At the French luxury goods group LVMH, the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence is training a new generation of craftsmen, designers and customer experts in rare crafts. This happens in high demand professions. An interview with Marion Bardet, Director of Métiers d’Excellence LVMH.
What do these “professions of excellence” include?
Our mission is to promote, value and share craftsmanship that is essential to the Group’s value chain: creation, craftsmanship and the customer experience. The latter particularly includes professions in sales and hospitality, such as the hotel industry.
So are these often unknown professions?
Exactly. We are working to make them better known and to ensure that these unique craftsmanship are passed on. We operate in all areas of the group: leather goods, couture, jewelry, watchmaking, perfumes and cosmetics, hotels and selective sales.
How does this manifest itself in everyday life?
We work with all 75 LVMH Maisons through our initial training facility: the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence (IME). This trains young people or career changers in partnership with renowned schools such as the Compagnons du Devoir, the Haute École de Joaillerie or the Institut Français de la Mode. The students complete dual training and divide their time between school and the studios or boutiques of the company’s own maisons.
So are these LVMH courses integrated into these partner schools?
Yes. These are courses from the Institut des Métiers d’Excellence. The trainees benefit from both the lessons at the partner schools and the support in our maisons. We also offer master classes, language courses and soft skills training. This includes the ability to interact with others, work and adapt to a team or market. There is also an annual competition, the “Master Games”, in which they develop a project and present it to the group.
How many young people do you train each year?
In 2025 we welcomed a cohort of 220 new trainees in France. Since the IME was founded in 2014, more than 3,300 students have been trained. We started modestly, with just 27 trainees in the first year.
How do you select these candidates?
There is a two-stage application and selection process: on the one hand via the partner school and on the other hand via the maison that will accept the trainees. The documents can be submitted until April, especially during our “You & Me” tour, which takes place from January to March.
Do students pay for the training?
No, it’s free. This is one of the great advantages of the training.
How high are your staffing needs?
In 2025 alone, more than 4,500 jobs were offered in the professions of excellence in France. These are professions in which there is massive hiring and in which there is no unemployment.
Do you anticipate global economic developments, for example in the USA or China?
We remain stable: the start of training in 2025 had cohorts of the same size as in the previous year. The Maisons’ staffing needs allow us to maintain this pace.
Training craftsmen takes time. What is your vision?
Training craftsmen is a long-term task. It takes almost ten years to fully master a technique in leather goods making or jewelry crafting. Of course, trainees acquire skills in the first few years, but achieving excellence requires patience and practice. Our goal is this pursuit of excellence, not a short-term economic response.
Generational change is also a central theme, right?
Absolutely. A whole generation of craftsmen will retire by 2030. Training the talents of tomorrow is therefore crucial to passing on and preserving these rare crafts.
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