Lacave chatted with Tatler Dining Singapore on growing new legacies, the meaning of luxury today, and its commitment to sustainability
Jean‑Marc Lacave is a three‑decade veteran of LVMH, with expertise in both watches and jewellery as well as champagne. Of the Frenchman’s 30 years with the luxury group, almost 10 have been spent in Asia, including in Shanghai as president and CEO of LVMH Watch & Jewelry Asia, and in Hong Kong as president and CEO of Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific. Today, he is executive vice‑president of global distribution at Moët Hennessy, a role in which he has an overview of much of the group’s business, particularly wine and spirits, and its current position in the world.
And right now, LVMH’s position looks pretty good. Last December, the group’s chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault was named the world’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, toppling Elon Musk from the number one position. The same month, the group received a triple A rating from the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) for its commitment to sustainability.
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There is still plenty more to come. “We’re very much in expansion mode,” says Lacave, who was in Singapore for this interview last December. Part of this expansion involves developing new brands and maisons, each designed to have the same longevity as the group’s legacy brands, some of which have histories of several hundred years.
The group is targeting brand acquisitions to fuel its growth. For such moves, the first step is deciding whether a brand is a fit for LVMH’s current categories before it can add value. But most of all, it is about developing a brand with the original founders while ensuring there is that sense of place that LVMH’s brands have in common. “We have massive respect for our legacy brands,” says Lacave, referencing Hennessy (founded in 1765) and Veuve Clicquot (founded in 1772) and their respective founders Richard Hennessy and Madame Clicquot, adding that “a luxury house is a house, and a house is a place”.
Some of LVMH’s recent acquisitions and launches demonstrate the group’s strategy. In 2017, it formed a joint venture with the Gallardo family, which has been involved in the tequila industry for several centuries and has its roots in Jalisco, the birthplace of tequila, relaunching its Volcan de mi Tierra as a super‑premium tequila label. In 2019, the group acquired a majority stake in Château d’Esclans, forming a partnership with Sacha Lichine, the man behind the estate that produces the much‑loved rosé Whispering Angel, to further grow and develop the brand.
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