Luxury is not a priority right now: LVMH prepares to sell fashion houses 0 13

According to sources from the publication, among the assets that the group has put up for sale are the fashion house Marc Jacobs, LVMH's stake in the singer Rihanna's cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and the American wine producer Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

In total, the deals could bring LVMH billions of euros, which the group plans to reinvest in its core business. The wave of sales is not limited to these three assets. Over the past 18 months, LVMH has sold the streetwear brand Off-White, the duty-free business DFS in Greater China, and a 49% stake in the Stella McCartney fashion house. The company is considering further sales in the Moët Hennessy division, seeking buyers for the rum Eminente and the Joseph Phelps vineyards in California.

The cost-cutting strategy, as the publication writes, will mark a departure from LVMH's traditional model. For decades, Bernard Arnault built the empire through acquisitions. Since 2000, the group has completed 206 asset acquisition deals, including the purchase of Tiffany for $16 billion in 2020 and Bvlgari for €3.7 billion the year before. During the same period, 122 assets were sold, but most of them were small.

"For the first time in LVMH's history, they are more likely to be downsizing than expanding their portfolio," noted one of the analysts interviewed by the FT. The shift towards core profit centers, which market participants consider to be Louis Vuitton and Dior, comes amid a slowdown in sales since 2023, which the FT has dubbed the "winter of luxury." The pandemic boom in luxury has ended, and declining disposable incomes and multiple price increases have led to a drop in demand.