The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Activists from social justice organisation Attac on Saturday unfurled a giant banner over the headquarters of French luxury group LVMH and sprayed black paint on the storefront of its newly revamped La Samaritaine department store in Paris to protest the growing inequality during the pandemic.
The banner, which featured France’s richest man LVMH boss Bernard Arnault, fellow billionaires telecoms investor Patrick Drahi, luxury group Kering’s founder Francois Pinault and Francoise Bettencourt, daughter of the late L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, read: “The gang of profiteers.”
Activists said in a statement the stunt was intended to protest “the shameless enrichment of billionaires during the health crisis.”
Attac is calling for the introduction of taxes on the richest people and the windfall profits of multinationals. LVMH could not be immediately reached for comment. The Samaritaine department store reopened to the public on June 23.
By Dominique Vidalon, Manuel Ausloos; Editing by Louise Heavens
The luxury goods maker is seeking pricing harmonisation across the globe, and adjusts prices in different markets to ensure that the company is”fair to all [its] clients everywhere,” CEO Leena Nair said.
Hermes saw Chinese buyers snap up its luxury products as the Kelly bag maker showed its resilience amid a broader slowdown in demand for the sector.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.