0:06

Hi, I'm Glynis Trailnash and welcome to In Fashion. Did you know that that Louis Vuitton handbag you covered could very well be made from leather sourced in Australia? Now, if you've ever wondered how fashion companies source their raw materials, this episode is for you. Matteo De Rosa is the CEO of LVMH Métiers d'Art. Now that's a phrase which translates literally as art professions, but more commonly describes traditional crafts or arts and crafts. So, as you'll know, LVMH is the French luxury conglomerate that owns many of the world's top fashion maisons, including Vuitton, Dior, Celine and Loewe. And Métiers d'Art is a division within LVMH that brings together many of its material suppliers for its own brands and even others beyond LVMH. I especially enjoyed what Matteo had to say about building modern careers within companies built on heritage and craft, but also about working with new technologies and innovations to create not only new materials, but also help to find solutions to issues within the supply chain. I hope you enjoy this episode of In Fashion.

GTN: 1:25

Mateo, great to meet you. Great to meet you too. Here in Sydney.

Matteo: 1:28

Yes. In the sun. Finally.

GTN: 1:31

this is a very interesting company that you had up within LVMH, the Metierda, which was established almost 10 years ago. Um, can you explain a little bit why Metir Dark came into being? And what exactly it is that the company does within LVMH?

Matteo: 1:46

Well, it was a very, was a very well kept secret in LVMH. Why? Because we were entering into the strategic supply chain, but not the making, let's say, of a physical product, the making of materials. Our aim is really to go on traceability, to be transparent during the operations, and to go from farm Uh, to shelves in a way. So we cover we made it are all the base, which are natural base or animal base of all the materials that create our beautiful products for our Amazon and for the wider industry. In a way, we are there to preserve the accessibility to this source of material, which are excellence. They are the number one materials in the world and for the future for the future generation for the for our companies and for the weather industry. It's um, a beautiful, uh, basket of companies, very diverse. We are in 13 nations, uh, we have almost 20 companies right now. And we cover from leather, to exotics, to textile, fibers, to a little bit of, uh, innovation, but in all of that, we have farms. So, we are basically farmers, everywhere in the world. Here in Australia as well.

GTN: 3:04

Yeah, you do have a few farms here, tell us a little bit about that.

Matteo: 3:06

In the, in the Northern Territories, we have three farms, uh, two farms actually there and one in Queensland, and we source, uh, exotics.

GTN: 3:14

Crocodile, yeah.

Matteo: 3:15

The, the, the best quality of crocodile that you can have in the world. It's from Australia, actually.

GTN: 3:20

What prompted this visit to Australia? Was it to visit, are you going up there at all?

Matteo: 3:24

It's, um, from my visit, this part of course of the business and also because we source a lot of our materials from Australia so I was keen to see where it's coming from, what we do, etc, etc. So most of our, uh, basis of our leather comes from here. Lamb, calf. Yeah. They all come from here. Majority of them come from here. Yes. Really? Yes.

GTN: 3:44

And then you've got tanneries as well, don't you? We have,

Matteo: 3:47

so basically Metidar, as I was saying before, the leather parts cover, uh, almost nine tanneries. That we have deployed in different nations in the world, mostly in Europe. So we have Spain, France and Italy. And then we have exotics in Singapore as well. With different production centers. And we have metalworks scattered in Europe and in Asia. So in Thailand and in China. We have farms everywhere in the world. Literally in every continent. And,

GTN: 4:20

and you've also got, um, I was reading you've got like silk producers and denim in Japan.

Matteo: 4:26

Correct. So basically in Japan, we opened an office with the aim of really go and preserve or support small, smaller craft that are not so widely known internationally. You know, in Japan, art and craft are the same word. So, um, really it shows how much the creativity and the work by hand is considered. Our office there identify, uh, smaller companies that we can help to develop internationally by exposing them to our maisons. Or really singular techniques and crafts that we can then deploy into our own companies, um, to create new products, to create new technology, to create new way of operating materials.

GTN: 5:11

And so from a business perspective with all of these, like the tanneries and, um, the farms and all this, do you tend to own them outright or do you invest in them or is it a mix of the two?

Matteo: 5:23

It's an open conversation that we have. We don't have, um, Fixed solution that we go and, uh, you know, we have to be a majority. We have to be a minority. No. When I, when I approach this company, usually keep in mind that our family company, so there is a founding family there. There is a founder usually. And it approaches for what reason one, maybe the next generation doesn't want to do the same job, or maybe they need some investments. Can be financial investment, can be investment in people they cannot attract, can be in resources that they cannot have. And through this discussion and through the answering the question, what are we going to do together in the future? It becomes, it comes out the solution that we're going to propose them. Um. What differentiate our companies from the other that are not within us is a question of mindset. So our founders really share with us the vision that tomorrow we need to produce in a different way. What needs to be stable is Our beautiful products. So our leather, our materials, our fabrics, our metals need to be the number one in the world. They need to be, uh, of the highest quality. They need to express all the excellence throughout their chains. You need to produce in the best way, but that best way means producing differently than today and deploying it in the tomorrow way of doing business. We have really this, uh, not static, but this dynamic vision of how this industry should move forward.

GTN: 6:54

This part of the luxury equation is a really interesting world because it's, it's LVMH, it's Kering, it's Chanel, you know, Chanel's buying up like those family ateliers like, um, Lesage and Le Marier and, um, in their own Métiers d'Art section and then you've got Kering doing a similar thing and you guys doing, this as well. I mean, it's fascinating, isn't it? Because, as you say, a lot of the next generation don't necessarily

Matteo: 7:17

is not only that is also a change of generation. You know, there is a generational shift at the moment where we really have difficulties of attracting new talents in this company and to attract new, new talent, to attract a dynamic young, um, young guys, you need to propose them. a modern career. And there is always the impression that working in this industry, you live and die doing the same job, more or less in the same location, more or less. When a company becomes part of a bigger project of a bigger family, of course, the The opportunity widens immediately, and for us, attracting a young talent, it means also proposing them a career that is international, based on craft, based on their skills, based on their, um, uh, interest. We can deploy a person starting in Italy, then he can go in France, then he can end up in Japan, he can come here in Australia, for instance. And this is a complete different proposition. In order to rejuvenate an industry that really needs desperately younger talent. Everybody has his own recipe. So you mentioned, uh, Chanel, you mentioned Kering, Hermès. Everybody of us has his own, uh, recipe. It's such a new industry, such a new, um, segment for the luxury business, this kind of aggregation of crafts, that everybody of us is trying to do our own recipe. And for us, really Our recipe is based on innovation. Innovation means deploying of new technologies, deploying new way of doing business, deploying, you know, everything that we can in order to make a fewer impact in the environment of our activities and give really a sense of pride, a sense of joy, a sense of career to our own, um, craftsmen and craftswomen.

GTN: 9:07

There is, I mean, is there also? Is another one of the reasons for this kind of aggregation, as you say, um, just the scarcity of supply and that kind of thing?

Matteo: 9:17

Of course. Uh, you know, uh, climate change, geopolitical tension, uh, name a list of all of this, of course makes us, um, active in this segment in order to protect the full accessibility of an industry and preserve, uh, in the way the. The beauty of this material and this craft that otherwise would be sometimes in some region of the world disappearing.

GTN: 9:40

Yeah. And with the companies, um, that you have, they work for your brands. Are they also able to work for other brands?

Matteo: 9:48

Our, uh, company, Metier d'Art, is completely open in the market. So And this is a very important feature for us. The fact that, um, our orders are not granted at all, you know, it's not that LVMH will pass us orders just because we have LVMH in the name. It means that we need to stand for our products, and our product needs to remain seen as the best possible in the market. And that will give a drive to our companies to excel all the time.

GTN: 10:19

Yeah, cool. I'm also interested in how, because you obviously have some, at LVMH, some of the most phenomenal brands. I mean, just when you think fashion, it's Dior, it's Louis Vuitton, it's Loewe, Celine, I mean, amazing, amazing brands. Um, plus you've got other divisions. You've got perfume and beauty, and you've got watches and jewelry, um, wines and spirits. I'm interested, firstly, how the companies that you have within Metierda, how they work together with or how they work across brands within, say, fashion to begin with. And also, do they work across divisions at all? Is there any cross pollination there?

Matteo: 10:59

There can be cross pollination and we work on the demand of our brands. So we are, uh, we define ourselves the maison for the maison, you know, we are the step And we are here to support their growth, to support their projects, to support their products. Um, so we really are in connection with, with all of them and we are here to support them all the time.

GTN: 11:21

I'm curious, like, is, if there's ever anything, like with the metal suppliers, for example, if they ever, if you have a project with one of the, I don't know, One of the wine companies or something say, you know, can you, can you say to the metal suppliers, we've got this thing, we need to do this packaging. Look, it can

Matteo: 11:38

happen. You know, it can happen all the time. What we do, which is on this line of work, we host an artist for six months in one of our workshop every year. We pick one and these artists is placed there to work with is the, with the craftsmen in order to just create art by pushing the boundary of an industry. It becomes really something very, um, unusual to, experience. And the output is really, um, mind blowing sometimes for what they find or how they push further technology. When, you know, usually when you ask a question to, to a company or Can we do this? Usually the answer is no, you know, we cannot because blah, blah, blah. And there is a list of no's. When the artist got there after six months and you see things really moving forward, they then become new products or new techniques that are applied throughout our companies. So it's, um, it's quite fascinating. They kind of, as you said, cross pollination between different categories, between different companies. And this is something that we foster a lot throughout our perimeter. You know, we, we have, as I said, we have companies, uh, active in leather company, active in metal company, after the fabrics, uh, in coloration, et cetera, and, um, our aim is really to push them to cross. Exchange their know how and to create something that was thought to be impossible in the past.

GTN: 13:08

Interesting. I'm very curious that you are also working with, um, new technology and particularly like the new leathers, for example. You're working with MycoWorks. Yeah, for the mushroom leathers. Tell me about that, and I mean, obviously there's a huge discussion globally about leather and about new materials that we should be using and people like Stella McCartney have really been pushing that. Where do you see that going? Are you seeing the appetite in the market for that kind of thing? Or do you, are you foreseeing it?

Matteo: 13:42

Well, you know, we work and we are very open to any new based material that, um, has the kind of, um, use that leather has today. I do not think that a new material will replace per se the functionality or the properties of leather. Uh, and I don't see, you know, any. on my side, bad connotation on the leather based material. Leather is the biggest recycling, uh, industry of the world. You know, it's not a product per se, it's a bioproduct and it's been around for thousands of years without any impact on our planet while, you know, plastics or what we call vegan leather today, because that's what has to be named, it's not leather and it's not vegan at all, can create a huge impact. We work with all the new base material, as you mentioned one before, that do not have any, characteristic of polyurethane, polyester, or things like that inside that component. So not oil based materials. And it's a long path ahead. Uh, to find one. I hope one day that there will be one, but it will be for me always complimentary to what we have today as a new opportunity, a new material. And why not? You know, there will be a complete new market there to take, and I would be very welcome to be part of it. Yeah.

GTN: 14:58

How did the different cultures within Metierda work together?

Matteo: 15:01

Well, it's a, it's a beautiful basket of companies, you know, being in 13 nations and being with such a wide, range of people, you know, personalities, habits, know how really enrich the discussion on the table. We based and we lead our company based on a paradox, which is, I call it the positive compromise. Compromise usually is never positive per se. But for us, we're really trying to lead it in a way that one plus one does three. So focusing on what is our best. Abilities are best attitudes. Place them together on the table and being aware, not forgetting of our diversity and what makes us different. And what we see is really an enriching dialogue and the creation of innovation through this discussion that is mind blowing and is going very, very fast. Sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it's not, but for sure is is a beautiful conversation is very unique in this world.

GTN: 15:59

can you tell me a little bit about the metal companies that you work with?

Matteo: 16:02

Yeah. So we have, um, uh, several metal companies, three groups of companies, one based in Portugal, one we did subsidiary in France, one in Italy and, uh, one Asia base in between, uh, Taiwan, China and, uh, and Thailand. All of them, they basically cover all the different technologies you can name. to process metal today for the luxury industries. Um, It's a, it's a funny industry or it's a beautiful industry because it's made really on, um, um, creational speed in a way, because you know, you need to go to market very fast when you have to support our brands with their novelties, with their drops that are constantly arriving to our consumer. And the meanwhile, you have to guarantee that there is a stability and there is a number of production that really follows these samples that you create. Um, It's one of the industry where technology really helps the hand the most, you know, all our industry is quite, uh, you know, who's rating for the bodies, you know, working in the tannery, working in the farm, working in the metal workshop or working in the mill is not. for the body. So here we use the technology really not to create a product, but to take fatigue away from our operator. Uh, if throughout our system, even in the metal, in the metal workshop, uh, the touch of the hands has to prevail all the time because we are not here to create A, a normal product, we are to create a luxury product, a luxury yacht, and there will become a component of what a, an icon is gonna be, you know, in the future. You know, selling a bag that is, the favorite for thousands of people, you know, has to have a level of attention and a level of authenticity that is different piece by piece as well, you know, and it has to be a little touch that makes it unique, each piece. And we really foster that and we use technology to help our hands to do that.

GTN: 18:06

Yeah, amazing. So that's all pure hardware for the bags and that kind of thing. Does that also go into, say, watches and jewellery at all? Yes. Yep.

Matteo: 18:13

Yep, correct.

GTN: 18:14

I mean, I'm curious, like, that cross well, we were talking about that cross pollination, like, a brand like Bulgari, for example, they would have, I imagine, a supply chain that they protect. Correct.

Matteo: 18:24

So

GTN: 18:24

would there be cross pollination from the LVMH Metier d'Art metal?

Matteo: 18:29

Not at the moment, uh, but for instance, if one day we will be in need to fish some know how or vice versa. Of course, we are here for the discussion and also being part of the same group really helps.

GTN: 18:41

Yeah. And I imagine that it's, it's that exactly, it's that transfer of knowledge as much as actual materials. Correct.

Matteo: 18:48

Exactly. It's a, it's a transfer, transfer of know how and applicability in this know how. As I was saying before, we do it internally in between different polls. You know, of our companies, and we can do it also within, within our brands.

GTN: 19:00

No, I believe you have a fabulous new building. Yes, we do.

Matteo: 19:04

We do. It's a, it's quite a unique proposition that we have and we created a showroom in the center of Paris, not to, um, to showcase a finished product, but to get materials and the stories behind it. So it's a building that. Um, really showcase all our surfaces, the story behind how it's produced in an interactive way, because also on the windows you see all day from the street, all the videos of what is happening in our companies, how the product is built. We host, um, basically all our designer, uh, commercial team, marketing team that want to get close to the understanding of, um, our companies. We, uh, host the public. So we have some events that showcase, for instance, crafts, a particular company, a particular subject, research from universities, and we use it really as a Educational tool. Also, sometimes, uh, for the people, it's mostly also for our teams. You know, our, as I said before, the, this part of the industry was never really narrated to the wider republic and our operator, where they come and see this buildings like, wow, I work for this. You know? Oh, they, they feel a huge sense of belonging and they, and they should, you know, and, uh, for finally they see in such a light, you know, as, um, showcase. As a bag or showcase as a garment, they showcase a leather or showcase a fabric and they're like, wow, you know, this is, this is the fruit of our work.

GTN: 20:33

So you'll bring in artisans, for example, from different places and do demonstrations, for example. Correct.

Matteo: 20:39

Correct. And to have a discussion within, you know, the, our companies. On the material. So to also educate our new generation of operators around to make understanding that when we design a product, you know, it's our duty to respect the surface of material because it was a living being. So, you know, and it has some, you know, constraint and yes, have advantages. And now you use the most, you know, going in the direction of circularity. This is something that we should do.

GTN: 21:07

And can you tell me whereabouts in Paris?

Matteo: 21:09

It's in the second arrondissement and is basically the place where fashion was based and craft was based in Paris before. So it's in the, actually the metro stop is Art Métiers. Ah, yeah, yeah. Oh, fantastic. So, um, it's a beautiful location designed by AFL, so it's quite iconic.

GTN: 21:27

Now you once had your own leather goods brand, didn't you? I did.

Matteo: 21:32

I was crazy. Yes. What

GTN: 21:34

did you, um, I love, I love these things, like that was when you first started in your career. Yes. Correct. Just out of school. Where did you study?

Matteo: 21:42

I studied in Milan, in Bocconi University. And I studied economics for the creative industry. So I was always interested in the dualism between creativity and business. And then I had the opportunity to start this company with a friend. I've run it for six years, very, I was very lucky because I invested 1, 500 euro and then I arrived to have a quite a significant amount of turnover at 120 store almost in between Japan and Korea. But again, you need to understand what is your limit. And my limit was my stress on the financial. part of the business. And because I was lucky and I was having a positive clash for, I, I said, okay, now it's time to give it up and give it to an investor and maybe continue my career. I'm not, I'm not at that level yet to run a business like this. I don't have the financial backing to do that. So I, I handed over to someone else and I went on doing. but that experience of being an entrepreneur really allow me to do the job that I do now. So today I talk every day with entrepreneurs. I know how to build trust. I know what are their problems. I know that, you know, to be there at the head of a company, you need to do from the parcel to the product, to the shipping, to whatever, you know, cleaning up the window if the window is dirty. So, um, this one really gave me that understanding opportunity, started to make me understand the markets and, uh, yeah, I don't regret it, but it was very hard. Oh yeah, no, sure. I think it's fascinating

GTN: 23:14

when you, when you have that experience hands on to, from the absolute starting point of a business and building it and then, yeah, you can just apply that across the board. The board correct. Yeah, and also you used to work you came to LVMH from Dries van Noten, correct?

Matteo: 23:29

Yes,

GTN: 23:30

I mean fashions favorite and everyone's still very upset that he's no longer Label, what was it like working with him? And what did you learn from him? Maybe about fabrics because he's so Well, you know, it

Matteo: 23:41

was very fascinating watching him working because he's someone that works with actual How do you say? It's watches, but not watches, the actual pre series of fabrics on the ground. And he has to see it, see how it moves, he sees the colors, he sees how it interacts on a body. And, you know, he had a unique sense of color, a unique sense for prints, a unique eye for that. He was, or he is, a creative genius in that, because he He's a Volcano of idea, you know, his collection were massive, you know, and, uh, and he could have gone forever, you know, on creating and creating and creating until the very last moment and very last editing. It was fascinating. I accepted that job because as everybody else was fascinated by the personality and I moved from Hong Kong to Antwerp for that.

GTN: 24:36

Antwerp is so beautiful. And you have previously lived in Australia?

Matteo: 24:38

I did. My husband is Australian. There you go. And you worked here?

GTN: 24:44

I worked here. Were you based in Melbourne?

Matteo: 24:45

I was based in Melbourne and Sydney. And it was at the time that the group I was working was opening some store, actually for LVMH. Uh, mostly, and it made me really understand the potential of the market here, the beauty of, uh, of the place, you know, and the appetite for luxury and beauty that you have in the country. You know, I'm always very fascinating about the interest and the ability that this country has to propose new emerging designer and the adaptability that they have here. And on the parallel to really have this interested for our. luxury, uh, brands and how, um, well they are received by the market.

GTN: 25:30

And there's been a huge influx in the last five years, particularly five, maybe five to seven years of new brands and expanding of existing stores and that kind of thing. Correct. And it used to be driven a lot by, you know, the Asian tourism market. Yes. And then what, what are you noticing? About the new local market interest in it.

Matteo: 25:48

Well, you know, it's it's a new market for that But it's very mature is very aware, you know much more aware than other places in the world You know the the topics that I touch for instance on supply chain how things are built how feelings are made You know, it's something that really interests the new generation of consumer here and it drives a lot their choices. Maybe it's the lifestyle, maybe it's the, you know, attention to the environment that you have, but it's really an aware customer that has a great appetite for novelties, but great appetite for old luxury as well.

GTN: 26:20

What excites you the most about the future for Metierdar?

Matteo: 26:24

To me, it's um, uh, you know, maybe I can tell you why I joined this. You know, coming from always managing brands, you, you don't really see what is the impact of your retail decision throughout the chain, throughout the People and populations in this part of my job. I really see that the informed decision that our designer makes or that we help them to make, you know, by understanding a base of a material creates, you know, as implication throughout the supply chain and you see communities flourish, you see life changing, you see attachment to business and you see it in the eyes of people. And that's really what make me the most proud of this job.

GTN: 27:10

Great. One thing I did want to touch on actually was the new EU regulations that are coming in and how that impacts. the LVMH group, for example, and, and how that works with the Metier d'Art and what you're doing. Which regulations? Well, there's all these regulations about transparency. And trustability. Yeah.

Matteo: 27:27

But you know, on, on these regulations, we are on the forefront of it. And we have an open discussion with the, of course, lawmaker and policymaker. We already embraced it a few years ago. All of this, and we are proud of ourselves to be at the forefront of how we deploy, as I was saying before, our, uh, processes and our technology and our companies, the aim for metadata is really to shed the light on on our, on our media and to really make it visible to everyone transparently. You know, this is our objective.

GTN: 28:02

Thank you so much for joining us.

Matteo: 28:03

Thank you very much for the conversation. Great to meet you. Good to meet you too. Hope to see you again. Yes, soon in Australia.

28:11

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please share with your friends and on social media and rate and review on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can slide into my DMs via Instagram at infashion underscore podcast. Thanks again for listening until next time.