LVMH employees help rewrite resale rules with ‘Heristoria’ concept

December 22, 2022

LVMH is resourcing its own leaders, a trio of whom are spearheading a vintage shopping and storytelling concept. Image credit: LVMH

By Amirah Keaton

French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is diving into the world of one-of-a-kind luxuries.

An entrepreneurial project envisioned through an internal business incubator, LVMH is resourcing its own leaders for the launch of a brand-new shopping concept. Its latest hyper-curated project centers on the sale of long-held archival possessions alongside long-form archival content – the resale experience holds heritage close and, in the process, introduces a new model for the sale of vintage pieces archives.

Maison magic
Time spent empowering employees has borne fruit. Hailing from LVMH is “Heristoria,” a luxury sales platform that resembles an online auction stage just as closely as it mirrors an archival database.

In short, the site curates and sells some of LVMH Maisons’ most memorable pieces, its name a mix of the words “heritage” and “storia,” meaning "history" in both Latin and Italian.

The brand’s new sales vehicle launched with 21 maisons, 29 millésime – the term derives from the French phrase roughly translating to “vintage” but of the elevated variety – and more than a century’s worth of history, in an opening sale up by mid-November.

The luxury sales platform resembles an online auction stage just as closely as it mirrors an archival database. Image credit: LVMH

Included in this round are articles from across the LVMH timeline, stretching in origin from the 1900s to the 2010s.

Of its contents are an art nouveau-style Guerlain “Mouchoir de Monsieur” fragrance from the early 20th century, a Moynat travel trunk from the 1920s and a Chaumet art deco bracelet from the same era, as well as Hubert de Givenchy Haute Couture dating back to 1956 and, for the 80s, a 1988 bottle of Dom Ruinart.

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“Heristoria” promises concurrent sales chapters are to come.

Across the remainder of the site are stories offering a deep dive on the background behind LVMH’s most prized items.

These accounts are intended to pair with corresponding stories that the brand hopes its acquirers will pass on as readily as their new physical object.

DARE (Disrupt, Act, Risk to be an Entrepreneur)
Seeking to source innovative ideas, LVMH looks inside its own house, investing in the ideas of internal talent. Gérosine Henriot, Laurence Mayer and Nicolas Forge are among them.

Though a reflection of the trio’s efforts in final form, “Heristoria” is technically Ms. Henriot’s brainchild.

Despite a day job in finance at Bulgari France, the talent has always been a history buff, this time with an interest in a project about the handing down of luxury objects beyond what is contained to family.

Laurence Mayer and Nicolas Forge are the entrepreneurial team behind "Heristoria." Image credit: LVMH

Each subsequent individual to join used knowledge from previous roles – Ms. Mayer used institutional knowledge in retail learning & development at Louis Vuitton, plus a personal passion for storytelling, while Mr. Forge, a digital transformation project manager at LVMH Holdings helped to stand the site up.

The project is essentially a proposal for an exploration of this premise, one posed to LVMH’s DARE (Disrupt, Act, Risk to be an Entrepreneur) program, an intrapreneurial system supported by mentors and CEOs from LVMH maisons, as well as external entrepreneurs.

The invention also offers luxury players heightened ownership in the vintage sales space, at a time when brands are expressing interest in bringing circular operations in-house (see story). As sustainability continues to drive the industry and its consumers, the category is poised to stick (see story).

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