Comité Colbert Boss Talks French Luxury Ahead of New York Exhibition

PARIS — Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and France may have their ups and downs, but America’s love affair with French luxury is undimmed.

As the industry struggles to emerge from a prolonged slump, the U.S. has proved a beacon of resilience, defying tariffs, inflation and geopolitical tensions to remain the top market for French luxury goods.

Comité Colbert will celebrate that special relationship with an exhibition in New York City timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of American independence.

“Hidden Treasures, 250 Years of Franco-American Luxury Stories” will run from Tuesday to Sunday at The Shed cultural center at Hudson Yards, bringing together a record 65 members of the French luxury association, from brands like Chanel and Dior to cultural institutions, including the Louvre Museum and the Palace of Versailles.

Each house has chosen a symbolic object to tell its story and illustrate how French luxury has been the motor of cultural diplomacy for more than two centuries — from U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s secret fittings with Hubert de Givenchy to Chanel’s collaborations with Hollywood filmmakers on blockbusters like “Barbie.”

The opening event in New York City on Tuesday will be followed by a reception on Wednesday at the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., where guests will include a cross-section of U.S. business, cultural and political figures.

In an interview with WWD, Bénédicte Epinay, chief executive officer of Comité Colbert, explains why New York will be the only stop for the exhibition, how French luxury brands are switching their focus from tariffs to dupes, and why King Louis XIV was the original influencer.

WWD: Why was the 250th anniversary of American independence a good opportunity to celebrate the presence of French luxury brands in the U.S.?

Bénédicte Epinay: Our ambassadors worldwide always ask us to mark important anniversaries. That’s why two years ago, we staged an exhibition in Shanghai commemorating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China.

In this instance, the presidents of the United States and France wanted to jointly celebrate 250 years of American independence. That decision was taken at the very beginning of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second mandate.

Stephane Blanchard, president of Chanel USA and U.S. ambassador for Comité Colbert, held a dinner in New York for U.S. representatives of French luxury brands. Listening to them tell their stories, we quickly realized that all of our houses have an amazing history in the United States. We thought it was a good opportunity to show our gratitude to the United States, not just because it’s the leading market for French luxury goods, but because the relationship goes way back.

Inspiration has been flowing back and forth for at least 200 years, making it an unusually fertile exchange.

It’s worth pointing out that, against the backdrop of global tensions, we’re coming to America with a tribute exhibition that says to Americans: “Thank you for everything you’ve contributed to our industry in terms of inspiration, icons and cultural exchange.”

Regardless of who’s in power, people come to France for the lifestyle and luxury brands. Cultural diplomacy is all about promoting that overseas.

WWD: Bernard Arnault often tells the story of his first trip to New York. When he asked a taxi driver whether he knew the name of France’s president, the driver replied: “No, but I know Christian Dior.”

B.E.: That’s something we see wherever we go. People recognize the names of our luxury brands, our chefs, our philosophers, our landmarks — and our soccer players, I might add.

It’s not a cliché to say it all goes back to Versailles and the court of Louis XIV, because if you think of it in today’s terms, Versailles was the greatest showroom for French craftsmanship.

Looking at the portraits of the time, he was a king who loved wearing gold, lace, earrings, cultured pearls and perfume. He liked to drape himself in silk, and wear heels so you could spot him from a distance.

Louis XIV was the equivalent of a modern-day influencer, and that still resonates today.

Our royalty lives on in the popular imagination through books and movies like Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette,” and that supports this industry.

WWD: Why did you decide to hold this exhibition in New York City?

B.E.: All our CEOs agreed it had to be New York, but our initial idea was to have the exhibition tour the rest of the United States.

We had planned stops in Chicago, Miami, and Dallas, Houston or Austin in Texas. We wanted to go to Los Angeles, and maybe also San Francisco. But it turns out museums plan their exhibitions between two and five years in advance, so the deadlines were too tight.

WWD: Did the current geopolitical situation play a role in the cancellation of this planned exhibition tour?

B.E.: Absolutely not. We had a partnership with the American Federation of Arts which, like us, is a nonprofit. They spent six months reaching out to all the American museums in their network.

I’m very happy and proud to bring this exhibition to New York. My only regret is that we’ll be reaching just a fraction of this country’s huge population.

WWD: All the more reason to visit the exhibition in New York, then.

B.E.: We’re in town for six days only, so it’s like Céline Dion’s concert run in Paris. Catch it while you can.

WWD: How did you land on a concept that would work for all your members?

B.E.: As soon as we decided to mine the U.S. archives of our houses, the heritage departments got to work. They quickly came back to us with tons of ideas.

We booked a 9,150-square-foot exhibition space thinking we would have 40 participants, and we ended up with 65. Every day, I was getting additional confirmations.

At that point, we realized we needed to focus on one object per house, because otherwise the show would be too sprawling. But there were dozens more stories we could have told.

WWD: The format of the exhibition, with objects displayed inside shipping crates, is inspired by the golden age of transatlantic travel. Why hark back to this period in time?

B.E.: We’d been planning for a while to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Art Deco movement, which was so important for France and for our members.

Art Deco was born with the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts held at the Grand Palais in 1925.

There was a Pavilion of Elegance, a Pavilion of Perfume, and all the major French department stores each had their pavilion. There was also a pavilion dedicated to tableware, so there was already this intention of promoting the French art of living.

It felt like a legitimate reference point.

WWD: As the representative for French luxury brands, what has been your position on U.S. trade tariffs?

B.E.: We are aligned with the French Finance Ministry’s position that these tariffs represent a threat to our industry.

I’m a member of the French Strategic Committee for the Fashion and Luxury Sector alongside Pascal Morand, executive president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, and all the other federations. We’re in close contact with all our ministers. But on the subject of tariffs, we thought it was best not to add fuel to the fire and to remain measured in our response to U.S. policy, because we were worried things would escalate.

We’re also very active at the European Union level. France holds the rotating presidency of the European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance, or ECCIA, for the next two years. This organization represents the U.K., German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and French luxury industries. We have offices in Brussels and we hold at least one meeting a week there.

In a sense, we’ve learned to live with tariffs. These days, we have bigger battles to fight, such as the cost of energy and counterfeiting. We’re preparing to launch a big campaign against dupes, which are a major concern for our houses. The battle against dupes and counterfeiting is our number-one priority this year. There have been a lot of studies on counterfeiting conducted with customs and police, but these have mostly focused on the scale of the problem. We’ve joined forces with Kea & Partners on a sociological study to try to understand the causes of the phenomenon. We will publish it on June 3 on the eve of World Anti-Counterfeit Day. We’ll also be launching a partnership in June with TikTok Shop, because the sharp rise in dupes is fueled by social commerce.

We’ve worked with them so that when you search for luxury brand dupes, an automatic message pops up urging users to respect creators’ rights.

We’re also launching an awareness campaign on TikTok in June and July, aimed at dissuading younger consumers from buying dupes.

According to a recent study by the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, based on a sample of products sold online by seven foreign marketplaces, 75 percent are non-compliant and 46 percent are dangerous.

The legislation regarding counterfeit products is very clear: They can be confiscated, and the buyer risks a fine. Dupes exist in a kind of gray zone. People think they can just buy dupes freely, but we want it to be clearly stated that the legislation is the same as for counterfeits. It’s intellectual property theft, and it’s very dangerous.

For perfume brands, it’s a tsunami.

There’s no patent protection for fragrance formulations, so we’re also asking for the legislation to be updated.

WWD: Have dupes and counterfeits cannibalized the U.S. market for French luxury goods?

B.E.: The end of the de minimis exemption on low-value imports was a good thing, since it reduced the flow of small parcels from China, although they’ve been largely redirected to Europe as a result.

But I was still very surprised, the last time I was in New York to prepare for our exhibition, to see dozens of hawkers selling counterfeits on Fifth Avenue. One night, as I was returning to my hotel, I came upon a man who was supplying them. He has a huge trolley filled with counterfeit Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags and he was just going around, topping them up. It was unbelievable to see this happening on an industrial scale right on Fifth Avenue.

WWD: We’re seeing brands like Vuitton open experiential megastores that are also exhibition spaces and restaurants. How do you see retail adapting to Gen Z?

B.E.: Luxury brands are increasingly positioning themselves as cultural brands by creating multigenerational spaces where you can come to see, touch and feel, but not necessarily buy. In the past, brands were criticized for having stores with airlocks.

There was a literal barrier to entry, whereas nowadays, they have a strategy of being much more accessible. The aim is to open the doors to a new generation.

U.S. demand for French luxury remains strong. It’s one of the most resilient markets in the world.

Studies show there is obviously an appetite for local labels, the same as in China or India, but it does not replace the demand from younger generations for our brands.