PARIS — After launch events in Paris and Shanghai, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton on Friday kicked off the sixth edition of its Les Journées Particulières open-doors event.
Returning after a four-year hiatus, it welcomed members of the public to 71 locations worldwide over three days, beginning with the LVMH Virtuosos ceremony at La Samaritaine department store in Paris on Thursday night, which honored artisans for excellence in their craft.
At the sprawling launch party hosted by Antoine Arnault, director of image and environment at LVMH, guests lined up to get personalized Louis Vuitton luggage tags, swill Hennessy cognac or sample a chunk of a Cova panettone as big as a footstool.
Perhaps inspired by the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, of which LVMH was a major sponsor, Arnault had the 2026 class of LVMH Virtuosos follow flag-bearers through the crowded soiree, the guests parting and applauding as the 69 artisans passed clutching a jewelry box containing a special pin designed by Maison Fred.
At a prelaunch dinner in Paris, Arnault acknowledged the event comes at a challenging time for luxury goods. Shares in LVMH are down more than 40 percent so far this year, causing the group to lose its crown as France’s most valuable company to L’Oréal.
“A great deal has changed since the first edition. The group has grown enormously, and at times that growth was so rapid that we had to ask ourselves whether we were losing sight of our core values,” Arnault said.
“To be honest, we had not planned to hold the event this year. We intended to stage it next year. It is extremely time-consuming, requires a great deal of energy, and is also very costly,” he added.
Antoine Arnault at a press conference in July.
Dorian Prost/Courtesy of LVMH
“But our artisans let us know, through the heads of the workshops, industrial directors and sometimes even CEOs, that they felt it was important to hold these special days as soon as possible,” he said.
LVMH has narrowed down the list of participating houses, and therefore does not expect to beat the attendance record of 200,000 visitors for the previous edition. Instead it wanted to emphasize the human dimension of its business.
“In the age of artificial intelligence, we felt there was no better time to come back down to earth and meet the men and women who present their know-how — people who do not need a screen to demonstrate what they do, but can explain directly to visitors, adults and children alike, how much pride they take in their work,” he said.
Labor of Love
The LVMH Virtuosos form a community, acting as ambassadors for their respective maisons, participating in specialized development masterclasses and taking an active role in mentoring. Several of them were on hand to greet visitors at the open-day events.
During a preview visit to Celine, which opened its ready-to-wear workshop to the public for the first time, Alla, a prototype machinist specializing in flou, was making a model of a whorled rose detail on a dress.
Part of the Virtuoso class of 2023, she recently took part in a visit to the Ruinart Champagne cellars in Reims with fellow honorees.
“It broadens your horizons,” she said. “Our job is demanding, but when you see high-end hospitality, it goes above and beyond even what we do, because there is so much attention to detail.”
Judging from the hundreds of markings on the paper pattern she was preparing for her colleagues in the sewing department, her job is equally exacting.
Alla has worked under three successive creative directors at Celine, and is now one of 50 people making runway prototypes and custom VIP orders for Michael Rider and his design team.
The Celine ready-to-wear workshop in Paris.
François Halard/Courtesy of Celine
Unlike his predecessors, Rider works from the Paris studio full time. Earlier in the week, he joined the atelier team to share a glass of Champagne while they watched the brand’s spring 2027 runway show on a giant screen.
Split into tailoring and flou sections, the workshop sits under a vast glass skylight at the heart of the historic Hôtel Colbert de Torcy, the 17th-century mansion where Celine established its headquarters in 2014.
“It’s a fabulous place to work. I don’t think there are a lot of workshops like ours,” said Armelle, flou studio manager and patternmaker, who has been there for 15 years. “Yesterday, one of our colleagues retired after 25 years. When you find a house you love, you tend to stay there.”
Arts and Crafts
At the nearby Louis Vuitton leather goods prototype workshop on Rue du Louvre, careers similarly run in decades.
Yannick, the workshop manager, has 20 years of experience at LVMH, working in leather goods workshops in France and Italy. He oversees a team of 34 patternmaker-prototypists tasked with bringing designers’ ideas to life.
“Our advantage is being so close to our creative teams,” he said, noting that Vuitton’s headquarters are just down the road. “That’s rare, because at other houses, design is based in Paris, while the patternmaking and prototyping workshops are scattered around the world.”
Once they receive a sketch or brief from a designer, the artisans draw 3D geometric patterns, determining how the pieces of leather will fit together. Using canvas or a special material made of leather offcuts, they make a rough prototype. Once this is validated, the bag is produced in its finished form.
Inside the Louis Vuitton leather goods prototype workshop in Paris.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
Adèle, who joined the team 12 years ago, said she was keen to explain her little-known profession to members of the public. “It’s a job that requires creativity, sensitivity and technical skills. Creating templates is like drafting patterns for a garment,” she said.
“You have to love fashion — and to have the freedom to focus on measurements, you need to be completely at ease with sewing machines and understand a leather worker’s craft. Leather working is not something you can learn in two years. To become a good leather worker, you need at least five years, if not 10,” she added.
In recent years, Vuitton has introduced more soft bag styles and new materials, including a jacquard version of its signature Monogram canvas, and Silk Tech, a twill-woven hybrid of silk and reclaimed nylon. This forces the teams to permanently adapt their methods.
“What’s cool about Louis Vuitton is that we’re really innovative, and sometimes we don’t know how new materials will behave. That’s part of the challenge, and it guarantees I never get bored,” she said.
Making Memories
For the teams at Hakuba, the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Cheval Blanc hotel, Les Journées Particulères offers a rare opportunity to meet fans of Japanese cuisine who don’t have access to its 420-euro multicourse omakase meal.
Visitors were offered a series of three 15-minute workshops around tea, futomaki and mochi.
Pastry chef Maxime Frédéric, who works alongside sushi master Takuya Watanabe and chef Arnaud Donckele, has developed a signature ultra-thin mochi shell which melds Japanese tradition and French pastry craftsmanship.
Sacha Vadier, assistant executive pastry chef at Cheval Blanc, said guests would be tasting the rhubarb mochi, a trompe-l’oeil sushi topped with slices of poached rhubarb.
Vadier, who is also an LVMH Virtuoso, said he loves sharing his universe and getting a peek at other forms of skilled craftsmanship.
Maxime Frédéric, Takuya Watanabe and Arnaud Donckele.
Caroline Dutrey/Courtesy Photo
“I’m passionate about watchmaking, so whenever I meet a watchmaker, I can’t help comparing notes. For several years, we’ve been making a lot of chocolate pieces with working gears, so there are things that fascinate them too,” he said.
“What is so amazing about the Journées Particulières is that visitors can move from one place to another, discovering crafts that are part of France’s heritage and are practiced by people who are among the very best in their field,” Vadier said.
“If you visit a perfumer, he’s making some of the finest perfumes in the world. If you visit a restaurant, it’s one of the best restaurants in the world. It’s extraordinary to give people the opportunity to experience something truly remarkable, even if only for a short time,” he said.
“I’m very proud that our team and our house can take part. We’re delighted, and we know these experiences will stay with us forever.”
— With contributions from Miles Socha
