LVMH crosses the Atlantic for artisans

The Future. Fashion giant LVMH, like many others in the luxury goods industry, is facing a major worker deficit. So, instead of waiting for recruits that may never come, LVMH is going out and finding, training, and supporting a new generation of future artisans. Coupled with the creation of a new luxury destination in Paris, the push to educate a digitally-raised populace about opportunities in fashion could inspire people, who are looking for a livelihood that feels more tangible, to apply.

Stitch up the ranks
Facing a shortage of 22,000 workers by 2025, LVMH wants to craft the next generation of luxury artisans with a novel apprentice program… well, novel in the US.

• LVMH is facing a shortage of 22,000 workers by 2025 — two-thirds of that number will be salespeople, while the other third will be highly skilled artisans who create handmade goods for the fashion conglomerate.
• That spells a looming crisis for LVMH, which won’t be able to keep up with the demand for luxury goods if they don’t have people to… you know… make them.
• So, LVMH is on a mission to find and train would-be designers and artisans — tactile professions in which people have generally lost interest and barely know the opportunities that exist.
• The apprenticeship program, dubbed the “Métiers d’Excellence,” hopes to identify potential workers while they’re still students (as early as high school). The program is already training 700 people this year.

While most apprentices are based out of Italy, Switzerland, and, of course, France, the US has been a tougher nut to crack because apprenticeship isn’t really baked into the culture (save for professions in construction or plumbing) or subsidized by the government. So, LVMH is building the framework from the ground up.