LVMH officially enters the world of cinema

In a strategic move that blends luxury and entertainment, the LVMH group has announced its entry into the Hollywood entertainment industry. The creation of a dedicated division, 22 Montaigne Entertainment, marks a significant expansion of LVMH's presence beyond the realms of fashion, perfume, and spirits, signaling its intention to explore the vast potential of its 70 iconic maisons in cinema, television, and audio platforms. The new division takes its name from the illustrious Parisian address of the luxury conglomerate and emerges as a collaboration with Superconnector Studios, led by industry veterans Jae Goodman and John Kaplan. With a wealth of experience in marketing and entertainment, Goodman and Kaplan are expected to bring a strategic vision to the new project and explore new ways to capitalize on the group's immense portfolio.

Under the guidance of a committee led by Antoine Arnault and Anish Melwani, 22 Montaigne aims to facilitate initiatives of co-development, co-production, and co-financing, to turn the stories of the group's various brands into a potential cinematic portfolio: just think of the numerous biopics and series about the lives of designers, but also the regular films that can have one of the group's various maisons as an "invisible protagonist" - after all, Breakfast at Tiffany's did more for the brand than any marketing campaign, but projects also include documentaries or podcasts, TV series, and any imaginable audiovisual material. The informal experiments had been going on for a while: Dior, a cornerstone of the group alongside Louis Vuitton, has offered its ateliers as locations for films like Haute Couture by Sylvie Ohayon and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Anthony Fabian, independent films that indirectly pay tribute to the brand's history, but has also collaborated with series like Cristòbal Balenciaga and The New Look with a strategy that, some time ago, we had defined as "soft marketing."

This kind of convergence between fashion and entertainment, which goes beyond the screen by making red carpet looks and ambassador contracts one thing, has not only become increasingly pronounced in recent years but seems to be a response to rival Kering's investment in the Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency. Not to mention how the conglomerate's existing relationships with a myriad of celebrities, from brand ambassadors to creative collaborators, serve as a launchpad for future projects. By leveraging these partnerships, 22 Montaigne aims to increase the visibility and cultural resonance of LVMH brands on a global scale.