Hermès heir sues Arnault over 'lost' billions
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault sued by a Hermès heir, Moët Hennessy reportedly reshuffles HR and workers filmed urinating near £130 Christmas turkeys sold in Harrods
In this Dark Luxury news round-up
Why a Hermès heir is suing LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault
Moët Hennessy’s HR team is reportedly undergoing a shake-up
Harrods’ Christmas turkeys linked to farm where workers were filmed urinating in pens
Proof the super-rich never noticed the luxury downturn
Hermès is selling three branded plasters for $200
Hermès heir sues LVMH and Bernard Arnault
Nicolas Puech, one of the heirs to the Hermès fortune who famously alleged that he “lost” his shares that were worth billions, has filed a lawsuit against LVMH and its CEO Bernard Arnault to try and recover their value.
Puech, a fifth-generation descendant of the Hermès founding family, sued LVMH, Arnault and his former wealth manager, Éric Freymond (who died after being hit by a train in July), in a Paris civil court in May, reports Libération, claiming that roughly six million Hermès shares were sold without his knowledge in Arnault’s attempt to build a takeover stake in the rival luxury house.
Puech says he transferred management of his holdings to Freymond and claims the shares were secretly diverted to Arnault. LVMH denied the allegations, stating that neither the company nor Arnault owned or concealed Hermès shares and accused Puech of fuelling a coordinated media campaign. The civil proceedings may be paused at Puech’s request while a parallel French criminal investigation continues into the fate of the shares. The case once again raises unresolved questions dating back to LVMH’s failed takeover attempt more than 15 years ago and the eventual unwinding of its 23 per cent Hermès stake in 2014.
The issue for Arnault is that, according to Puech’s claim, he may have acquired shares which were allegedly diverted from its owner — which Arnault denies knowing about — and which were then resold, making a €3.8 billion capital gain. If he or LVMH were found liable for complicity or concealment, the group would be potentially liable to pay huge damages. (Libération, Bloomberg News)
France 2 investigates LVMH
A nearly two hour long documentary aired on French public broadcaster France Télévisions the day after that LVMH statement, recounting many details of how LVMH came to acquire those Hermès shares and details of other crises at the company. (Cash Investigation, France 2)
Moët HR undergoes major shake-up
LVMH’s Moët Hennessy is undergoing a major HR shake-up with several senior executives reportedly likely to depart, according to La Lettre and their sources. The division is in crisis after it went from making €1 billion in cash in 2019 to losing €1.5 billion last year. Former CEO Philippe Schaus left in early 2025 after aggressive price increases and a €2 billion acquisition spree (including Jay-Z’s Armand de Brignac champagne) backfired.
The potential departures also follow ongoing legal disputes including a claim by former employee Maria Gasparovic who alleges discrimination and mismanagement. Moët Hennessy disputes her account and is countersuing her for €50,000 for “public defamation” after she posted allegations on LinkedIn. (La Lettre)
Hermès family heirs launch investment arm
Krefeld, the family office which controls the $186 billion fortune of 100 Hermès descendants whose assets collectively make them Europe’s richest family, has launched a new investment arm called Breithorn Holding to diversify its investments outside of luxury. Krefeld was created after merging eight separate family offices after Hermès successfully defended itself against Bernard Arnault’s takeover attempt. The office’s 67 per cent stake in Hermès has generated billions in dividends over the past four years. (Bloomberg News)
Great news for tax evaders in Italy?
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party is pushing to double the limit for cash payments in the country to €10,000, a move critics say will fuel tax evasion and money laundering. Dark Luxury has previously reported on how luxury brands are being investigated for links to money laundering schemes. Dutch prosecutors named Louis Vuitton earlier this year in a case where a Chinese national is alleged to have used luxury handbags to launder money, always staying just under the €10,000 cash threshold that triggers mandatory reporting. Italy currently has a lower limit of €5,000 per cash transaction. Raising Italy’s cash limit to €10,000 would, in theory, make it even easier for organised crime to launder money through high-value goods purchases without triggering scrutiny. (FT)
How Chinese gangs trick Louis Vuitton staff and EU taxpayers to get cheaper handbags for the grey market
One morning in early 2024, two Chinese tourists entered the Louis Vuitton store on Paseo de Gràcia in Barcelona, planning to buy some handbags. The pair were ready to splash out, contributing to the $40 million that’s spent on average every year at flagship Louis Vuitton stores around the world.
Campari moves to settle Italian tax probe
Lagfin, the holding company of Campari’s controlling family, is in talks to settle a €400 million tax probe with Italian authorities. (Reuters)
Harrods’ Christmas turkeys linked to farm filmed breaching welfare rules
Workers at a farm in Lincolnshire which supplies London department store Harrods — which sells them for up to £170, according to the retailer’s website — were filmed urinating in the pens, throwing animals and ignoring biosafety rules, according to footage obtained by environmental campaign group Green Britain Foundation. (BBC News)
Luxury downturn, what luxury downturn?
“My clients spend probably half a million to over a million each year on clothes and accessories”, says a New York stylist for the centi-millionaire and billionaire set. It’s the latest of Amy Odell’s excellent series of interviews with the people who facilitate the shopping of the super rich. The stylists’ clients, mostly Upper East Siders, haven’t slowed their shopping at all. They pull “$100,000 worth of merchandise” at a time. One of their clients’ husbands has a “rich day” or a “poor day”, classified on whether they made $25 million that day or not.
The stylist, who has a design background, says she won’t put clients in Khaite (“it doesn’t look sexy”) or Demna’s Gucci (she objects to his controversial 2022 campaign which was widely criticised for imagery containing paedophilic imagery — take note, Luca de Meo), but she likes Phoebe Philo, Schiaparelli and Sarah Burton at Givenchy. Her clients don’t pre-order collections (“They can’t even wrap their heads around six months from now”) and they don’t care about runway shows despite being invited (“They have a plane. They’re like, ‘No’.”) (A subscription to Amy Odell’s BackRow is worth the price for this astonishing story alone)
Saks Fifth Avenue’s perfect storm
US department store Saks Fifth Avenue is facing a crisis on multiple fronts. The value of the luxury retailer’s distressed debt has tumbled to record lows as it approaches a critical interest payment deadline later this month, with investors increasingly worried about its ability to meet financial obligations amid declining sales. The company is scrambling to raise $1 billion by selling a 49 per cent stake in Bergdorf Goodman.
Saks is also facing legal challenges on two fronts. It’s suing to prevent a former Bergdorf executive from joining rival Nordstrom over trade secret concerns, while simultaneously suing its former Boston stylist Suhail Kwatra, the self-proclaimed “Fashion Whisperer”, for allegedly stealing $400,000 through fraudulent returns. Kwatra denies the charges. (WSJ, WWD, Bloomberg News)
What the ‘$1 billion’ wedding was really about
The extravagant wedding of Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest man, in 2024 captivated the world, with a guest list that included global billionaires, tech CEOs and pop stars, as well as a rumoured $1 billion price tag. It was also a PR event designed to position them as leaders on the global fashion scene, writes Phyllida Jay. (FT)
Prada learns a lesson in India
After facing backlash in June for selling sandals that blatantly copied the design of traditional Kolhapuri chappals without crediting their 12th-century Indian origins, Prada has signed a five-year deal to produce 2,000 pairs of “Made in India” sandals at $939 a pair.
The agreement, inked at the Italy-India Business Forum in Mumbai, will see Prada train 200 Kolhapuri artisans in Italy over three years, while manufacturing the sandals in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada’s CSR chief, promises to “mix the original manufacturer’s standard capabilities with our manufacturing techniques”, a diplomatic way of saying they’re finally giving credit where it’s due. (BBC News)
The Devil Wears Prada is for real
“No one should have to work for free”, says hairdresser Sam McKnight, speaking about the findings of the Bectu union’s Fashion UK: The State of the Sector report, which features eye-opening details about poor working conditions for fashion creatives in the UK. And yet, according to the report, this practice is only all too common in t…
Other Dark Luxury news
Luxury Ray-Ban sunglasses maker EssilorLuxottica’s move into smart glasses is disrupting the European hearing aid market. (Milano Finanza)
Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is involved in the launch of a new private members’ club in London asking for £500,000 per member. (FT)
The Pinault family, owners of Kering and Christie’s auction house, have appointed King Charles’ cousin, the Earl of Snowdon, as an honorary chairman. (Glitz Paris)
The late Vivienne Westwood’s early work in London was so improvisational that authenticating her punk-era pieces has become a bit of a “risky business” according to her son Joe Corré. He says he’s not interested in protecting “rich banker-type people[s] that want to have a piece of punk rock on their wall [to] pretend that they were a part of it”, but says there’s value in verifying the pieces for museums and “true collectors”. (The Fashion Law)
Did you know defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin “licensed a gorpcore fashion brand that sells military-inspired outerwear and cargo pants” in Korea? Apparently they’re now “steering their images away from their national and political ties”. (Business of Fashion)
Hermès is selling a “Band-Aid accessory” for $200, with suggested uses on the website including a makeshift laptop webcam blocker. Plasters. For $200. Marcel Duchamp, eat your heart out. (Hermès via Louis Pisano)
Oh, and Louis Vuitton’s limited-edition hazelnut spread is being listed for up to $1,799 on eBay, but it’s only actually selling for twice the retail price, perhaps because it appears to be back in stock. (eBay via Intern Pierre)
In the next Dark Luxury newsletter
Has anyone actually seen Brunello Cucinelli’s “Brunello: The Gracious Visionary”? We’re dying to read a review of the two hour-long hagiography of the famously humble cashmere jumper seller, but funnily enough we can’t find any online. There’s plenty of coverage of the star-studded premiere and the free Krug after the press conference though. More on why this might be in our next newsletter. (Brunello Cucinelli)
Also in next week’s newsletter, how exactly do private jets keep getting faster and faster, as their press releases often claim? We’ve crunched the numbers for our next email. (Bombardier)
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