Each nation will open a team headquarters on Friday in Paris, when the 2024 Olympic Games begin in the French capital, although the most coveted invitation was probably inaugurated on Monday evening with La Maison LVMH.
Officially inaugurated by Antoine Arnault, LVMH's director of image and environment, and eldest son of Bernard Arnault, CEO and majority shareholder of LVMH, the luxury giant sponsoring the Olympic Games with 150 million euros.
Global sponsors have been pouring money into the Olympics for decades, but rarely has there been such intense publicity as LVMH’s commitment, much of which is on display at La Maison LVMH. The group plans to use the elegantly appointed space to host sports stars, celebrities, VICs, television personalities and publishers during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which run respectively from this Friday to Sunday evening, August 11, and from August 28 to September 6.
Located opposite the Faubourg St Honoré, across from the Le Bristol hotel, the LVMH House includes an elegant restaurant with a garden surrounded by trees. Fitted with furniture made from recyclable pressed wood, it can seat 80 diners. Featuring the cuisine of a new French culinary star, Armand Amal, the chef of Le Réfectoire, the restaurant of Luma Arles, Maya Hoffmans' must-see art centre in Provence.
On the upper floor of Maison LMVMH, the focus is on the links between brands and the Games. Berluti, a menswear label worthy of haute couture, dresses the French team in formal wear, made of cobalt blue silk with marbled collars. Another exhibition displays the tools used by the craftsmen at Chaumet, the jeweller on Place Vendome, to make all the Games medals, made of resin coated with bronze, silver and gold. Louis Vuitton provided the display cases in which all the medals and torches are kept.
“It was magical to discover the emotion that the Olympic flame generates. Whoever holds it can do no wrong. It immunizes you. The children literally dance in the street,” reflects Antoine, dressed in a blue suit and a Berluti 1895 T-shirt.
The space even includes a series of red, white and blue Dior bar jackets, Monsieur's famous quilted silk blazers designed for cocktail hour. A key element of Friday's opening ceremony, which will be held on the banks of the Seine, will be a Dior fashion show.
Brands as diverse as Vuarnet, with high-tech racing glasses; Make Up Forever, with undetectable foundations; and even Rihanna's Fenty, with sporty lip glosses, were on display.
“It will be the biggest event ever organised in France. And when all the world's attention is focused on Paris, the Maison LVMH will be a meeting place where we will welcome sportsmen, artists, clients, friends of the group and the media,” added Arnault.
Across town, major nations have taken up huge headquarters: Team USA, dressed by Ralph Lauren, is at the former Paris stock exchange, La Bourse; Italy, dressed by Emporio Armani, is at the Pré Catelan mansion in the Bois de Boulogne; while Canada, dressed by Lulelemon, joins 15 countries including Brazil, France, the Netherlands, India and Mongolia, with huge grounds at the Parc des Nations, in La Villette, on the northeastern edge of Paris.
Located within the former haute couture house of Christian Lacroix, La Maison LVMH also includes an elegant bar, starring jeroboams of LVMH's Moet Chandon Brut Imperial, the official Champagne of the Olympic Games, which will be served at all events and to all medal winners.
Founded in 1987 by the merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, LVMH's history has been marked by a wave of acquisitions that has lasted four decades. Its latest acquisition was Chez l'Ami Louis, probably the most famous bistro on the planet, ironically located near La Republique, the centre of all the left-wing and anti-capitalist demonstrations in Paris.
At one point, Antoine joked: “You can’t believe how many people have called me on my mobile to make a reservation! ‘Hi, can I have a table for four tonight?’ he chuckled, mimicking a text message. “But I want to be clear: I’m not a restaurant receptionist!”
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