Bernard Arnault Presents LVMH Innovation Award
PARIS — Filled to the brim with bright booths and hosts in vibrant logo-ed T-shirts, VivaTech was buzzing with a combination of acronyms from AI to AR to VR, as companies debuted new retail tech at the Porte de Versailles convention center.
Speaking on the main stage to present the LVMH Innovation Award, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chair and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault noted that the event was launched just seven years ago and has since become “one of the most important events in the tech world, attended by some of the most successful leaders.”
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He was on hand to present the LVMH Innovation Award Grand Prize, which went to Save Your Wardrobe, a start-up that has worked inside the group’s incubator since last September.
The start-up integrates care and repair options into a brand’s website to make the process of booking and tracking repair seamless, as well as in-store after care. It can also provide a network of locally owned businesses that are specialized in care.
“The idea is to work closely to understand the needs of the maisons to provide an outstanding experience that is at the same standard as the purchasing one,” founder Hasna Kourda told WWD. She said she was initially inspired by witnessing the problem of Western clothing waste being dumped in her home country of Tunisia.
“Our mission is truly to expand the legacy of luxury; we care about clothing, we care about how it makes us feel. Being supported by the group and partnering with the maisons will give us the scale to have a global impact on people and also on the planet,” she said.
In addition to the award, Kourda received a one-of-a-kind varsity jacket designed by Kenzo’s Nigo, naming her the 2023 winner.
LVMH head of communication, image and environment Antoine Arnault said discussions are starting to integrate the Save Your Wardrobe platform into the various LVMH houses. “It is something that we need, it is something that we strive for but it’s very complex to implement — reparability and after sales repair — is always a very difficult and very sensitive topic, so having a third party that is professional on this particular subject is something great for us,” he told WWD.
“We always say that our way of seeing sustainability is we don’t really speak about secondhand but we speak about second life,” he added. “We want our customers to feel they get value for what they buy. It’s another philosophy than when you buy a fashion item for the short term.”
Other projects honored were Woola, which aims to replace plastic bubble wrap packaging with the 200,000 tons of sheep wool that goes to waste each year in Europe; NeoBrain, an AI-powered talent management solution; VidMob, which uses analytics to improve campaigns; Living Packets, which reframes deliveries with reusable packaging, and Absolute Labs, which bridges marketing software in the Web3 space to improve customer relationship management.
Inside VivaTech, Bernard Arnault was a rock star. He toured the LVMH booths surrounded by bodyguards and mobbed by throngs of fans trying to snap photos of him or ask for selfies. He indulged a couple of fans just before his exit.
At the Louis Vuitton booth the brand demonstrated its virtual replication of the fall 2023 men’s show. The show played out on two customized vintage arcade machines — swathed in Louis Vuitton’s iconic monogram canvas, and featuring LV logo-ed buttons — that will only be available at the VivaTech show.
The tech, in partnership with Epic Games, was an internal test to conquer challenges, including conveying craftsmanship in a digital manner, show how to digitize a show in a short time frame, and understand how to work with an internal team instead of outsource to an agency. LVMH director of leather goods and modeling Carole Fuchs took on a small digital design team of just five, which replicated the show in 2.5 months.
In the 2D “game,” of sorts, a user moves around the set with a controller, crosses paths with models and points to items within the show for additional information. There are no plans to roll it out on a wider basis, for now, but the idea behind the tech was to “make it very inclusive,” said Fuchs. “The show is usually very private and we wanted to offer the possibility of the experience potentially to other people,” she said.
Louis Vuitton also demonstrated a VR headset that takes customers on an eight-minute immersive tour of its Paris flagship. So far, the tech is only available at special events and has been utilized in Dubai.
Dior Beauty demonstrated live shopping consultations, designed to take “chat with a sales rep” button to the next level. Partnered with Swedish live streaming company Bambuser, customers can speak directly with a human adviser on fragrance, skin care and beauty products to replicate an in-store experience.
AR try-on received attention, with Zero10 on hand to demonstrate its mirror technology. At its booth, the young start-up demonstrated its tech. Founder George Yashin shared several use cases, including allowing brands to place the mirrors in airports where they have little retail floor space, or in street-level windows to gain attention from passersby.
Zero10 has already partnered with Coach on deploying the technology in display windows. In the Coach case, they had 175,000 try-ons in a one-month span, and their preliminary survey data show that customers said they were three times more likely to purchase an item after the AR try-on.
“It’s like a new language,” said Yashin. “Brands like Coach can talk to a new generation. Guys like 15, 16 years old who wouldn’t normally enter a Coach store, they can interact with the bag and then they will go in the store. It’s a new way to engage interest.”
Zero10 has also worked with Tommy Hilfiger to deploy the mirrors in its Amsterdam wholesale showroom, so buyers could try on items without the brand having to produce physical samples. Zero10 is next partnering with Calvin Klein, also owned by Hilfiger parent PVH Corp., and will also place a mirror in-store at the new Fusalp flagship in Paris when it opens in September.
The hardware solution tech is growing, Yashin said, and reported that they have up to 20 requests a day from brands. Companies can purchase the system or rent it for short-term marketing projects or pop-ups. The 2.5-year-old start-up is expecting to grow to 2.5 million euros in revenue in 2023, up from zero last year.
Tmall Luxury Pavilion demonstrated its AR try-on app, which shows luxury accessories such as jewelry, watches and glasses, with the ability to try on if a customer places their hand, wrist or face in front of a phone’s camera. Items such as Cartier bracelets were rendered in 3D, which move around the screen with the flick of the finger. The app is intended for the Chinese market and only works in the Chinese language for now, a representative said.
Elsewhere, L’Oréal was on a diplomatic mission, and held a ceremony with South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups Young Lee to sign a memo of understanding agreement. South Korea will join the company’s next round of its Big Bang Beauty Tech Startup Challenge, which was launched in China in 2020 and has so far been limited to competitors from that country.
Opening up to other countries in the region is key, said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L’Oréal North Asia and CEO of L’Oréal China. He added the north Asia zone is the second largest for the group, and accounted for nearly 30 percent of the group’s sales in 2022.
Particular areas of research that the company will engage in in South Korea are skin diagnosis and skin tech, powered by AI, representatives said.
L’Oréal deputy CEO Barbara Lavernos revealed one upcoming innovation that resulted from the group’s work with start-ups, the L’Oréal Professional showerhead that uses 69 percent less water. It will be rolled out to 100,000 hair salons worldwide later this year.
Last year’s hot topic — crypto — seems to have cooled, as talked turned to the latest developments in AI. The trade fair opened Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron announcing that the country will invest 500 million euros to develop AI projects.
Elon Musk will be the biggest name of the four-day convention, and is expected to appear on Friday.
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