“L’Émission Engagée” show highlights LVMH’s very active year of social solidarity

On December 17 LVMH transformed its traditional Dîner des Maisons Engagées – “Committed Maisons Dinner” – into an online show, “L’Émission Engagée”. Despite the current challenging context, the Group remained determined to hold the event, which has been held annually since 2011 to bring together LVMH Maisons, employees and partner organizations to celebrate their social solidarity initiatives. During the evening, LVMH and its Maisons confirmed their financial support for the fight against sickle cell anemia, as well as other initiatives, including “À Table Les Soignants”, which offers complimentary dinners to healthcare personnel.

Streamed via a digital platform accessible to all employees, the “Committed Show” highlighted the positive impact and diversity of the community-minded actions that LVMH teams pursued throughout the year. The entire LVMH Group stepped up, producing and distributing hydroalcoholic gel to help fight Covid-19, as well as sustaining and supporting the Group’s longstanding, long-term solidarity partnerships. LVMH teams showed an enormous sense of community spirit during the year, echoing that of the Group.

“Despite the decidedly unique circumstances surrounding 2020, there was never any question of us renouncing our values of solidarity and generosity – in fact, quite the opposite. And we certainly were not going to miss this chance to celebrate these values. We of course had to adapt and be creative. That’s been a recurring theme, this year, and I want to salute our teams for their unwavering commitment and remarkable contributions,” says Chantal Gaemperle, LVMH Group Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Synergies.

For the 8th consecutive year, LVMH continued to support Robert-Debré children’s hospital and the teams led by Professor André Baruchel and Doctor Malika Benkerrou, which spearhead research on sickle cell anemia in order to improve treatment for children suffering from this hereditary genetic disease. Sickle cell anemia affects five million people worldwide, including the 250,000 children born with the disease each year. And even though significant progress has been made, it remains incurable.

Hosted by well-known journalist and TV personality Marie Drucker with David Abiker from Radio Classique, the show highlighted the many solidarity initiatives carried out and commitments made worldwide during the year, through poignant testimonials from LVMH employees. Support for other good causes was also featured, notably “À Table Les Soignants”, a program launched last June by LVMH Hotel Management and Arnaud Donckele, the three-star chef of La Vague d’Or at the Cheval Blanc Saint-Tropez and soon-to-be chef of the gourmet restaurant at the Cheval Blanc Paris hotel, to thank healthcare workers who have mobilized throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

The program – supported by many restaurant owners – offers healthcare workers a complimentary meal for two. During the “Committed Show” webcast, a challenge organized between Arnaud Donckele and pastry chef Maxime Frédéric gave LVMH employees a chance to show their support for the initiative, which was followed up with a donation from the Group.

A number of socially engaged employees were invited onto the set to talk about their commitments and actions in 2020.  Véronique Goyat, a model maker at Louis Vuitton, talked about helping young, amateur designers for the “Cultures & Création” fashion show, an initiative launched by LVMH 10 years ago in partnership with the Paris suburbs of Montfermeil and Clichy-sous-Bois. Mei Espinasse, a beauty consultant with Benefit Cosmetics, spoke about participating in the “Bold is Beautiful” campaign, an annual event to raise funds for women’s associations such as Belle & Bien and Force Femmes.

Anne-Laure Guillepain, a planning manager at Moët & Chandon, shared her experience of supporting employees with a disability via the Disability Officer Network, which is increasingly being adopted by other LVMH Maisons. And Lastly, Renaud Verrier, a pilot technician with LVMH Research, talked about rising to the challenge of making emergency supplies of hydroalcoholic gel in response to the global health crisis, thanks to a combination of technical expertise and human ingenuity.

The non-profit organization Save the Children, supported by Bvlgari and its CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, described the Maison’s initiatives in Lebanon, which was hit by a devastating explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020.

Support for the “Black Lives Matter” movement in the United States was discussed by George-Axelle Broussillon, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion for Sephora US, Corey Smith, Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion for LVMH North America, and Olivier Théophile, Corporate Social Responsibility Director at LVMH. They shared insights into the commitments made by the Group and its Maisons in the area of diversity and inclusion, as well as support of all communities, as illustrated by the “15 Percent Pledge” signed by Sephora in the US.

Also featured was LVMH’s partnership with the non-profit Nos Quartiers ont des Talents (“Talent from Our Neighborhoods”), which the Group has supported for over 10 years. Employees from LVMH Maisons help young graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds navigate the rocky road to their first job. Marine Stephanopoli, Product Manager at Chaumet, and her mentee Mélissa Darras, a Marketing & Communication Officer at Mercier, talked about their experience with the program, joined by the organization’s co-founder and president Yazid Chir.

During this special online 8th edition of the Dîner des Maisons Engagées, À Table Les Soignants received a €20,000 donation from LVMH. For Robert-Debré children’s hospital, the Maisons contributed €223,000, bringing the total amount of funds donated since the beginning of the partnership in 2011 to nearly €1.3 million. In addition, LVMH Maisons based in the United States (LVMH Inc.) donated $16,000 to the American Red Cross to contribute to the fight against sickle cell anemia.

“L’Émission Engagée” was a chance to share both solidarity and musical entertainment thanks to guest artists Yseult and Patrick Bruel. Their performances brought a year of social solidarity initiatives by the LVMH Group to a close on a wonderfully upbeat note.