The giants of French luxury have no intention of standing by while Paris mourns the catastrophe of Notre Dame, burned yesterday by a devastating fire that destroyed the roof and the nineteenth-century spire, jeopardizing the structural stability of the cathedral.
Less than 24 hours pass and France has already moved on. In Paris it is already time to think about reconstruction and the big names in luxury will do their part. 300 million euros. This is the total that Lvmh and Kering have announced they intend to allocate for the restoration and reconstruction of the World Heritage monument.
Lvmh and its owners, the Arnault family, have already spoken of a 200 million euro donation. "The Arnault family and the LVMH group would like to show their solidarity in this moment of national tragedy and join in the reconstruction of this extraordinary cathedral, which is a symbol of France, its heritage and its unity", reads a note from the company that controls fashion houses such as Fendi, Bulgari, Christian Dior, Bulgari, DKNY, Ce'line, Guerlain, Givenchy, Kenzo, Loro Piana and Louis Vuitton.
A decision that follows by a few hours the one already announced by the "bitter rivals", the Pinaults, owners of the Kering group (which in turn controls brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron, Brioni, Pomellato) who will donate 100 million euro via the family investment firm, Artemis: “This tragedy affects all French people and far beyond those bound by spiritual values. Faced with such a tragedy, everyone wants to revive this jewel of our heritage as soon as possible,” explained the president of the family holding.
A donation to 50 million has already been announced by the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, while the Ile de France, the Paris region, has allocated 10 million euros.
After the big luxury names took to the field, other French companies have also announced their willingness to contribute to the reconstruction of Notre-Dame, making substantial donations. The oil company Total has announced that it will donate 100 million euros.
1 million euros will instead come from the Parisian company Capgemini: “We are very shocked by this terrible fire. As an international company born in France, we wanted to show solidarity and support the effort that the nation is making to rebuild this masterpiece of humanity's heritage”, commented the number one of Capgemini Group, Paul Hermelin.
(Last update: 15.20 am on 16 April).
