star pianist Wang Yuja will play a free concert featuring Johannes Brahms’ “Piano Concerto No. 2” — aboard The Louis, the brand’s ship-like activation in Shanghai.
Marc-Antoine Jamet, LVMH’s general secretary, speaking at the opening ceremony.
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According to Beccari, Bernard Arnault and his wife Hélène Mercier, both pianists, will be in attendance.
“Last year, we placed an ocean liner in the middle of the city that symbolizes the marvel of Shanghai — every day, we welcome 3,000 visitors and we are happy to say, we have 1.3 million visitors in one year,” added Beccari.
Building on Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with the Musée Guimet, Beccari also revealed an exhibition bringing the archaeological treasures of Sanxingdui, discovered in Sichuan province, to Paris, with a subsequent stop in Shanghai.
“I’d say Vuitton has a special place in the heart of the Chinese client, they represent a fundamental asset for Louis Vuitton. Thanks to their love, their love of Louis Vuitton, we are able to become the dominating, number-one luxury brand in the world,” said Beccari.
”We have 5,000 applications for one job at Vuitton, so the interest for the brand is there,” noted Beccari.
Andrew Wu, president of LVMH Greater China, reiterated the group’s pioneering position in the market, tracing its roots to its first store in the basement of the Palace Hotel in 1992. More than 30 years later, that pioneering spirit continues with The Louis, which “engages the market intensely and progressively,” Wu said, serving as an unofficial spokesperson for the project.
“Our brands are legendary brands with a lot of history, but very importantly, the new generations are carrying it on. It’s the carrying on of the traditions, of modernization,” said Wu.
Laura Burdese, CEO of Bulgari; Charles Delapalme, president and CEO of Hennessy, and Gabrielle Saint-Genis, president and CEO of Guerlain, took to the stage to share perspectives on the future of luxury, flex their Chinese skills, before Wu — or known in the company as Master Wu — stepped onstage again by hosting a panel discussion featuring Marie Videau, president of LVMH Research; Anne Cai, president of MHD China, and Zhiwen Zhang, president of Fendi Greater China.
This year’s LVMH pavilion brings together seven participating maisons, including Bulgari, Dior, Geurlain, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and Sephora.
Louis Vuitton at LVMH’s CIIE pavilion.
Highlights include Louis Vuitton’s dedicated Asnières Salon that brings together three trunks that represent the spirit of travel, including a 19th-century Cantonese trunk from Gaston-Louis Vuitton’s antique collection, a travel trunk dating to around the 1910s, which is associated with globe-trotter Albert Kahn, and a Louis Vuitton trunk captured alongside Chinese landscapes in photographs by Bruno Aveillan.
At Dior, creative director Jonathan Anderson‘s vibrant interpretation of house codes for his second Dior haute couture show was put in juxtaposition with a 1947 Bar suit conceived by brand founder Christian Dior for his first collection, which introduced the New Look. Meanwhile, Anderson’s collaboration with American artist Lynda Benglis, which transformed the Dior Cigale bag with architectural metallic pleats, brought to life the whimsical fantasy that continues to define Anderson’s vision for the house.
Dior’s showcase at CIIE.
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At Hennessy, its 2027 Year of the Goat capsule collection includes collaborations with Chinese artist Diao Juan and Chinese fashion designer William Shen, founder of the luxury down jacket label Raxxy.
This year’s CIIE expo, now in its nineth edition, launched Thursday and will run until Nov. 10 in Shanghai.
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