{"id":213,"date":"2026-11-05T03:30:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T00:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=213"},"modified":"2026-11-05T03:30:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T00:30:20","slug":"bernard-arnault-gives-rousing-speech-after-receiving-award-from-wwd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/?p=213","title":{"rendered":"Bernard Arnault Gives Rousing Speech After Receiving Award From WWD"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tBernard Arnault and New York City go back a long way, engendering what he described as a \u201cspecial connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy elder children grew up nearby, in New Rochelle, and my younger ones feel at home here,\u201d he told an audience of 450 after receiving the John B. Fairchild Honor for lifetime achievement from WWD at the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit in New York. \u201cI admire New York\u2019s energy and determination to move forward. Here, every minute counts. There is even an expression for it: the \u2018New York minute.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCharles Lewis Tiffany understood this better than anyone, turning each minute into \u201860 seconds of pure possibility.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an 11-minute acceptance speech laced with humility and dry humor, the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton shared his admiration for creativity and his flair for business success, occasionally mentioning beloved brands in the vast LVMH stable.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor example, he lauded Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co., for revolutionizing the world of jewelry.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe brought together European legacy and American innovation to create something unique. He introduced new ways of selling with the legendary \u2018Blue Book,\u2019\u201d Arnault related. \u201cHe set new standards of excellence that have endured over a century. He had a vision. He was a true American entrepreneur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArnault, who acquired Tiffany & Co. in 2021, also exalted his long ties to WWD and its legendary \u2014 and feared \u2014 publisher and editor John B. Fairchild, whose grandfather founded WWD parent Fairchild Publications in 1892.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBack in 1991, at a ceremony a few blocks from here, John Fairchild said about me that I was \u2018almost American.\u2019 I almost took it as a compliment,\u201d the French business titan said. \u201cAmerica also taught me a lesson about perspective. In Paris, when we look at a building, we ask: \u2018How old is it?\u2019 In New York, you ask: \u2018How much is it?\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI must admit that, over the years, I have learned to ask both questions,\u201d he said, chuckling along with the audience.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe described Fairchild as an early \u201cenfant terrible<\/em> of fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe turned a rather small family newspaper business into one of the most feared institutions in fashion. John could turn a designer into a star or make them disappear from the pages of his newspaper for years \u2014 if not decades,\u201d Arnault told the rapt audience, dappled with celebrities including Adrien Brody, Tracee Ellis Ross, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Michelle Monaghan. \u201cIf the story was about you, you hated it\u2026 If it was about somebody else, you enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cUnder his leadership, Women\u2019s Wear Daily became WWD, three letters that pack a big punch. And believe me, nobody wanted to be Mr. Fairchild\u2019s punching bag,\u201d he continued amid more knowing chuckles from the industry-heavy crowd. \u201cJohn understood before anyone else that fashion was not just about clothes. It was about people: Designers, models, clients, artisans, entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Arnault, Fairchild\u2019s WWD \u201ctold the story of fashion as a battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor an industry devoted to making beautiful things, we have developed a remarkable affection for the language of war,\u201d he remarked. \u201cThe media talk about our brands launching charm offensives. Even the customers can become victims\u2026 Fashion Victims, of course, an expression that Mr. Fairchild helped make famous.\u201d (Or, in his oft-used abbreviation, FVs.)<\/p>\n

\n\tArnault also gave a shoutout to Edith Rosenbaum Russell, who became the first Paris correspondent of WWD in 1908.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe was quite a character, regularly crossing the Atlantic by ship, with beautiful trunks\u2026 probably Louis Vuitton ones,\u201d Arnault said with a little smirk. \u201cShe became famous for surviving the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 while making sure to claim a very big insurance file for the luggage she lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFamous for his long-term vision and ease with risk and business turbulence, Arnault reminded the audience that fashion has never been an easy sector.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor as long as I can remember, I have heard people talk about the \u2018crisis of luxury,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIn the 1950s, long before AI and robots, designers were already fighting against machines \u2014 the sewing machines.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThen came the oil crises and the financial crises,\u201d he continued. \u201cShortly after I took over LVMH [in 1989], I was told that the great decade of luxury was already behind me. Then came the dot-com crash, the subprime crisis, and the pandemic. Each generation has rightful reasons to worry about the future. But, somehow, each generation finds new ways forward.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe future does not belong to those who comment on crises,\u201d he argued. \u201cIt belongs to those who adapt to them and continue to create what women and men will love for decades to come. That is what I will keep working for.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"H\u00e9l\u00e8ne<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

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\t\t\t\t\tH\u00e9l\u00e8ne Mercier-Arnault, Bernard Arnault and Michael Rider.<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKristina Bumphrey<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tStill, Arnault was upfront about his sometimes controversial reputation, noting that his history of hostile takeovers and a relentless acquisition spree has earned such nicknames as Terminator, Wolf in Cashmere, and King of Luxury, though he prefers the term \u201chigh-quality products\u201d over \u201cluxury\u201d to describe the core activity of LVMH.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe was not comfortable with the moniker Emperor of Fashion either.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAs you know, in France, our kings have not always ended well. And our emperors have not done much better. So I have learned to be rather cautious about these titles,\u201d he demurred. \u201cThere is, however, one name I believe I have escaped so far. It is Dictator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLegendary French designer Christian Dior was not so lucky, though he landed on the cover of Time magazine in March 1957 with that word in a headline thanks to his iron grip on trends in the midcentury period.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to Arnault, Dior conquered the fashion world \u201cthrough his creative genius, his vision, and his taste for revolution. A very French quality, I should add,\u201d he said wryly in one of several veiled references to the violent protests that erupted in many cities in France in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHis New Look was so disruptive that he was initially greeted in America by protesters holding signs reading \u2018Dior Go Home,\u2019\u201d Arnault recounted. \u201cThe genius of Dior was not to design clothes that women liked at the moment. It was to design clothes that women would love over time. A collection may last a season. But a true maison could last centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArnault exalted the role American women have played in fanning the success of French fashions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor more than a century, American women come to Paris in search of that little je ne sais quoi<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cFrench savoir-faire and sense of elegance have a long history, going back to Louis XIV and Versailles, and even further.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe great history of Paris couture would not have been the same without American women,\u201d Arnault contended. \u201cThey were truly the first Very Important Clients or VICs, and, long before social media, the first influencers. From New York society to Hollywood, they brought French fashion into American life, and then to the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArnault has certainly done his part to further propel the stature of French fashion and leather goods in the world by conscripting such powerful designers as Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs and Virgil Abloh to rev up the likes of Fendi, Dior and Louis Vuitton.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTogether, at LVMH, we made bold decisions. We embraced the future despite the challenges of the present,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tArnault said he shared his WWD Honor \u201cwith everyone contributing to the future of our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have been fortunate to work in the footprints of some giants. Christian Dior was one. John Fairchild was another, in journalism. And Hubert de Givenchy, at six-foot-seven, was certainly a giant in every sense of the word,\u201d Arnault said. \u201cAnd speaking of giants, I think of Atlas, holding the famous Tiffany clock on Fifth Avenue. For more than 170 years, he has carried the weight of time on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe engineer in me would like to conclude by quoting someone who had a huge impact on our lives, even though he was not a fashion designer,\u201d Arnault continued. \u201cIsaac Newton, the father of modern physics, once said, as you probably recall: \u2018If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are all standing on the shoulders of giants,\u201d Arnault said.<\/p>\n

\n\tJames Fallon, chief content officer of WWD and Fairchild Media Group, presented the award to Arnault, lauding him for \u201crevolutionizing the quiet world of French luxury with a more professional management approach, a willingness to take risks, and in his words, persistence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFallon related how Mr. Fairchild spent most of his time in the company of creative types, preferring them over dry businessmen.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut he \u201cadmired and respected Bernard Arnault, who can discuss the \u00c9tudes of Chopin or the works of Gerhard Richter as easily as he can a balance sheet.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn essence, he is a Renaissance man, and there are very few of those around,\u201d Fallon said. \u201cIn any interview or conversation, Bernard Arnault emphasizes passion, loyalty, and hard work. But above all, his focus is on the creative aspects of the maisons that make up LVMH. In one of my favorite quotes, that I believe should be a sign on every CEO\u2019s desk in the world, he once said, \u2018If you fuel creativity, profits will come.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Bernard Arnault and New York City go back a long way, engendering what he described as a \u201cspecial connection.\u201d \u201cMy elder children grew up nearby, in New Rochelle, and my younger ones…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wom.beauty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}