Yves Carcelle, Executive Who Made Louis Vuitton a Status Symbol, Dies at 66

Yves Carcelle in 2003. By NICOLA CLARK September 1, 2014

PARIS — Yves Carcelle, the charismatic executive who transformed Louis Vuitton from a staid French maker of handbags and travel trunks into one of the world's most iconic luxury brands, died Sunday in Paris. He was 66.

Carcelle died "following a long and courageous struggle with illness," LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the parent company of Louis Vuitton, said Monday in a statement. The cause was not specified, but French news media reported that Mr. Carcelle learned last year that he had kidney cancer.

Mr. Carcelle, who was promoted to the top post at the Louis Vuitton brand in 1990 and later ran LVMH's fashion division, was the main architect of an aggressive expansion into Asia and other international markets that elevated leather goods emblazoned with Louis Vuitton's distinctive LV logo into one of fashion's most recognizable status symbols.

In 1997, he gave the brand further impetus by recruiting Marc Jacobs to design shoes and ready-to-wear clothing for Louis Vuitton, which also added watches, jewelry and other accessories.

"He really gave his life to that place," Mr. Jacobs said Monday from New York. ''But while he knew it was a huge business and he was building it, he never forgot it was also something he enjoyed, and it was fun. And that made all the difference. I doubt we will see another man like that again."

In a statement confirming Mr. Carcelle's death, Bernard Arnault, the LVMH chairman, described Mr. Carcelle as a "tireless traveler" and a "pioneer" of the industry, who was "always curious, passionate and in motion."

Yves Carcelle's career at LVMH spanned more than two decades. He joined LVMH in 1989 as head of strategy, before becoming chairman and chief executive of its Louis Vuitton Malletier unit — as it was then called — in 1990. In 1998, he was put in charge of the LVMH Fashion Group, overseeing not just Louis Vuitton, but a stable of coveted brands including Loewe, Céline, Givenchy, Donna Karan, Kenzo, Berluti, Fendi and Thomas Pink. He stepped down as head of fashion in 2002 to focus exclusively on Louis Vuitton.

Under Mr. Carcelle's leadership, the number of LVMH boutiques doubled to 1,300 in more than 50 countries, while revenue soared almost tenfold to nearly 10 billion euros, or $13 billion. Louis Vuitton remains the French luxury giant's main source of revenue, accounting for more than two-thirds of the group's fashion and leather goods sales.

Before entering the glittering halls of LVMH, Mr. Carcelle — a mathematics major with degrees from France's elite École Polytechnique and from Insead business school — started his career in the somewhat less glamorous realms of household cleaning products and polyurethane foams for a series of companies at which he held various marketing and product management roles. He later worked with the Absorba clothing brand and was president of Descamps, a French maker of high-end household linens.

Mr. Carcelle retired from Louis Vuitton in 2012 and was succeeded by Jordi Constans, a Spanish businessman who resigned a month later for health reasons. Mr. Constans was replaced by Michael Burke, a French-American businessman and longtime LVMH executive, who remains in that role.

Until early this year, Mr. Carcelle had continued as vice president of the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation — a multimillion-dollar, Frank Gehry-designed museum scheduled to open on the outskirts of Paris next month that will house LVMH's vast collection of contemporary art. He had also remained an adviser to Mr. Arnault and served on the board of the French luxury industry lobby, the Comité Colbert.

He was named a chevalier, or knight, of the Legion of Honor in 2004 for his contributions to French cultural life.

"He had this capacity of seeing the big picture while focusing on the smallest details," Mr. Arnault's son Antoine, who worked closely with Mr. Carcelle at Louis Vuitton, said in an email. "This perfect mix of left brain/right brain that is what you search for in top managers."

The younger Mr. Arnault, who is now chief executive of the Berluti brand, hailed Mr. Carcelle as "the most multifaceted manager I have ever met."

"His charm and charisma were unparalleled," Antoine Arnault said. "However, he was a fierce negotiator, and you didn't want to get in his way."

Mr. Carcelle is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and their two sons, as well as by three children from a previous marriage, Women's Wear Daily reported.

Vanessa Friedman contributed reporting from New York.

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