Exit the American dream, hello the French dream? For the first time, in 2023, the richest man and woman in the world are French (according to Forbes magazine): Bernard Arnault, head of Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy (LVMH), with a net fortune of 197 .4 billion euros; and Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, heir to L’Oréal (74.8 billion euros). François Pinault, who completes the national podium with 37.2 billion euros, is an autodidact who left school at 16, founder of the Kering group.
Two Britons, Nick Green and Peter Ettedgui, took an interest in the two world leaders in luxury, to decipher their “dream factory”: broadcast in resonance with fashion week (two episodes this evening, two on September 28), their captivating series from start to finish.
Why two Brits? Because there is a lot of talk here about two English stylists: John Galliano and Alexander McQueen (1969-2010), two “little guys” from the London suburbs, who ended up being artistic directors of the Dior and Givenchy houses respectively; but also Anna Wintour, another Londoner, who became the essential editor-in-chief of Vogue in the United States. It is she who will whisper the names of Galliano and Marc Jacobs (for Louis Vuitton) in the ear of Bernard Arnault. Bernard Arnault, whose rise we will follow since 1984, when he convinced his father to invest in the Boussac group, to which Christian Dior belongs.
“People are commodities.”
Without qualms, the young 35-year-old boss will fire textile employees and make Dior the cornerstone of his future luxury group. “For him, people are commodities,” explains Mimma Viglezio, senior executive at LVMH and then at Gucci. I think he gives this image because he needs us to be afraid of him. »
One man, however, is not afraid and will confront him: François Pinault, first as the “white knight” of the Gucci house, then chaired by Domenico De Sole – a fascinating speaker in the series –, then as during the war between the two French billionaires, with handbags and poaching of designers. Yves Saint Laurent does not appear in his best light.
Likewise, if the final episode (Descent into Hell) begins on September 11, 2001, it above all shows that, like a phoenix, consumerism quickly regains its rights, while the use of brand logos will supplant creation. To put it simply: the 120,000 euro dress is inaccessible? Buy the lipstick for 35 euros!
For Galliano and McQueen, the epilogue will be tragic. For the planet, the textile industry is now the second most polluting in the world. “When a pair of jeans costs less than a coffee and it is cheaper to throw them away than to wash them, it is obvious that there is a problem,” summarizes Mimma Viglezio.
