Unlike Their Father, the Arnault Boys Are All-in on NFTs
The Arnault family, who oversee the LVMH fashion conglomerate and many of its companies, have very different takes on NFTs and Web3 in general. While patriarch Bernard has been pretty tepid on the whole thing, his sons are all the way in on the metaverse.
Last year, Bernard Arnault made his feelings on NFTs pretty clear.
"We’re not interested in selling virtual sneakers for €10," Arnault said. "It’s a purely virtual world and until now, we are in the real world and we sell real products."
"To be sure, it’s compelling, it’s interesting, it can even be quite fun. We have to see what are the applications of this metaverse and these NFTs."
Despite their boss' hesitance, plenty of LVMH-owned brands have dipped into the metaverse. Louis Vuitton dabbled NFTs with Louis the Game and explored AR/VR applications, for instance, while Fendi collaborated with Ledger on luxury IRL crypto wallet accessories.
Frédéric Arnault, Bernard's second-youngest son and the 27-year-old CEO of TAG Heuer, has been even more public about his love for Web3.
In a June 15 announcement about one of TAG Heuer smartwatch's being able to display NFTs on its face, which I suppose it couldn't already do, Frédéric explained that "I have had a deep interest in the NFT space, and this feature fits with TAG Heuer’s tradition of being avant-garde and innovative in technology."
He then uploaded an Instagram post of his own watch bearing the grimacing visage of his BAYC-hat-wearing NFT chimp.
"Watch this space, as TAG Heuer will have more stories to tell about Web3."
NFTs are, uh, not for me, to put it politely, but I get it. NFT owners already have their Twitter avatars, phone backgrounds, and flesh covered with their 2D apes, dogs, robots, rockets, fish, and felines, so why not their smartwatch, too?
But that's small time.
Get on Alexandre Arnault's level, and then we'll talk.
Frédéric's older brother, who's an EVP at Tiffany & Co., turned his personal CryptoPunk NFT into a gilded, gem-studded pendant, a very subtle and not at all OTT flex.
The eldest Arnault son, Antoine, is a bit more reserved in his feelings on the Metaverse but clearly isn't tech-agnostic.
He oversees low-key Italian shoemaker Berluti, which launched on Chinese e-tailer JD.com Luxury in 2021 with a trial run of AR and VR tech that allowed for interactive fittings and the like.
Small steps, sure, but one that suggest Antoine to be more keen on Web3 than his father.
The younger Arnaults are clearly the most enthusiastic about the metaverse at large although Jean, the youngest and currently at work on Louis Vuitton's watch line, has kept mum on NFTs thus far.
The way the Arnault family's trending, though, it would hardly surprise me to see Jean spontaneously upload an Instagram photo of his own LV Connected watch bearing the visage of a grinning Bored Ape.
