Toni Belloni, the luck of being Italian and his “knowledge economy” at LVMH. This is the definition used by the French giant’s general manager to describe the advantage of managing 75 brands. From Twin Towers to Covid, Belloni can summarise to Il Sole 24 Ore twenty years of experience at the top of the range. In Italy, LVMH has 31 production sites , invests over 100 million euros every year and employs 11,000 people. The manager’s urgencies now include the performance of leather goods, the value of stores and young consumers.
From the Twin Towers to Covid
“In twenty years, I have experienced a trend of great expansion for luxury products – says Belloni -. There has been an average annual growth of around 5-6 percent. But also three very critical moments: 9/11, 2001, 2008 financial crisis and Covid in 2020”. The manager has a clear goal: to come out of the crisis stronger than before. “The pandemic is a stress test, it has forced us – in his words – to reinvent every link in the value chain, it has given us new agility and new sensibilities”. Belloni expressed satisfaction with the results obtained in 2020 by LVMH, above all because the group “strengthened its leadership, doing better than its competitors, for example in our key sector, fashion and leather goods”. LVMH fashion houses operate on the concept of “long-term desirability” because “one cannot remain static, with the risk of becoming dusty. We must innovate with courage”.
The distribution
The future will be omni-channel, between boutique and digital. “Some stores will close for sure, because they are in the wrong place – admits Belloni -, but strategically, I believe that the digital sales channel will be integrated with the physical one. Stores will have to raise the level of service and offer innovative experiences”. As for future sales development: “Generations Y and Z represent a good 40% of the global luxury market and practically 100% of growth every year”.
Knowledge Economy
The executive oversees and coordinates all 75 brands in LVMH’s orbit. This allows him to develop a “knowledge economy” among them. Belloni is proud to be born Italian, which he considers “a formidable fortune”. Why? Because “In luxury, our humanistic culture, the predisposition to communication and human relationships, the aesthetic sense, the art of knowing how to live, equipped us to do well!”
Read also:
- LVMH: 5 million for the Amazon forest and efforts focused on biodiversity
- LVMH 2020, -17%: Vuitton, Dior and leather goods sound the charge
