French luxury giant LVMH Group kicked off a global open-house event showcasing its craftsmanship in Shanghai on Thursday, as the event’s founder Antoine Arnault hailed a “special bond” with Chinese customers at a launch event in Paris.
It came as the group faced pressure from sluggish demand in China and a backlash over a lawsuit against a local tea company.
At the launch event at the Samaritaine department store in central Paris for this year’s Les Journées Particulières, first initiated by Arnault in 2011, he mentioned the Shanghai event, which was the first among 71 venues across 13 countries to open to the public for the three-day event.
“For the first time since the event was created, several LVMH houses have come together in a single venue to share our savoir faire and its dialogue with Chinese culture,” said Arnault, who holds multiple roles within LVMH and is the son of its chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault. “Because we share a special bond with China and our Chinese customers.”