Monumenta entrance at the Grand Palais
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is boosting its presence in the art world with a renewed sponsorship of the Grand Palais exhibit, "Monumenta."
Monumenta, presented by RMN-Grand Palais, chooses one artist to create a large-scale work to be displayed in the historic building each year. As a French company, being involved in this major Paris art event, also sponsored by the French Culture and Communications Ministry, will help reaffirm LVMH’s ties to the art world.
"As luxury and retail is an extremely competitive space, it is important for brands to continuously innovate in order to continue their relevancy within their consumer base," said Dalia Strum, professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and founder of Dalia Inc., New York.
"One strong strategy has been merging concepts between synergistic verticals, including art and fashion," she said. "Collaborations with specific artists for these large-scale exhibitions is a focused strategy toward conveying brand imagination along with displaying their advocacy for the arts as well as preservation of history.
"This approach is a great opportunity for LVMH to leverage visual inspiration allowing the conceptual artistic creativity to highlight their collection with aspirational imagination."
Ms. Strum is not affiliated with LVMH but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
LVMH did not respond by press deadline.
Forging a connection
LVMH has been sponsoring Monumenta since its beginning in 2007.
The 2014 edition of the project will feature “The Strange City” by Russian-born artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. This installation consists of a maze leading to an odd town, taking up about 145,000 square feet of space under the glass vault in the Grand Palais.
Model of "The Strange City"
Visitors can explore eight structures, which each lead to a different mini world. Before they enter the maze, consumers first walk through a gate lit by a dome, which casts colors on the entryway.
"The Strange City" at the Grand Palais
Five buildings inside the labyrinth, named “The Empty Museum,” “Manas,” “The Centre for Cosmic Energy,” “How to Meet An Angel?” and “The Gates,” welcome attendees.
On the exterior of the structure are two chapels, one white and one black. These house paintings are on corresponding backgrounds.
The Black Chapel
LVMH has promoted its participation on social media.
In a statement, LVMH explained that it was happy to be connected to this "rich dialogue between a site charged with history and a forward-facing work of contemporary art."
Arts and culture
The Grand Palais is a popular choice for large-scale Paris exhibits.
For instance, French fashion house Christian Dior aimed to further align its women’s fragrance Miss Dior with international artists during a two-week exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris.
Opened Nov. 13, the free “Esprit Dior, Miss Dior” exhibit was dedicated to the heritage of the brand’s first fragrance created in 1947 to accompany designer Christian Dior’s “New Look” collection. The exhibit highlighted the fragrance’s inspirations through the work of 15 international female artists who were given “carte blanche” to explore Miss Dior’s scent, bottle silhouette, its muses and history (see story).
LVMH has previously shown its dedication to the arts through funding.
The French conglomerate gained exposure among attendees at the Cannes Film Festival by funding the digitalization and restoration of “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”
The restored version of French filmmaker Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical was shown during the “Cannes Classics” series at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival May 15-26. LVMH is looking to raise awareness for its support of the heritage of its brands by funding the restoration project, per the conglomerate (see story).
For LVMH, this consistent tie to this art world event will likely help them reach a range of consumers.
"This strategic relationship is a strong marketing strategy by allowing LVMH and their featured artist to leverage both of their networks, as well as establish support for both industries," Ms. Strum said.
"Residual effects are this alignment provides visibility within their demographic by leveraging their other interests on the interest graph, and keeping LVMH relevant and current within their clientele's eyes," she said.
"The benefit for LVMH for staying involved with this exhibition essentially allows them to maintain existing relevancy as well as increasing the opportunity to establish relationships with their aspirational clientele."
Final Take
Sarah Jones, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York