LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault Pooh-Poohs the Metaverse
Bernard Arnault of LVMH isn't keen on plunging into the metaverse — he'd rather ease his way in.
Speaking to the press about the luxury conglomerate's performance in Q4 of 2021 (spoiler alert: they did well), the CEO expressed his hesitation to fully embrace fashion's digital frontier.
"It’s a purely virtual world and until now, we are in the real world and we sell real products," Arnault said. "To be sure, it’s compelling, it’s interesting, it can even be quite fun. We have to see what are the applications of this metaverse and these NFTs."
The executive assured went on to assure onlookers that LVMH, an arbiter of luxury, won't put its name on any old digital collectible.
"We’re not interested in selling virtual sneakers for 10 euros," he said, clarifying that well-executed NFTs and other digital activations "probably" have a positive effect on brands.
But LVMH — which owns major names including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Givenchy — isn't exactly as meta-averse as Arnault suggested.
Last summer, Louis Vuitton launched a free mobile game featuring 30 NFTs designed by Beeple.
Givenchy also took to the blockchain with a series of Chito-illustrated avatars, which sold for sums as high as 5 ETH (worth approximately $12,325 at the time of publishing).
And earlier this month, Fendi and Ledger teamed up on a series of high fashion crypto wallets (which, some have noted, shouldn't be flaunted in public).
Fashion's continued expansion into the metaverse is inevitable, given the lucrative nature of NFTs and the popularity of illustrated apes, so it's surprising (and a bit refreshing) to hear Arnault take a more cautious approach to the blockchain.
Maybe he still has PTSD from the Boo.com debacle?
