Louis Vuitton 2007 Annual Report Download - page 30

L
Fendi
intensifies its rise
The activity of Fendi in 2007 continued the
excellent trend of the previous two years.
Double-digit organic revenue growth paralle-
led new and solid improvement in profit from
recurring operations.
Ready-to-wear and footwear recorded excel-
lent growth. The new leather goods lines
B-Mix, Crossword and To Yo u generated solid
performances, like the Chef line launched
earlier with continued success. The develop-
ment of Fendi sunglasses is equally progres-
sing well.
As a breathtaking symbol of the creativity
and the rebirth of the Roman brand, a fashion
show of the 2008 spring-summer collection,
designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the ready-to-
wear and Silvia Fendi for the leather goods,
was organized at the Great Wall in China in
October. This spectacular and completely
original event in the fashion world, received
extensive coverage from the international
press, giving Fendi exceptional visibility.
The brand continued to expand its retail
network, opening 25 new stores in all its
geographic regions. It inaugurated its presence
in four new countries—Spain, Turkey, Swit-
zerland and Bahrain—and had a network of
160 stores as of December 31, 2007.
Fendi also returned to the perfume segment
with the launch of Palazzo, developed within
the Perfumes and Cosmetics business group
of LVMH.
footwear, watches and accessories recorded
significant growth. To highlight the relations-
hip between Louis Vuitton and the art world,
Marc Jacobs intensified his collaborations with
major artists like Richard Prince and Takashi
Murakami.
In order to meet strong growth in current and
future sales, Louis Vuitton significantly increa-
sed production hours at its 14 leather works-
hops. As a result of the growth in footwear,
the brand expanded the capacities of its site
in Fiesso d’Artico in Italy, which houses all the
expertise, from development to production,
for all footwear categories.
Travel and eternal values
Reflecting its eternal values and its core busi-
ness, Louis Vuitton placed 2007 under the
sign of the voyage: products, windows, models,
events returned to the roots of the brand. One
of the high points of this theme was the
launch of the new institutional campaign
represented by Mikhail Gorbatchev, Cathe-
rine Deneuve, Steffi Graf and André Agassi
who posed for the lens of Annie Leibovitz on
behalf of environmental organizations. The
Louis Vuitton Museum also presented at
Asnières a new scenic design titled “Voyages
and voyagers”. The Louis Vuitton Cultural
Space at the Maison des Champs-Élysées in
Paris hosted the exhibits “The temptation of
space” and “Moscopolis”, a presentation of
the work of eleven contemporary Russian
artists.
Louis Vuitton
expands its leadership
Louis Vuitton generated another year of
strong growth. The year 2007 was characte-
rized by very steady growth in Europe, strong
performances in North America, and excep-
tional vitality in Asia, particularly in China
and South Korea. The brand significantly
strengthened its positions in all geographic
regions with local customers and reaped the
full benefits of the boom in world tourism.
Revenue rose substantially thanks to new
travel customers from Asia, Russia and the
Middle East.
As of December 31, 2007, the Louis Vuit-
ton global retail network consisted of 390
stores. The brand opened a net 22 stores
during the year, including three in new coun-
tries and completed several notable renova-
tion projects.
An intense
creative vitality
The year 2007 was marked by a strong dyna-
mic innovation and enhancement of the
permanent leather lines. The Damier Azur line
introduced at the end of 2006 was a success
alongside Damier Ebène, which continued to
grow through the introduction of new models.
The Monogram Vernis line added two new
colors, Pomme d’Amour and Amarante, while
the Ivory and Verona shades respectively appea-
red in the Epi and Suhali lines. Louis Vuitton
also created new models (Beverly, Neverfull,
Riveting…) for its traditional Monogram and
Epi lines. The other segments of ready-to-wear,
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High ambitions:
The footwear activity
of Louis Vuitton grew substantially
and the Brand expanded
its manufacturing capacity
in Italy.