The world not big enough for Louis Vuitton

"It never stops," he said in his soft French accent. Carcelle is chief executive of Louis Vuitton and has been in charge of the world's biggest luxury goods brand for the past 20 years. His job is as glamorous as it sounds. The company's beautiful PR girls swarm round him constantly; he has regular confabs with Marc Jacobs, the brand's creative director; and he stays at the exclusive One & Only resorts on his travels. Yet, Carcelle's appearance is more Levi's than Louis Vuitton. He has a small paunch, dishevelled hair and wears comfortable footwear. Nevertheless, his schedule is glamorous. Just look at his past 10 days. He has been in Istanbul for a store re-opening. Last weekend was spent on a yacht in Dubai watching the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta, then he zoomed to Abu Dhabi on Sunday for the Grand Prix. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. This week he is off to Mumbai for the opening of India's first Anish Kapoor exhibition, sponsored by Louis Vuitton. After that he will be trotting round South Korea and China with Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton). Carcelle travels for about 200 days a year to see the brand's 458 stores and explore new markets. China has been the brand's biggest growth market in the past decade. From a standing start in 1992, Asia now generates more sales than Europe or America. Growth will continue apace, but the problem for Carcelle is that other emerging markets - India, South America or Africa - are not showing the same potential. How then does a brand like Louis Vuitton continue to grow when mature markets are plateauing and, as Carcelle puts it, "there will never be another China"? LVMH's acquisition of a 17.5 per cent stake in Hermes last month is one way of growing. The conglomerates LVMH, PPR and Richemont are desperate to cash in on the strong demand for luxury but only a handful of brands have stayed out of their clutches. Now, there is fierce competition to get hold of these prizes, namely Hermes, Burberry, Chanel and Prada. The numbers show why. Last week Burberry reported a 50 per cent increase in profits for the half-year. Sales at Hermes were up 20 per cent for the first nine months of the year to euros 1.6 billion. Louis Vuitton, meanwhile, increased sales by 18 per cent in the first half of this year to euros 3.5billion. Its profits increased 28 per cent to euros 1.1billion. Carcelle puts this down to the "universalisation" of the sector. "Luxury started in Europe in the 19th century and then extended to America," he said. "The big change was after the second world war when Japan became richer and the No1 luxury market. Now, it has been replaced by China, but the desire for luxury is everywhere." The brand is in 64 countries. In the past year Louis Vuitton has opened stores in Lebanon, Poland and the Dominican Republic. Barbados is next on Carcelle's list but these markets are tiny compared with China. Louis Vuitton opened its first shop there in 1992 and the rest of the LVMH stable, including Dior and Fendi, followed. Today there are 35 Louis Vuitton stores in 28 cities and Asia accounts for more than 25 per cent of the group's revenues, beating Europe (19 per cent) and America (23 per cent). "China has been the most fascinating story of our generation. There are 1.4billion people there who suddenly want to treat themselves and it will continue," said Carcelle. "In China there is a genuine sense of aspiration: a peasant goes to the city and works hard for 10 years to become something. In India, however, the majority of people do not see their lives changing at all."