The LVMH Prize: Behind the Scenes with Delphine Arnault and Chiara Ferragni

At the LVMH headquarters in Paris, hours before the LVMH Prize Shortlisters cocktail party got rolling, Delphine Arnault, Executive Vice President of Louis Vuitton and founder of the LVMH Prize, sat down in the VIP lounge with this year’s LVMH Prize ambassador, the businesswoman and influencer Chiara Ferragni, for an exclusive interview. In a wide-ranging conversation, they spoke about how this year’s crop inspired them, Chiara’s upcoming projects and the one person they both miss the most.

Vogue: Chiara, you’re a newcomer to the jury this year. How does that feel?

Chiara Ferragni: It’s amazing. In some ways, I feel like I’m a part of the LVMH family through my work with Dior and Louis Vuitton—actually, I’m in touch with most of the brands. I was already a judge once, in 2015. Now being the ambassador of this project, where new talents are nurtured into becoming bigger names is a great project, I am so happy to be a part of it.

Delphine Arnault: Chiara’s such a role model, we’re really happy to have you. I think the first time we met goes back to the Louis Vuitton show in Monaco, in 2013. I’ve been following her career—and her life—ever since. I feel like I’ve seen you grow and evolve as a businesswoman and entrepreneur, and also as a working mom. It’s inspiring to see your evolution and what you’ve created. You had a strong vision early on.

CF: I love social media for that, the internet really allowed me to create an audience. I also found so many designers I love to support through social media. I write them, I wear their pieces, and I discover so many names through people tagging them and just exploring. It’s amazing what the internet can do. Everyone can create an audience for themselves.

Vogue: Is it only you who runs your account?

CF: It’s only me. No one else has my access. It has to be personal, otherwise it wouldn’t really work. It has to follow your life and how you feel. Being honest and generous is my mantra. It’s my everything, really.

Vogue: You running your own brand. How is that going?

CF: I recently took the job of CEO of my brand, last September. It’s like a new thing in addition to being CEO of my own company, The Blonde Salad. We’re reorganizing the whole company and giving it a new image, which you’ll see starting in July for the fall. It’s going really well but I wanted to take it up to another level.

DA: How do you create the products?

CF: I work with a team of young designers and we create moodboards of what I want the brand to be that season. It’s always very playful, very feminine but effortlessly cool. Very casual in a lot of ways but with quality details. And then we start from there – there are icons we keep every season, and then go from there.

Vogue: What are your favorites lately?

CF: We’re doing some really good leather and vinyl pieces for next season. They really create a look—when you wear them, you don’t have to accessorize so much, which is something I really like. I like buying a piece of clothing you can wear a lot that creates a look all by itself.

DA: And your distribution is digital?

CF: We’re strong online but we also have stores in Milan, one in Paris, and seven in China, and we are planning to open more.

DA: Which is stronger?

CF: Digital is really strong in China, but we’re growing in physical stores too.

Vogue: What’s your take on this year’s edition?

CF: I am super proud and honored to be here as an ambassador. There’s such diversity: you see so many different people from such different backgrounds, but then in the end we all speak the same fashion language—it’s so nice. And it’s interesting to see how your background develops into your imagination and creativity, and what comes out of that.

Vogue: Have you ever thought of applying for the LVMH Prize yourself?

CF: No, but I don’t really know why. I guess as a shoe brand I didn’t really think I could! But now that it’s bigger, maybe. [laughs]

Vogue: What strikes you about this year’s shortlisters?

CF: All the ideas about men’s wear. But most of all, sustainability: so many of them used materials that otherwise would have been wasted. It was really nice to see people creating a collection around that concept.

DA: Sustainability has always been a big part of how young designers think and what they want to do as products. But it’s true that this year, we’re seeing almost all brands talk about sustainability. They’re trying to source dead stock from various places, to use fabric that would otherwise be destroyed. One of them is even using air bags. Also, as Chiara mentioned, what’s great about this Prize is the diversity. It’s amazing—we have applicants from all over, Greece, France, the US, China, Israel, Nigeria. It’s really interesting to see all these talents. And to get here is huge, because this year broke all the records: we got 1,700 applications. To make it among the 20 is already amazing—all these people in the industry, like Chiara, journalists, buyers, makeup artists, and so on have already seen their work. And for them it’s going to be hard to choose.

Vogue: What other trends have surfaced this year?

DA: Gender fluid designs, for men but also women. Most of the applicants are quite young in their careers—some have only three or four seasons behind them, so they are names even insiders in the industry had never heard of. That’s always a big discovery. We want to find those new talents and help them grow. And all they need to apply is a computer.

Vogue: Delphine, you mentioned that the mood around the Prize is more subdued this year.

DA: Nothing will be the same without Karl Lagerfeld. He always helped me with the Prize. He used to come to every showroom and say hello to everyone, look at their designs, listen to their stories and offer encouragement. He was such an important designer, and it was so important to have him support the prize. He was such a presence in our lives. He used to always show up around 8pm, because the Chanel show is always a couple days after the Shortlister cocktail. Tonight at 8, when I don’t see him, I will be really sad. He always said he came because he once won a prize himself, with Saint Laurent. I’m going to miss him so much.

CF: So many people will always be inspired by his work. I always loved how he did things his own way, created such a strong identity for himself and inspired others. When you inspire others, that’s when you have the most power. He was very inspiring for everybody. His legacy, all those memories, will continue to really shape people’s lives.