Rarely do you see so many finishes on avenue Montaigne. The LVMH group (which notably owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo, Guerlain, Fendi, Celine, Loewe and Tiffany & Co.) is based in this major luxury artery of the capital. On the sidelines of a demonstration against the pension reform on April 13, 2023, a hundred people attacked the headquarters of this luxury group, as reported by the news agency Reuters :
“If you are looking for money to finance pensions, take it from the pockets of billionaires”, said Fabien Villedieu, representative of the Sud Rail union, underlining that the demonstration was “symbolic and peaceful”.
Why did anti-pension reform protesters attack LVMH?
To understand the symbol, we need to look at the fortune of Bernard Arnault, president and CEO of LVMH. The conglomerate has benefited from a very strong post-pandemic rebound in demand for luxury goods, as just revealed on April 12, 2023 (i.e. the day before the intrusion of LVMH’s Paris headquarters by protesters against the pension reform). As reported BFM-TV, since the group reported a 17% increase in sales in the first quarter of 2023, this affects the fortune of his boss who has pocketed another 12 billion dollars. This brings Bernard Arnault’s fortune to $210 billion. Enough to solidify his place as an industry leader, but also as the richest man in the world, ahead of Elon Musk ($180 billion), as well as Jeff Bezos ($126 billion), according to a ranking Bloomberg.
Number one fortune in the world, Bernard Arnault generates through his group around 145,000 direct, indirect, induced and chain jobs in France, which produce 5.4 billion in tax contributions. We can therefore consider that there are relatively few people who produce this colossal wealth, ultimately shared among a few people.
From where the anger of protesters against pension reform who are instead demanding more taxes from the ultra-rich, symbolically embodying this message by attacking the LVMH headquarters.
Luxury does not know the crisis, it enjoys it, to the great disgrace of the most precarious.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
