There was a time when the luxury lovers at LVMH would have turned up their noses at anything that is not opulent. After all their experience and brand name that they have worked up over the past three decades has resulted in household names such as Bulgari, Christian Dior Moet & Chandon to name just a few. However it is a sign of the times when a once in a hundred years pandemic is upon us that even a $220 billion company is focusing on producing a product that is the epitome of luxury today – hand sanitiser.
The move is smart – the company could do with the goodwill in these trying times and the market for niche luxury products that LVMH is otherwise known for has completely dried up given the current situation in Europe and the US. While China is slowly coming out of COVID 19s grasp, the situation there is quite fluid. Not to mention that building on the goodwill of people and governments in these trying times will pay rich dividends in the future besides being the right thing to do.
The company has announced that factories that normally produce makeup and perfume for brands like Christian Dior and Givenchy are perfectly placed to manufacture hand sanitiser in large quantities. LVMH has also promised to deliver it to local health authorities in France free of charge and to continue doing so for as long as necessary.
Who knows , at the end of this pandemic while the rest of us plebians continue to use Dettol branded hand sanitisers (which are perfectly fine and worth a pretty penny these days) ; the top 1% will flout their credentials with a Givenchy Hand Sanitiser. Given the help that the company is offering the health authorities in these trying times, I am sure none of us will begrudge them that.
