May 17, 2013
French conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is gaining 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 will be 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.
“Cannes is one of the biggest annual marquee events, attracting a wide array of notables from the crème de la crème,’” said John Casey, senior vice president at Havas PR, New York.
“At Cannes, luxury marketers have a unique opportunity to highlight their brands to a broad range of influencers including celebrities, financiers, athletes, models and jetsetters,” he said. “The effort is a very clever way to integrate the brand into one of the world's most prestigious film festivals.”
Mr. Casey is not affiliated with LVMH, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
LVMH was not available for comment before press deadline.
Lights, camera, action
State-of-the-art film preservation and digitalization techniques were used to restore The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to its original colors and enhance its musical soundtrack.
The film stars French actress Catherine Deneuve as Geneviève Emery, the teenage owner of an umbrella shop in Cherbourg, France.
Soon after her lover, played by Nino Castelnuovo, is drafted to the military and leaves for Algeria, she finds out she is pregnant.
Film still
The musical goes on as both characters lead separate lives.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was the winner of the 1964 Cannes Film Festival's highest award, the Golden Palm of Cannes, and nominated for five Oscars that same year.
The film marks Ms. Deneuve’s first starting role and pushed her to be Mr. Demy’s theatrical muse.
After the screening of the restored film at the Cannes Film Festival, it will be shown in movie theaters worldwide.
LVMH chose to restore the film for a number of reasons, the most apparent being that it supports the preservation, heritage and creativity of its brands and therefore, supports those aspects of filmmaking as well.
The conglomerate is also looking to align with Mr. Demy’s “French elegance” and the film’s “art de vivre,” per LVMH.
Private screening
Other luxury marketers have been part of film projects recently.
For example, Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld produced and directed a new film called “Once Upon a Time” to show how the brand’s founder revolutionized fashion by creating a new style concept for modern women.
The 18-minute film with actress Keira Knightley, the longtime ambassador for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, starts in 1913 when Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel has opened a namesake hat boutique in on the Rue Gontaut-Biron in Deauville, France.
Once Upon a Time premiered on the evening of May 8, the day before the Chanel cruise collection show at Singapore’s Loewen Cluster on Dempsey Hill. The film was shown during a private screening at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore (see story).
In addition, Prada Group’s namesake brand presented “A Therapy,” a short film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley that demonstrates how the brand’s items are recognizable and coveted by everyone.
The film was directed and co-written by French-Polish film director Roman Polanski and premiered at last year’s Cannes Film Festival before a showing of a restored version of his 1979 film called “Tess” (see story).
LVMH’s funding of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg restoration - similar to the $2.5 million that its Fendi brand put down to fund the restoration of Italy’s Trevi and Four Fountains - gives consumers something of value without a brand or corporate name built into the project.
The effort will underline LVMH’s standards more than push its brands and it seems that its name will appear on movie posters at the least.
“Film aficionados will appreciate the brand's efforts to revitalize a revered classic, and as such, provide the brand with an opportunity to highlight its passion of preserving and perpetuating creative practices and skills inherited from the past,” Mr. Casey said.
“Actually doing something to help reinvigorate a beloved film goes a step beyond the usual sponsorship and product placement opportunities,” he said.
Final Take
Tricia Carr, associate reporter on Luxury Daily, New York
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