LVMH Métiers d’Art, established in 2015, is more than just a division of the world’s largest luxury group—it’s a living, breathing archive of craftsmanship. Bringing together over 15 specialist suppliers and generating more than €700 million in annual sales, this initiative is the silent engine behind some of the world’s most coveted luxury goods.
At the helm is Matteo De Rosa, a leader tasked with safeguarding tradition while propelling the industry into a more ethical and innovative future. Under his stewardship, LVMH Métiers d’Art opened its new Parisian HQ, La Main, on Rue de Réaumur in the 2nd arrondissement in Paris, as a hub dedicated to craftsmanship and creativity.
In this conversation with T Australia, De Rosa reflects on his Milanese roots, the evolving role of consumers, and how balancing humanity with scale ensures that luxury remains an art form for generations to come.
T Australia: I’d love to understand what drew you to fashion as an industry.
Matteo: I was interested in it as a kid. I grew up in Italy when I was a young teenager in the nineties. Victoria: In Milan? Matteo: Yeah. It was the boom of all these brands like Armani, Dolce [& Gabbana], Versace. As a kid, you get very impressed by it, and then I decided to make it a professional career. When I went to university, I decided to study economics to manage creativity. Always from a business side — it’s always about trying to find and build relationships with creative people, whether it’s a head designer, a famous designer, or even the team and the sketchers who bring ideas. Never to constrain them or put them into a grid, but to help them understand the drivers of the business. To make them see that they serve clients and that their products need to sell if they want to continue their work. You need to maintain relevance—economic relevance—and appeal to your consumer. If you build trust and a good relationship, everything becomes easier and with less friction.
It must be gratifying to see something from the beginning and watch it come to fruition at the end, especially if you were there for the entire process.
Correct. In my position, if you give me your bag, I can trace every step that product went through to get to you. It’s quite amazing. And to go back to your first question, that’s what interested me from the beginning — I was fascinated by all facets of fashion. After a few years, I understood it fully.
Does that impact you as a fashion consumer?
Yes, a lot.
In what way?
Now that I’m more aware, I really understand how consumer decisions drive business and influence the entire chain. The more consumers are aware of how a product is made and the practices behind it, the more they can use their decision-making power to lead the industry toward better production methods.
You’ve previously described Métiers d’Art as the group’s insurance policy. Can you elaborate on that?
I define it that way because in a world under many stresses — be it political, climate-related, or consumer-driven — our job is to ensure that our brands and clients, not just the iconic image brands, always have access to the most ethical and sustainable products and materials. This allows them to continue delivering the highest-quality products to consumers. We preserve entire production chains and the know-how that comes with them, and we help push the industry forward, producing the best of yesterday in ways that are best for tomorrow.
You’ve spoken about your ambition to cover the entire value chain for materials like cotton, silk, and wool. What are the challenges and opportunities of such a goal?
When I arrived three-and-a-half years ago, we had a handful of companies and were quite small. Now, we’re almost 20 companies, with a global business of 700 million euros and 4,000 employees. We started with leather because, for LVMH, leather is a substantial part of our profit — accessories and bags are the main sellers of our brands. Think about Louis Vuitton, which began as an accessories company. We began with leather, including exotic leathers, then expanded to farming, metal components, and natural fibres. Covering all aspects of material accessibility gives us an advantage in traceability, transparency, and innovation. Innovation doesn’t mean changing everything but assisting artisans in industries that are physically demanding. It means introducing technological support or improving workflows so that everything we do gets better every day. No one is perfect, but we strive for progress daily.
It’s not just about the end product but also about the experience of making the product?
Correct. It’s also about opening up the industry and showcasing it. We need to attract younger generations by showing them that this is an industry where they can build a career. There’s a misconception that entering a production site or workshop means staying there forever until retirement, which isn’t appealing. But our artisans, for example, can start in Italy, then gain experience in Japan, Australia, Singapore, or the U.S., and return home, always based on merit and their desire to learn and grow.
Is that the most effective strategy you’ve found for fostering trust and collaboration?
At the moment, yes. We act as an insurance company for the group, but also for our artisans and companies. In our portfolio, we have former competitors now working together. We mediate trust, ensure fairness, and encourage collaboration. For instance, two companies might exchange techniques or recipes and create a completely new product that becomes a bestseller. By building trust and facilitating these exchanges, we unleash innovation.
I hadn’t considered how challenging it must be to mediate between competitors.
It goes back to the idea of being an insurance company. Many of our companies were founded by families, so the business often involves a personal dynamic. It’s about everyday communication, understanding their dreams and ideas, and helping them see what’s possible with us. Innovation often comes from nurturing those relationships.
Is there a specific example of a product where you’ve seen this beautiful collaboration come to life?
Yes. One example is a project involving our company in Japan which specialises in denim. They dye fabrics with natural indigo — no chemicals, just the pigments from the plant itself. We thought, “No one has ever done this with leather before.” So, we facilitated an exchange between two companies, and they eventually found a way to dye leather with these natural pigments. The result was a completely new product, which some of our brands are now using.
That must feel rewarding when it all comes together.
It is. And that’s just one example. Another initiative is our artistic residency program, which drives creativity in one of our workshops. Over the years, this program has led to new techniques and products. For instance, an intricate chain design created a few years ago during the residency is now featured in some of our brands’ products.
The residency lasts six months, during which an artist works in one of our workshops with no specific brief, only the tools and techniques available there. The goal is pure creation—pushing boundaries for the sake of innovation. The artist is free to experiment and collaborate with artisans, often resulting in breakthroughs no one thought possible. Of course, the process isn’t always smooth. There are disagreements, good days, bad days — it’s all part of the dynamic between the artist, who might want something entirely unique, and the artisans, who are accustomed to precision and consistency.
I imagine that tension helps bring about extraordinary results.
Exactly. The balance between these perspectives sparks innovation. Last year, for example, we hosted a talented artist, Josèfa [Ntjam], in one of our metal workshops in Portugal. This workshop usually produces small components, like locks and chains for accessories, but Josèfa created enormous two-and-a-half-meter-wide pieces with vibrant, unexpected colour gradients.
The artisans initially found it challenging to understand her vision — these colours and techniques were entirely new to them. But through collaboration, they developed something extraordinary. The colours she created are now part of the workshop’s portfolio and have already been adopted by one of our clients.
Do you plan to increase the frequency of these residencies?
For now, it’s once a year. The process takes time. Building the necessary relationships and trust requires six months to a year of intensive work.
Consumer demand for ethical and sustainable materials is growing. How do you reconcile the heritage of exotic leathers and animal-based materials with this demand?
We are guided by state-of-the-art practices, fully embracing ethics and sustainability. Every process within our perimeter is transparent and traceable. Sustainability for us is about achieving a perfect balance between the natural world, the animal world, and humanity. If this equilibrium isn’t respected, it doesn’t work — and it certainly can’t last over time.
Sustainability is also about durability. Our role is to take the best of yesterday and produce it in the best way for tomorrow. It’s a lengthy process involving innovation, scientific backing, and extensive trials. For instance, our centre in Ohio focuses on studying and refining our practices to ensure they’re sustainable and respectful of the living beings — both nature and animals — at the core of our work.
As Métiers d’Art grows globally, how do you maintain that human touch?
By ensuring that our operators and craftsmen can fully express their value. In our industry, some tasks can and should be done by machines to alleviate repetitive or administrative work. But the human touch — polishing leather, creating unique colourations, or adding intricate finishes — should never be replaced.
Our aim is to strike a balance: reduce laborious tasks where possible while encouraging and supporting our artisans in their creative work. This approach preserves humanity in craftsmanship while continuing to scale our operations.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
