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.
LVMH Luxury Ventures, the French luxury conglomerate’s private equity arm, has acquired a stake in Israeli lab-grown diamond start-up Lusix alongside other investors in a $90 million funding round.
The bet by luxury’s biggest company, whose “Ventures” subsidiary recently invested in Aimé Leon Dore and Heat, comes as the diamond industry seeks to respond to concerns about the ethics and sustainability of mining virgin materials. While the use of recycled gold has become increasingly common, lab-grown gemstones often carry a stigma for luxury brands. Neither LVMH’s Bulgari or Tiffany brands use the technology.
Lusix has sought to shake off sustainability concerns regarding the energy requirements of lab-grown stones by purporting to use only solar energy to produce its “Sun Grown Diamonds” brand. The company said it would use the investment to open a second solar-powered factory in Israel.
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When High Jewellery Meets Lab-Grown Diamonds
Former executives from Harry Winston and Cartier are betting on recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds to revive a 160 year-old Paris jeweller favoured by Empress Eugénie and Anna Wintour.
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.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.