Alumni Comments

Being part of the LVMH Chair was a chance to mix passion and knowledge. The Chair is a unique opportunity to acquire business analytical tools as well as to get an insider view of the industry. 

Business courses taught in the Chair such as Luxury Brand Management, Semiotics or Retail Strategy have broadened my knowledge of the sector while giving me the keys to understand the challenges the industry faces now and will face in the future.

Meeting professionals from the LVMH group was an opportunity to share their experience and views on the perspectives of the changing Luxury World. These “behind the scenes” seminars allowed us to deepen the analysis by confronting it to business reality.

The chair unveiled new possibilities and encouraged me to discover new branches in this industry. Wines & Spirits is an example and that's why I chose to do my apprenticeship at Moët Hennessy Diageo.

 
Guilhem Parent-Oteiza
LVMH Chair Alumni 2009
2-year apprenticeship at Moët Hennessy

When I first entered the ESSEC MBA I already knew I had chosen this specific school for the Luxury Marketing Specialization it offered. The LVMH Chair, I thought, presented me with the opportunity to develop the skills and the network I needed to work in the luxury industry.

One of the very positive aspects of the Chair was that you have exposure to both a large spectrum of experienced lecturers and a large variety of international fellow students.
Today, as the Brand Group Manager at Interparfums in Paris, focusing on high potential brands such as Boucheron and Balmain fragrances, I use on a daily basis the analytical rigor and marketing understanding I was given during my years in the Chair.
Last winter I was given the opportunity to return as a lecturer and have found that the alumni’s networking is yet another enriching aspect of the LVMH Chair.

In the end, the fallout has exceeded my ambitions when I first started this program.

Fanny Latimier
LVMH Chair Alumni 2005
Brand Group Manager - Interparfums

My passion for the wine & spirits industry led me to my first internship at one of the most prestigious brand: Dom Pérignon. It is thanks to that enriching experience that I then integrated the LVMH Chair at Essec.
The chair framework and its inherent environment provided a truly stimulating experience throughout my year in the program. The chair’s diverse student body and the quality of high-level speakers enables you to gain a thorough birds-eye view of the luxury sector.

After graduating, I worked in New York for Moët Hennessy USA as an associate brand manager on the Cognac Prestige range. My next experience took me back to France as an International Brand Manager on Hennessy. Currently I am Senior Brand Manager Krug & Mercier and I keep the Chair attitude to drive the business: be details-driven while always remaining open-minded and curious in my search for creativity.
I was perfectly prepared  for a career at LVMH.

Amaury Vinclet
LVMH Chair Alumni 2003
Senior Brand Manager Krug - Mercier
MOET HENNESSY DIAGEO

The LVMH-Essec Chair has been, for me, the key to jobs of passion: accounts given by experts, unique skills and know-how, discovery of the richness and of the patrimony of LVMH Houses.  All of these academic discussions, combined with several internships (Wines & Spirits in NYC, Couture, then finally Cosmetics), enabled me to reinforce my career choices.
Today, after ten years of experience in the industry of Fashion and Luxury, I am currently Collections Director within the Christian Dior House. The values that were conveyed by the Chair, throughout its education, have turned into reality: excellence, highest standards, responsibilities, and ambition, always in the name of creativity.

Laetitia Lumbroso
LVMH Chair Alumni 2002
Collections Director - Baby Dior

Les chemins comportent parfois quelques détours. Néanmoins, le choix du point de départ conditionne souvent pour beaucoup la destination. De ce point de vue, la Chaire ainsi que ma thèse de fin d’année d’études sur le thème des stratégies de diversification dans le secteur du luxe, fut une influence déterminante dans les tournants de ma trajectoire professionnelle, ainsi qu’un passeport de choix. En effet, si ma carrière, fit pendant plus de 15 ans chez Procter&Gamble, la part belle aux produits de grande consommation, cette préférence pour la distribution sélective et les produits de luxe affirmée au travers de la Chaire, a su trouver son expression concrète, en me permettant de rejoindre le Directoire de Devanlay-Lacoste, au poste de directrice générale des collections et du marketing international, puis LVMH, au sein de la maison SEPHORA, où j’ai l’honneur de diriger la marque éponyme.

Stéphanie Medioni Dumas-Pilhou
LVMH Chair Alumni 1991
Directrice Générale de Sephora-S+ (Groupe LVMH)

The ESSEC-LVMH Chair is a selective program that truly enables you to build an expertise of the luxury industry from the inside. The conferences, the site visits and the field projects are perfectly complementary to discover all the aspects of this particular industry.  All of the issues facing the luxury industry such as retail, counterfeit, CRM, marketing and many more are addressed in a professional and insightful way.
The limited number of students admitted in the Chair is also a great asset: it allows you to build a solid relationship with LVMH through the project but also thanks to your mentor.  My mentor was incredibly dedicated to her role. All my appointments with her were extremely rich, giving me a new perspective on my resume and many new possibilities I had not thought of.

I had a beautiful experience in the LVMH Chair not only because of the people I met but also because it really gave me a strong cultural background.

Juliette Pelabon
LVMH Chair Current Student 2011 - 21st Promotion
Current position: 6-month internship at Ralph Lauren Fragrances in New York



''One of the main reasons for me to apply to ESSEC Business School was exactly the LVMH Chair.
In fact, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all business students that would like to explore the luxury industry and make a career out of it.
The Chair program revealed to me many facets of the exclusive world of luxury. It allowed me to see behind the scenes and to learn not only about the history and know-how of the maisons but also to gain valuable insights on managerial, marketing and communication techniques applied throughout the industry.
The LVMH Chair opened many doors to me and gave me the opportunity to make my dream come true and work for Maison Hennessy in Paris. Today, I feel a part of those that still can make people dream….''

Ekaterina Hadjipetkova
LVMH Chair Current Student 2011 - 21st Promotion
Current position: 6 - month Internship at Maison Hennessy