Monday, February 22, 2021
Premium brand for champagne
LVMH pops the corks with Jay-Z
As early as 2006, rapper Jay-Z held the characteristic metal bottles in the camera in a music video. A few years later, the rapper bought the small Armand de Brignac wine press. But the luxury good champagne is having a hard time: Now the LVMH group is taking a stake in the high-end company.
The French luxury goods group LVMH wants to sell more champagne with the help of the rapper Jay-Z. The group, which includes champagne brands such as Moët & Chandon, Krug and Dom Pérignon, has a 50 percent stake in the American rapper's Armand de Brignac brand. He welcomes the Arnault family, announced the musician and entrepreneur, referring to the LVMH major shareholder. The parties involved did not comment on the financial details of the transaction.
The des Rappers brand, one of the youngest in the famous sparkling wine region, is known for its metal bottles that cost hundreds of dollars each. The investment aims to commercialize Armand de Brignac through LVMH's global distribution networks while harnessing the vast resources of the conglomerate in the Champagne wine country.
The luxury of champagne is currently having a hard time: Due to the pandemic, weddings, soirees and other opportunities to pop the corks are canceled. Sales of sparkling wine fell by around 20 percent last year. In 2019 around 500,000 bottles were sold worldwide.
The partnership shows how European luxury brands are bringing in black artists and hip-hop culture to appeal to a younger, diverse clientele. Together with Rihanna, LVMH already launched the cosmetic line Fenty Beauty. The rapper Gucci Mane and the luxury brand of the same name, the Italian fashion house Gucci, have worked together on a collection. And Dior, a LVMH brand, has used rapper A $ AP Rocky as a model for several men's fashion collections. So-called streetwear has become a basic element of luxury fashion.
Jay-Z expects to work with LVMH on other projects in the future. The attraction of luxury to rappers, he said, comes from wanting to party after surviving downtown desperation. "If you put yourself in the shoes of the people who come from these neighborhoods, you can understand why someone wants to celebrate life after five of their six friends have passed away," said Jay-Z. "We connect with things that are well done and with things that survive."
Jay-Z bought the small winery in Champagne, France, in 2014. He had already discovered the premium brand – served in characteristic metal bottles with an ace of spades logo and therefore also called Ace of Spades – in 2006 and presented it to the public in his music video "Show Me What You Got".
.