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LVMH’s Stephane Bianchi Promoted in Top Management Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
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LVMH’s Stephane Bianchi Promoted in Top Management Reshuffle

FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Stephane Bianchi, CEO of Watches and Jewellery of LVMH, is seen during the Watches and Wonders fair in Geneva, Switzerland March 27, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

LVMH's group managing director Toni Belloni will step down, the company said on Thursday, with Stephane Bianchi taking over his operational functions as a younger generation moves up the ranks of the world's biggest luxury group.
The move is a rare top management reshuffle at Europe's second-largest listed company, worth 425 billion euros ($461 billion).
Bianchi, 59, will chair the group's executive committee, and, alongside LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, take up strategic and operational supervision of its labels, LVMH said.
Long-time retail executive Bianchi joined LVMH in 2018 and has moved up quickly through the ranks. He started out as chief executive of watch label Tag Heuer and the watchmaking division of the company. Two years later, his division was enlarged to encompass jewelry, and now includes Tiffany & Co.
In his current role, Bianchi oversees Bernard Arnault's sons Frederic Arnault, CEO of LVMH watches, and Alexandre Arnault, executive vice president in charge of product and communications at Tiffany.
All five of Bernard Arnault's children hold key management positions in the group, Reuters reported.
Arnault, who turned 75 this month, has not shown any signs of stepping back. Two years ago, LVMH changed its bylaws to raise the maximum age of its CEO to 80 from 75.
LVMH also said on Thursday that it would nominate Wei Sun Christianson, a former Morgan Stanley executive with extensive experience in China, to the board of directors at its annual general meeting on April 18.
Belloni, 70, will remain at the group, in charge of strategic missions for Bernard Arnault and president of LVMH Italy.

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Fashion

80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
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80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

L.L. Bean created it 80 years ago to haul heavy blocks of ice. Now it's a must-have summer fashion accessory, The Associated Press reported.

The simple, sturdy canvas bag called the Boat and Tote is having an extended moment 80 years after its introduction, thanks to a social media trend in which they're monogrammed with ironic or flashy phrases.

New Yorker Gracie Wiener helped get it started by ordering her humble bags from L.L. Bean monogrammed with “Psycho” and then “Prada,” the pricey Italian luxury brand, instead of just her name or initials, and posting about them on Instagram. Then others began showcasing their own unique bags on TikTok.

Soon, it wasn’t enough to have a bag monogrammed with “Schlepper,” “HOT MESS,” “slayyyy” or “cool mom.” Customers began testing the limits of the human censors in L.L. Bean’s monogram department, which bans profanity “or other objectionable words or phrases,” with more provocative wording like “Bite me,” “Dum Blonde” and “Ambitchous.”

Social media fueled the surge, just as it did for Stanley’s tumblers and Trader Joe’s $2.99 canvas bags, which were once selling on eBay for $200, said Beth Goldstein, an analyst at Circana, which tracks consumer spending and trends.
The tote’s revival came at a time when price-conscious consumers were forgoing expensive handbags, sales of which have weakened, and L.L. Bean’s bag fit the bill as a functional item that’s trendy precisely because it’s not trendy, she said. L.L. Bean's regular bags top out at about $55, though some fancier versions cost upward of $100.
“There’s a trend toward the utilitarian, the simple things and more accessible price points,” she said, and the customization added to the appeal: “Status items don’t have to be designer price points.”

L.L. Bean’s tote was first advertised in a catalog as Bean’s Ice Carrier in 1944 during World War II, when ice chests were common. Then they disappeared before being reintroduced in 1965 as the Boat and Tote.

These days, they’re still made in Maine and are still capable of hauling 500 pounds of ice, but they are far more likely to carry laptops, headphones, groceries, books, beach gear, travel essentials and other common items.

Those snarky, pop-oriented phrases transformed them into a sassy essential and helped them spread beyond Maine, Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and other New England enclaves to places like Los Angeles and New York City, where fashionistas like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker are toting them — but not necessarily brandished with ironic phrases.

“It’s just one of those things that makes people smile and makes people laugh, and it’s unexpected,” said Wiener, who got it all started with her @ironicboatandtote Instagram page, which she started as a fun side hustle from her job as social media manager for Air Mail, a digital publication launched by former Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter.

The folks at L.L. Bean were both stunned and pleased by the continuing growth. For the past two years, the Boat and Tote has been L.L. Bean’s No. 1 contributor to luring in new customers, and sales grew 64% from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, spokesperson Amanda Hannah said.

The surge in popularity is reminiscent of L.L. Bean’s traditional hunting shoe, the iconic staple for trudging through rain and muck, which enjoyed its own moment a few years back, driven by college students.