Yahoo News LVMH Métiers d’Excellence and Loro Piana Launch Sophomore Edition of Prize Dedicated to Italian Craftsmanship
MILAN — On the first day of Milan Fashion Week, LVMH Métiers d’Excellence launched the second edition of the “Maestri d’Eccellenza Award” craftsmanship competition, dedicated to Italian master artisans.
Launched last year and developed with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and the Confartigianato association, the initiative is aimed at raising awareness around the importance of local craftsmanship and its preservation; attracting media attention to the cause, and offering financial aid to some of its exponents.
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The sophomore edition saw Fendi passing the baton to fellow LVMH-owned brand Loro Piana as the partner of the project, which each year will involve a different group label to acknowledge three master artisans from all backgrounds across three categories.
The winners will be selected from among nine finalists, three for each categories. Applications will open Wednesday and run until May 15 on a dedicated online platform. The competition is accessible to artisans, professionals and companies created at least 12 months before participation. For the first time, artisans of the furniture sector can send applications, too, in addition to those in textiles, clothing, footwear, tailoring, eyewear, jewelry and fashion product components.
Overall, the three categories will honor experienced talents and firms with at least five years of experience and which have distinguished themselves for the quality of their work throughout their career; emerging artisans developing a promising and ongoing project created at least five years prior to registration and professionals and companies that have distinguished themselves with their capacity for innovation, preserving historical knowledge and skills while reinterpreting them in a modern way.
To be revealed during a special event in September in Milan, the three winners will each receive a prize of 10,000 euros to reinvest in their business as well as media coverage and mentoring sessions with Loro Piana professionals.
“We recognize our responsibility to perpetuate craftsmanship for future generations,” said the brand’s chief executive officer Damien Bertrand. “We must pass on to them not only technical skills, but also a respect for tradition, a passion for excellence and innovation. Only in this way we can ensure that the heritage of Italian craftsmanship continues to flourish in the future.”
Bertrand underscored the project offers the company the opportunity to meet new talents and share know-how, which “can be a source a of inspiration for us.”
“We believe that excellence can be reached only thanks to excellent people and this prize is aimed at finding them and working together,” the executive said.
Bertrand will sit on the jury that will review applications and name winners. Artist Fabrizio Plessi will be president of the jury, which will also include Toni Belloni, group managing director at LVMH; Chantal Gaemperle, executive vice president human resources and synergies at LVMH; Alexandre Boquel, director of the LVMH Métiers d’Excellence division, and Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana’s president Carlo Capasa, among others.
Asked about what he usually looks for in artisans, Bertrand said “people who have passion in what they do, who are agile and flexible, and — even if it might sound poetic — who have that sparkle in their eyes while working on the loom. And most of all, who have curiosity and don’t take a no for an answer.”
Just returned from a trip to Asia, Boquel shared that the talk in China and South Korea was all about luxury and craftsmanship rather than technology. “People are obsessed with this and our strength in Italy and in France is really the know-how.”
Italy is home to six of the more than 75 brands within the LVMH portfolio, including Bulgari, Acqua di Parma, Pucci and Cova, in addition to Loro Piana and Fendi. In the country, the French group employs more than 13,300 people — including 7,000 working in Métiers d’Excellence — counts 258 stores and 35 manufacturing sites. These add to an ecosystem of partners involving around 5,000 small to medium-sized companies and 200,000 people.
Still, LVMH is looking to hire more than 2,500 workers in Italy by the end of 2025.
“We are aware of how unique Italian know-how and local skills are, and how these are unfortunately gradually disappearing,” said Boquel, underscoring the importance of the award also from a communication point of view to publicly acknowledge these crafts and attract new generations.
Capasa agreed on the need to improve the storytelling around these jobs and to enroll new talents in the industry, especially in light of the expected growth in the demand for luxury goods over the next five years. He said that for this period, the industry will need for 94,000 new professional figures among new hires and those succeeding retiring artisans.
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