PARIS — The Colbert Committee luxury association brought together brands and big names to promote careers in crafts among students.
Sidney Toledano, president of LVMH Fashion Group and newly elected president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, joined French Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak on stage, along with Minister of Education and Vocational Training Carole Grandjean , and the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce. , Crafts and Tourism Olivia Gregoire.
The afternoon panel closed the three-day educational fair “Les de(ux)mains du luxe,” the Colbert Committee’s clever pun on the future of crafts.
Despite the boom in business in the luxury sector, companies in general have expressed difficulties in hiring young artisans to carry out traditional methods.
Toledano reminded the crowd that Louis Vuitton, Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Louis-François Cartier were all artisans before they were “designers.”
“They were artisans, they were businessmen, they were storytellers,” he said. “His entrepreneurial power was based on his savoir faire.”
Toledano was careful to point out that the day’s event was to continue the continuing quest for education and elevation of the trade. He said that in his youth he grew up surrounded by artisans, but today’s youth are more removed from the trade.
“It’s a problem that exists for our industry,” he said. “How we pass on to the next generation is a real question: is word of mouth, marketing, storytelling stronger? — convey the opportunities of these careers.”
Toledano said that it is the responsibility of government programs and private sector luxury companies to raise the status of artisan careers.
“The métiers de la main need to be reinvented and young people need to discover the métiers d’art — they are constantly evolving, innovating and we need to convey the idea of savoir faire,” said Minister Malak.
Malak said the French government is committed to five pillars of craft promotion: spreading knowledge of the professions; education and internships alongside experienced craftsmen; invest in innovation and new technologies to transmit age-old techniques before they disappear; ensuring that the craft is not only centered in Paris, but dispersed throughout France and eventually grows internationally as well.
He cited cross-cultural programs to promote French crafts in the US and Japan and said the government is setting up residency programs in Africa and China to train artisans abroad.
“There is great potential not only to export our French savoir faire, but also to learn from other countries and create exchanges and cooperate with them, because it is also this cooperation that will help to reach new markets, new citizens who are interested. in it, and also pushing the boundaries of sustainability in this field and innovation in this field,” said Malak.
Other guests included LVMH’s director of craft development Alexandre Boquel, Van Cleef & Arpels president Nicolas Bos, Christofle president Emilie Metge and Hermès human resources director Vincent Vaillant.
“Luxury is one of the things France is best known for, along with football and cooking,” Christofle’s Metge quipped. “We know how to celebrate luxury and savoir faire, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that luxury, without the next generation, may disappear.”
Panelists agreed that government investment in manufacturing is important, but that educating and recruiting the next generation is key to keeping the luxury alive. While business has been booming and luxury companies have posted record profits, recruiting remains a weak link.
All the panelists agreed that while craftsmanship is essential, communication is the key.
“We have to be able to pass it on to the next generation to make sure we can stay at the top level of manufacturing and how we design luxury goods and products,” Metge said, adding that luxury cannot continue.
“We need to pass it on to the new generation, but make sure you don’t ‘own’ the savoir faire and are here to pass it on to the next generation. To be more democratic, capable of speaking with any generation and not only in a luxury category, very high and elitist, but we need to speak with adolescents. This is the most important message that we want to have today,” she added.
Students tend to focus on the ideas of being a designer or stylist, but students interested in the art of fashion are often unaware of the work that goes on behind the scenes.
“These types of professions, in the past, have been hidden,” said LVMH’s Boquel. “There has been an opposition between the abstract professions versus the manual professions. The best way to change this is to communicate about the image we have. We want to show the beauty of the professions and explain that there is an expansion of talent development. It is a great opportunity for you to create your professional path within luxury”.
After the panel, Toledano toured the room of the Station F innovation center in Paris, visiting various stations of some of the 23 luxury brands on display. LVMH presented the programs of its Institut des Métiers d’Excellence, Van Cleef & Arpels offered a workshop to promote its L’Ecole des Arts Joailliers, while Cartier presented its Haute École de Joaillerie.
Léonard demonstrated pattern making, Chanel demonstrated bag creation, and Christofle demonstrated gilding techniques.
Toledano even stopped by the Dior exhibit to speak with a seamstress who was working on a tulle couture gown.
The event closed a three-day educational fair that brought together more than 4,000 students to learn about métiers d’art from luxury fashion houses.
Source: news.google.com