LVMH Takes French Girl Style Global With Newly Renamed Retail Portal 24S
Stephanie Hirschmiller
European Editor
Having launched in June 2017, LVMH’s retail portal 24 Sèvres is picking up the pace. It announced last night that it is accelerating its global expansion to capitalize on the strong international traction it has been experiencing experienced over the last two years.
New offices have been opened in New York, Miami and Hong Kong while new languages are being rolled out on the site. In addition to French and English, it is now available in German and Korean.
To embrace this growth, 24 Sèvres has also had a little name tweak, becoming 24S, a bit more digestible for an international clientele. (The original name, 24 Sèvres was derived from Le Bon Marché’s street address at 24 rue de Sèvres.)
“We have seen tremendous organic growth in markets where 24S’ Parisian point of view resonates particularly strongly and we are committed to going where our customers are shopping from, regardless of where that is,” said CEO Eric Goguey in a statement. He added that the US openings are a response to the fact that the region is one of his top markets.
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LVMH Chief Digital Officer, Ian Rogers, also cited a “particularly powerful growth in markets where shoppers have a strong appetite for our unique Parisian point of view.”
It stands to sense. Since its launch, the platform, a digital extension of luxury Left Bank department store Le Bon Marché, has been maxing out on our global obsession with ‘French Girl Chic.’
I recently caught up with 24S CMO Pauline Dollé-Labbé who provided further insight into 24S’s expansion choices. In terms of the German market, she said that online is incredibly prevalent there as the country is quite decentralized when it comes to its different cities. Likewise, 24S felt the impact of Korean appetite for French style when a A KOL (influencer) posted one of their Isabel Marant pieces on Naver and social medial blew up.
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The cultural dimension is also very important, Dollé-Labbé explained. “When you look at France, its values, imagination and history are so connected to culture.”
While 24S’ 200 brands include luxury stalwarts Louis Vuitton, Dior and Celine, for which they hold distribution exclusivity, the site also champions younger, more contemporary French labels. For example, it has supported Veja from the outset. Its sustainability commitment, she said, is one of the main reasons customers connect so well with the brand.
For such marques, the benefits are obvious. “We give them access to 100 countries,” she said, citing markets like Australia which may be smaller but are certainly significant. “Customer feedback tells us that it’s not so easy to find brands like Veja and Jacquemus locally.”
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