Sustainability 10/09

Supporting Communities

Support, inclusion, employment: across the globe, Louis Vuitton maintains special ties with the local communities within which the Maison operates.

Our On-going actions:

Pursuing our long-term partnership with UNICEF

Developing our partnerships with local associations worldwide

Louis Vuitton for Unicef Partnership: Protecting Vulnerable Children

In 2016, Louis Vuitton and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) signed a global partnership to support the most vulnerable children around the world. The partnership aims to raise funds for UNICEF to provide the essential interventions required to protect, save lives and ensure the rights of all children, around the world.

Raising funds with the Silver Lockit Bracelet
Launched in 2016 along with the partnership, the Silver Lockit is a bracelet specially designed by Louis Vuitton to raise funds for UNICEF. Following the success of the first Silver Lockit collection in 2016, a new collection has been released each year with varying colours and detailing. Since 2016, this project has raised over $10 million for UNICEF.

Raising awareness via the "LVforUNICEF Reporters" programme
Each year since the partnership launched, volunteer Louis Vuitton staff members, called “LVforUNICEF Reporters”, have been invited to visit UNICEF-supported programmes on the field, to witness how the funds raised are helping vulnerable children in places such as refugee camps.

Fundraising with the "LV World Run"
In 2019, Louis Vuitton employees from all over the world were invited to participate in the “LV World Run for UNICEF” to raise money for UNICEF.

Promoting Professional Integration

Louis Vuitton’s teams around the world support their local communities by contributing to improve access to education and job opportunities for young people.

Bringing Louis Vuitton closer to local educational institutions

We have chosen to act at a local level to introduce young people to what it is like to work at Louis Vuitton. Our HR teams take part in job fairs in every zone in which we operate.

Our recruiters present our Maison and the career paths possible at Louis Vuitton. These initiatives allow us to recruit talents locally

Increasing access to professional opportunities for those from underprivileged areas in France

Making a national commitment with PAQTE:

To ensure that we are as close as possible to the active players on the ground in France, in 2020 Louis Vuitton strengthened its commitment to underprivileged areas by signing the “Pacte Avec les Quartiers pour Toutes les Entreprises” (PAQTE). This initiative connects the French government, NGOs and private companies, to raise awareness, train, recruit and purchase in the 1,514 neighbourhoods identified as most in need of investment by the French government (Ministère de la Cohésion des Territoires et des Relations avec les Collectivités Territoriales).

Establishing partnerships with local organisations:

young job seekers have been mentored by 93 Louis Vuitton managers since 2007 through our partnership with the French organisation "Nos Quartiers ont des Talents" (NQT), of which 207 were able to subsequently find employment that matched their qualifications. This mentoring program facilitates access to employment for students coming from underprivileged neighbourhoods or disadvantaged backgrounds.

Developing skills sponsorship

days of skills sponsorship were offered to our employees in the United States in 2019 to give them the opportunity to support causes that are dear to them. In the space of 48 hours, more than 500 of them expressed their interest in this first session in order to volunteer for a day with a charity of their choice.

Promoting Access to Art & Culture and Conserving our Heritage

Louis Vuitton’s close relationship with the arts and its unique heritage allow us to actively contribute to cultural offerings around the world.

Sharing our history through free access to Louis Vuitton exhibitions

Since the opening of the 2014 “Volez Voguez Voyagez” exhibit at the Grand Palais in Paris, all of our travelling Heritage exhibitions have welcomed more than 3 million visitors around the world free-of-charge.

Innovative cultural programming that accompanies these installations allows each visitor to discover the exceptional history of Louis Vuitton in increasingly inclusive and immersive ways. Credits: PENETRABLE BBL BLEU (1999, ed. Avila 2007). Exhibition view at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo. Courtesy Fondation Louis Vuitton. © Adagp, Paris 2018. Photo credit: Jérémie Souteyrat/Louis Vuitton.

Bring art around the world through the Fondation Louis Vuitton’s "Hors-les-murs" programme

Inaugurated in 2014, the Fondation Louis Vuitton commits to engage in international activities, both at the Fondation in Paris and in partnership with public and private institutions, but also through a specific “Hors-les-murs” programme taking place within the Espaces Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, Venice, Munich, Beijing and Seoul. These venues, which are devoted to the presentation of the Fondation's Collection, are open to the public free of charge.

Preserving Louis Vuitton’s local heritage

Louis Vuitton is taking an active part in transmitting cultural, local heritage and promotes the long-term viability of the territories where our history has been written.

In Asnières, at our "Maison de Famille":

The Maison de Famille in Asnières is the heart of our company.

The workshops were first built in the Eiffel style, combining glass with iron, but later incorporated Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

In order to preserve the spirit of this unique place and its historical value, these successive stylistic elements have been restored during its renovation. Today, the historic workshops are still in operation. It is here that Louis Vuitton artisans craft custom-made leather goods and special-order trunks, while the building that served as the Vuitton family home is now a museum.

In Grasse, at Les Fontaines Parfumées:

In September 2016, Louis Vuitton inaugurated Les Fontaines Parfumées, a site dedicated to perfume creation, shared between Christian Dior and our Maison.

Nestled in a lush setting in the heart of the town, the three-hundred-year-old Bastide, which was one of the city's first perfumeries opened to the public before being abandoned, is closely identified with the city of Grasse and its legacy, firstly as a hub of leather tanning, before becoming the world’s perfume capital.

This restoration has been anchored in authenticity, respecting local savoir-faire, while bringing in 21st-century modernity and innovation.