For one of the most important days of her life, that of her wedding (even if it was the second), the supermodel Natalia Vodianova wanted to make a nod to her Russian origins and opted for a design by a compatriot and friend, the also ex-model Ulyana Sergeenko .
The groom did not have that much leeway.
As one of the main figures of the LVMH group led by his father Bernard Arnault, Antoine Arnault preferred to play it safe and, for the ceremony held in Paris at the end of September, he donned a Berluti suit, a brand of which he is director general.
After all, when you're one of the dolphins in one of the most powerful and reputable luxury conglomerates in the world, you can never let your guard down.
Although it does not seem that the succession is an urgent issue in the Arnault family.
According to
Capital
magazine
, the patriarch has already distributed almost 75% of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) among his five children and two nephews - children of his late sister and also workers in the conglomerate - but he has reserved the right to Usufruct of the entire company and the power of decision over the conglomerate that has made him one of the richest men in the world.
Because at 71, Bernard Arnault shows no signs of wanting to step aside or slow down.
"He will be president all his life and that is what we all want,"
Capital
quoted
at the beginning of September one of the five children he has had in his two marriages.
"Bernard Arnault is going to work at least until he is 80 years old, the competition would be premature," added one of his trusted persons, also on condition of anonymity.
The concerns of the Arnault also go these days in other directions.
LMVH is back in the headlines.
But there are more that appear in the press salmon than in the rose, due to the judicial pulse that the French group maintains with Tiffany after its decision not to continue with the planned acquisition of the iconic American jewelry.
However, the wedding of the second of Bernard Arnault's children with Vodianova, with whom he has been in a couple for a decade and who is the mother of his two children, has reopened the question of succession in a family where everyone seems doomed to take care of the powerful family business.
The question that nobody knows or dares to answer is who, finally, will take over the position of president of his father, who has ensured that all his children enjoy an exquisite education and that they know, from very early, to the minimum detail the mighty empire associated with your name.
"I've been with the company for 25 years," 28-year-old Alexandre Arnault has joked.
The newlywed, Antoine, the youngest of the two children that Bernard Arnault had with his first wife, Anne Dewavrin, occupies at the age of 43 high positions in the conglomerate that has made his family the third richest in the world, with a heritage of almost 96.3 billion euros.
In addition to being in charge of Berluti, Antoine sits on the board of directors of LVMH and has been, for two years, the company's head of image and communication.
A job that gives him a lot of visibility and that, in a recent interview with the publication Strategies, he defined as that of a “conductor” capable of agreeing ideas and giving guidelines throughout a conglomerate as vast as LVMH - which includes 70 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, Céline, Fendi, Kenzo, Moët Chandon or the Spanish Loewe - on issues that unite all
maisons
, such as "the environment or the defense of biodiversity," he said.
Although she has less media exposure, her older sister, Delphine, 45, also accumulates positions in the family business: after spending more than a decade at Dior, she is now Deputy General Manager of another of the conglomerate's best-known brands, Louis Vuitton and, in addition to sitting with his brother Antoine on the LVMH board of directors, is also on the executive committee of the same.
Meanwhile, the youngest of the saga, the children of Bernard Arnault's second marriage, with the pianist Marie-Hélène Arnault, are gradually making a niche for themselves in the luxury conglomerate in which their older brothers also formed.
Alexandre, the first of the three children from the patriarch's second marriage, 28, is in charge of the luxury suitcase house Rimowa, in whose incorporation to LVMH he was a key element, according to
Forbes
magazine
, who chose him this summer "ambassador" of the 30 entrepreneurs under 30 years of age together with his brother Frédéric.
This, at 25 years old, is not lagging behind either: he already runs his first company, the Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer, another of the jewels of the family empire to which the only thing missing is the youngest, Jean, who is still finishing his studies.
Of course, if you follow the family tradition, and nothing indicates otherwise, you will soon start, if you have not already done so, to work in the family business.
“Our father has transmitted us, above all, values of work and merit. Throughout our youth, he always pushed us towards excellence in all domains, sporting, musical or academic (…) he has also transmitted to us the great values of the family and the importance of being close to parents and siblings. They are values that we continue to honor every day ”, summarized Alexandre in
Forbes
.