LVMH continues commitment to Comité Colbert, taking part in unprecedented 2025 edition of De(ux) Mains du Luxe event at the Grand Palais

More than a decade after the creation of its pioneering Institut des Métiers d’Excellence program to preserve and pass on the Group’s unique array of exceptional skills, LVMH reaffirms its active commitment to promoting careers in Creative, Craft and Customer Experience professions, once again taking part in the Les De(ux) Mains du Luxe event organized by the Comité Colbert, the French luxury goods trade association. This year’s event is set for October 2-5, 2025. 

Addressing a shortage of talents in luxury professions, Les De(ux) Mains du Luxe promotes the attractiveness of these métiers and aims to spark vocations among young people by showcasing the aesthetic and creative intelligence inherent to these skills. The event is organized in collaboration with the French national education system and leading luxury industry businesses to encourage vocational training, job mobility for youth and work-study programs. 

For four days, the event will welcome students, teachers, young people thinking about future career directions, adults interested in reskilling, families, and everyone eager to learn more about the secrets behind crafting luxury goods. The exhibition presents specialized skills in three key LVMH Group activities – leather goods, haute couture and fashion, and perfumes and cosmetics – through demonstrations by experts plus fun participative workshops where visitors leave with an object they made with their own hands. The LVMH Institut des Métiers d’Excellence will be part of the Schools & Partners section, presenting career opportunities and vocational training available in these métiers.   

Six LVMH Houses are taking part within a specially designed space at the exhibition, offering a daily program of craft experiences to share the rich and varied range of opportunities available in their highly-skilled professions.   

Unique experiences proposed by LVMH Houses  

• Louis Vuitton is hosting an introduction to leather goods skills, inviting visitors to create a miniature replica of the iconic Alma bag, applying special creasing techniques using leather offcuts from Louis Vuitton workshops. 
• Dior has created an experience inspired by its couture excellence where visitors make creative use of unused fabrics from Dior ateliers and try their hand with a needle and thread to sew a signature Dior star to an upcycled pochette.  
• Celine invites participants to craft their very own leather wallet, learning techniques for painting edges, hot marking, sewing and creasing.  
• Parfums Christian Dior will present secrets to making ribbon bows and “baudruchage”. Passed on over generations, this heritage technique consists of sealing the neck of perfume bottles with a thin strip of fabric tied into a decorative knot, followed by wax seal, thus preserving the integrity of the scent in each bottle.  
• Guerlain will unveil “Les Secrets de Shalimar” in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of its legendary perfume, inviting visitors to retrace the history of the fragrance, and discover both the ingredients in the composition and the remarkable craft know-how (“barbichage” braided wire on the neck of the bottle, and “baudruchage”) that enhances the iconic flacon. They can also try their skill in affixing a label to the bottle.  
• Maison Francis Kurkdjian takes visitors to the heart of a fragrance creation through an immersive fresco that presents each step in producing the Kurky perfume.  

In addition to the exhibits, experts from the LVMH Group and its Maisons will also take part in a series of conferences, round tables and masterclasses in a 230-seat auditorium open to visitors. Designers, executives, journalists and luxury goods specialists will all take the stage to share behind-the-scenes insights from major luxury houses, as well as the key challenges facing the industry today. The agenda includes events prepared in partnership with media group Le Monde. 

Saturday, October 4:  

• Masterclass on  “Creating the olfactory signature of the new Kurky fragrance”, moderated by journalist Karine Vergniol, with Francis Kurkdjian, Creative Director of Maison Francis Kurkdjian (10 to 11) 
• Round table on  “Envisioning the future of handcrafted and design professions”, moderated by Elvire von Bardeleben with Marion Bardet, Director of Métiers d’Excellence LVMH, Héloïse Leboucher, Operations Director, Campus MoMADe, Pascal Morand, Executive President of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and Benjamin Simmenauer, philosopher and Research Director, Institut Français de la Mode (4:15 to 4:45) 

Sunday, October 5:  

• Round table on “The Role of Heritage in Storytelling and Creation”, moderated by Elvire von Bardeleben, with Olivier Flaviano, Director of the Galerie Dior, Gaspard de Massé, Heritage Director, Balenciaga, and Emilie Hammen, Director of the Palais Galliera (10:30 to 11) 
• Masterclass moderated by journalist Karine Vergniol with Pierre-Louis Vuitton, Head of Savoir-Faire Louis Vuitton (3:40 to 4) 

An event centered on Passing on Craft Skills and Career Orientation  
After welcoming over 35,000 visitors during previous editions, the event takes on an exciting new dimension, with 2,500 square meters of immersive exhibition space under the stunning glass roof of the Grand Palais. Les De(ux) Mains du Luxe brings together 32 luxury houses across seven themed sectors (tableware, leather goods, décor, gastronomy & hospitality, watches & jewelry, haute couture & fashion, perfumes & cosmetics), along with 20 schools and vocational training organizations. The program includes daily hands-on discovery activities, plus conferences, round tables and masterclasses.  

The event is open to the public free of charge subject to prior reservation via the Les Deux Mains du Luxe website: https://www.lesdemainsduluxe.com/  

This year’s event will include a “beyond the walls” exhibition on the Champs Elysées from September 22 through October 5 (stretching from the (Rond-point des Champs-Elysées to Champs-Elysées Clémenceau). The exhibition will present the event concept and showcase the heritage and savoir-faire of participating luxury houses with a series of 20 freestanding outdoor displays.  

LVMH’s participation in De(ux) Mains du Luxe resonates with the dynamic launched by the Group five years ago with its annual You and ME Métiers d’Excellence traveling career orientation and recruiting fair, which visits cities in France and Italy. In addition, the Group continues its “Excellent!” program to engage with middle school students around these exceptional skills, pooling outreach and discovery initiatives and communications designed to inspire vocations from an early age.  

The next You and ME tour is set for January to March 2025 in France (Paris, Lyon, Clichy-sous-Bois) and April 2025 in Italy (Naples and Turin).