Bernard Arnault Inducted as Immortal in French Official Ceremony

PARIS — Bernard Arnault has officially become an Immortal.

The chairman and chief executive officer of French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton was inducted into the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in Paris in a solemn ceremony attended by a who’s-who of French society, led by First Lady Brigitte Macron.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and industry titans including Vincent Bolloré, Martin Bouygues and Rodolphe Saadé were joined by LVMH designers including Jonathan Anderson, Pharrell Williams, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Sarah Burton and Victoire de Castellane for the ritual staged under the imposing dome of the Institut de France that enshrined Arnault as one of the country’s top business minds.

Lifetime members of the prestigious institution are known in France as Immortals — a symbolic title that chimes with Arnault’s publicly stated wish to continue leading his group until the age of 85, despite feverish speculation about his succession plans.

In a show of unity, his five children — Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric and Jean — were seated in the same row, while his wife, Hélène Mercier-Arnault, sat at the front next to Macron.

At the end of a nearly two-hour ceremony that featured speeches and a virtuoso performance by Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich, Arnault — dressed in an embroidered uniform designed by Anderson for Dior — was handed a ceremonial sword engraved with his initials, with a handle shaped like a flying fish. 

It was created especially for him by the late architect Frank Gehry, with whom he worked on a number of projects, most memorably the striking Fondation Louis Vuitton building near Paris. 

In his speech, Arnault did not delve into his personal history, but instead paid a lengthy tribute to Denis Kessler, the late CEO of French reinsurer Scor and his predecessor in what is known as “chair 1” of the academy’s political economy, statistics and finance section.

However, he gave an insight into their shared entrepreneurial mindset when recalling that both traveled to the U.S. for the first time in 1969, where they were marked by the anti-war and civil rights protests, and counterculture movements like the Beat Generation. 

“For young people of our generation from the French provinces, the United States came as a breathtaking revelation — a land of scale and freedom. Accustomed as we were to walls and ceilings, hedgerows, narrow streets and winding roads, our eyes were suddenly opened,” he said. 

“On the flight home, we understood that everything — truly everything — was within reach, as long as we were willing to summon the energy, enthusiasm, optimism and determination we had seen so vividly on the other side of the Atlantic,” Arnault added.

‘A Man in a Hurry’

Anderson said he wanted Arnault’s uniform to reflect his forward-thinking approach — hence the almost abstract look of its traditional olive leaf embroidery, which stood out amid the sea of ceremonial garments. The tailcoat and white waistcoat were inspired by the “revolution jackets” of the designer’s debut menswear show for Dior in June.

“I’m very into court jackets at the moment, and I wanted something more pared [back] and more him,” said Anderson. “He obviously built an empire, which you have to be a revolutionary to be able to do, and I think he is probably one of the best examples of that today — incredibly modern in that way.”

Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank, touched on the highlights of Arnault’s career, from his early days working for the family-owned industrial construction company Ferret-Savinel to his 1984 acquisition of the bankrupt French textile conglomerate Boussac Saint-Frères, which owned Christian Dior.

Arnault’s appointment at the head of LVMH in 1989 marked the beginning of what has become the world’s biggest luxury group, owner of 75 brands including Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon, Tiffany & Co. and Sephora — earning him the nickname “the wolf in cashmere” along the way. 

“You’re a man in a hurry who knows where he’s going,” Trichet said. 

Former finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who in 2022 inaugurated two Louis Vuitton leather goods workshops in central France, in turn reeled off the many symbols embedded in Arnault’s ceremonial sword. 

“Before we delve into the details of its ornamentation, it tells us one obvious thing: you are a blade in almost every respect. A blade in your bearing. A blade in your gaze. A blade in your intelligence and your intuition,” said Le Maire, who is also a published fiction author. 

The sword, made by LVMH-owned jeweler Chaumet, is topped with a blue orb resting on a bed of lily of the valley, the signature flower of couturier Christian Dior. 

“The deep blue can be mistaken for coldness, but in reality it expresses determination, creativity — and perhaps even tenderness,” said Le Maire.

“You have required no small measure of determination to rise to the ranks of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs in a field that may appear superficial to those unfamiliar with it, yet in reality is deeply rooted in France’s history and identity. We are a nation of fashion and luxury, and we should take pride in that,” he added.

Family Ties

He noted that the initials of Arnault’s five children — alongside matching gemstones — were engraved on a five-pointed star around the handle of the sword, a reference to Christian Dior’s lucky charm. 

“No precious stone can convey the pride they inspire in you. No engraving runs as deep as the bonds you have formed with them,” Le Maire enthused.

The blade is engraved with a quote from Albert Einstein: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

After the ceremony, Sidney Toledano, special adviser to Arnault and one of LVMH’s longest-serving executives, said the sentence perfectly summed up Arnault’s spirit. “It resonates strongly, and I believe it’s a mindset shared by everyone who has worked alongside him,” said Toledano.

“This is a historic moment,” he continued. “I feel great pride in having worked with him for so long, and in having earned his trust. Today, I think we truly recognized the full breadth of his qualities, both professional and personal — qualities that Bruno Le Maire summed up beautifully.”

Among the other LVMH executives in attendance were Antonio Belloni, Stéphane Bianchi, Pietro Beccari, Jean-Baptiste Voisin, Cécile Cabanis, Jean-Jacques Guiony, Pierre-Emmanuel Angeloglou, Olivier Bialobos, Damien Bertrand and Patrice Wagner.

Also present were architect Peter Marino, gallerist Larry Gagosian, chefs Yannick Alléno and Arnaud Donckele, and Charles Kushner, U.S. ambassador to France — as well as the ambassadors of Italy, Japan and South Korea. 

Chiuri, who was appointed chief creative officer of Fendi last October after nine years at the helm of Dior’s womenswear collections, said she was impressed with the pageantry of the event, which unfolded under the watchful eye of infantry officers from the French Republican Guard.

“For me it was a way to personally offer my congratulations for this significant recognition, and at the same time to see an institution I wasn’t familiar with,” she said, noting the Academy’s key role in the transmission of culture. 

“He certainly represents someone who has managed to combine the cultural dimension with an entrepreneurial one,” she said of Arnault. “That’s not easy, because he has worked to preserve both French and foreign brands that represent a great tradition and exceptional craftsmanship, and to carry them forward without losing their DNA.” 

With that, Chiuri headed to the post-event cocktail to pose for a commemorative snap with Arnault, beaming in full regalia.