LVMH Looks To Expand Reach Of Luxury Retail Via Stake In Off-White Brand

LVMH said Tuesday (July 20) it was taking a 60 percent stake in Off-White LLC, the fashion brand founded by 40-year-old rapper and designer Virgil Abloh. After the acquisition, Abloh will keep a 40 percent interest in Off-White and stay on as the creative director of the brand, which he established back in 2013.

“LVMH brings to the table the additional firepower and scale to accelerate our momentum and evolve Off-White into a truly multi-line luxury brand,” Abloh said in the announcement. His collaboration with LVMH started in March 2018. At that time, he was named the artistic director of the menswear collection of Louis Vuitton. Abloh will stay on in that position at Louis Vuitton.

“We look forward to supporting Virgil and the team both in driving the growth of Off-White and in working together with Virgil to bring his unique sensibility to a broader range of luxury categories,” LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said in the announcement.

In separate news, Moët Hennessy, which is LVMH’s wine and spirits unit, and spirits firm Campari Group are teaming to make a digital commerce platform in a 50/50 joint venture. Marco Magnocavallo will head up the platform.

“This partnership represents a significant step forward in our global eCommerce development strategy. While eCommerce was already a growing channel for wines and spirits, the global pandemic has triggered a significant acceleration,” Moët Hennessy President and CEO Philippe Schaus said in an announcement.

LVMH is also working with Cartier and Prada to release the globe’s inaugural high-end blockchain, as PYMNTS previously reported. The blockchain is named the Aura Blockchain Consortium.

Aura “represents a single, innovative solution to shared challenges of communicating information on authenticity, responsible sourcing and sustainability in a secure, digital format,” according to an April announcement.

“The Aura Blockchain Consortium is a great opportunity for our sector to strengthen our connection with customers by offering them simple solutions to get to know our products better,” LVMH Managing Director Toni Belloni said in the April announcement.