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MELBOURNE – One pm, March 16, 2025. It is race day at the Australian Grand Prix 2025, and the excitement at Melbourne’s iconic Albert Park Circuit is electric despite the rain and gusty winds. Fans, decked out in colourful raincoats and hooded ponchos, eagerly await the start, the anticipation palpable in every corner.
Stepping into Louis Vuitton’s suite at the exclusive Formula One Paddock Club, Mr Pietro Beccari surveys the buzzing atmosphere with a satisfied smile. The chairman and chief executive of the French luxury house settles comfortably onto a plush sofa adorned with Louis Vuitton cushions, each retailing for more than $700.
He looks approvingly at the striking Louis Vuitton 2025 Grand Prix Trophy Trunk, displayed strategically next to the suite’s entrance. Meticulously crafted in the brand’s historic atelier in Asnieres in France, the trunk showcases the iconic LV monogram in brown and gold, accented by vivid green-and-gold checkerboard patterns that pay tribute to Australia.
It houses the winner’s steering wheel, claimed later in the evening by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The room hums with excitement, champagne glasses clinking as bartenders craft endless cocktails and pour generous glasses of Moet & Chandon bubbly. After all, there is plenty of reason to celebrate.
McLaren driver Lando Norris with the Louis Vuitton 2025 Grand Prix Trophy Trunk. PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
Last October, Louis Vuitton’s parent company LVMH – which boasts a portfolio of 75 luxury lifestyle brands including Tiffany, Dior, Tag Heuer and Moet & Chandon – signed a landmark 10-year global partnership with F1.
Louis Vuitton now holds the prestigious title sponsorship for the season opener in Melbourne – the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 – with prominent brand signage visible everywhere around the tracks.
Exuding an energy both infectious and commanding, Mr Beccari, 56, took over as Louis Vuitton’s global CEO two years ago, following transformative leadership roles at Fendi and Dior.
Since then, he has passionately driven the world’s most valuable luxury brand, currently valued at a whopping US$129.9 billion (S$172.9 billion) by Kantar BrandZ, into exciting new territory. Kantar is a brand valuation and equity platform.
Moving beyond fashion
“People don’t just want to buy a bag any more. They want to be part of a cultural movement,” he tells The Straits Times, marking his first Asian media interview since stepping into his role.
His innovative approach has already seen Louis Vuitton venture beyond fashion, launching into, among other things, restaurants, chocolates, hotels, vinyl records and, soon, beauty products.
The F1 partnership perfectly captures his vision, blending sport and luxury.
“Sport is culture,” emphasises Mr Beccari, who is also a member of the LVMH executive committee. “We’re here with F1 for the next decade because it embodies speed, passion and innovation – all values which resonate with Louis Vuitton.”
This is not simply about branding, he says. It is about blending luxury into the essence of sport and crafting an irresistible story that captures hearts and imaginations around the world.
Born in the Italian city of Parma, Mr Beccari’s path to becoming a titan of the luxury industry was anything but ordinary. Growing up, he dreamt of football glory, idolising the legendary Argentine player Diego Maradona, and even played professionally for an Italian second-division team until he was 18.
Though he never made it to the national squad, those years on the pitch taught him invaluable lessons in discipline and teamwork.
“There’s no victory without hard work and sacrifice,” he insists. “Success is 90 per cent effort and just 10 per cent talent. You can’t win alone, but as a team, anything is possible.”
His leadership mirrors this ethos: dynamic, demanding but authentic. “I expect a lot from myself, so, naturally, I push my team too,” he says.
In October 2024, LVMH, Louis Vuitton’s parent company, signed a landmark 10-year global partnership with Formula 1.PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
After graduating with a business degree from the University of Parma in 1992, he built his early career outside luxury, first at British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser in Milan, then at Italian food and dairy distributor Parmalat in New York, followed by a decade in the shampoo and haircare sector at German multinational Henkel, where he rose to corporate vice-president.
At that point, luxury was completely foreign to him. Mr Beccari, then based in Dusseldorf, chuckles at the memory of unknowingly buying his wife a fake Louis Vuitton handbag from a flea market in the German town of Buchel.
“I had no clue what Louis Vuitton or luxury was,” he says with a laugh.
His world changed when the late Yves Carcelle – well-known former chairman and chief executive of Louis Vuitton – hired him in 2006 to become the brand’s executive vice-president of marketing and communications.
“Yves invited my wife and me to his house and we were mesmerised by the luxury we saw,” he says. “We discovered the world. We changed. The job changes your taste and the way you live. It penetrates your senses, reopens your pores and your mind, and gets your antenna up. I’ve now spent 20 years in the luxury business and could not go back to anything else.”
At Louis Vuitton, the marketing whiz quickly made a name for himself, nabbing industry acclaim, notably with iconic campaigns such as Core Values (2011) featuring American actress Angelina Jolie barefoot in Cambodia, snapped by renowned American photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Candidly, he reveals that he had hoped to succeed Mr Carcelle.
“He was a fantastic guy who turned Louis Vuitton into what it is today and I learnt so much from him. I was a bit p***ed off that I was sent to Fendi,” says Mr Beccari, who was made chairman and chief executive of the Italian fashion house in 2012.
Describing himself as someone who never looks back because “the past is gone”, he threw himself into reinventing Fendi, giving the brand a fresh, youthful appeal and pioneering daring concepts.
One headline-making move was the 2016 transformation of the historic 17th-century Palazzo Fendi in Rome, creating not just a flagship store, but also the brand’s first boutique hotel, Fendi Private Suites; an exclusive apartment, Palazzo Prive; and a restaurant, Zuma.
Detractors sniggered, but success soon had competitors scrambling to imitate his vision.
Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami collaborated to launch a hugely successful collection with the Japanese artist’s quirky and colourful designs on leather goods, accessories, travel luggage and shoes. PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
Now at Louis Vuitton, Mr Beccari is gearing up to amaze again, overseeing the ambitious development of the 6,000 sq m Hotel Louis Vuitton in Paris’ Champs-Elysees. The historic 1896 building, once HSBC’s headquarters, is undergoing a secretive transformation hidden behind a giant facade resembling a classic Louis Vuitton trunk.
It is slated to open in 2027, but he keeps details tantalisingly vague: “It’s going to be something the world will not be expecting.”
Mr Beccari is a firm believer in constantly levelling up, a philosophy he likens to playing a video game where each stage brings new challenges and rewards.
Dreaming huge
Asked if he has always been gutsy and unconventional, he smiles and shrugs: “You have to take risks if you want to advance – in life and in business. I always tell my people they should not just think big, they should think huge.”
He adds: “I want a company of people who think out of the box, are not slaves to the system or just follow the rules of what has been done before.”
His take on risks is refreshingly blunt: “What’s the worst that can happen? Losing my job? So what?”
In many ways, he draws inspiration from the boldness of his boss Bernard Arnault, founder of LVMH and one of the world’s richest and most visionary entrepreneurs.
Mr Arnault, he says, was “crazy enough” to dream about creating the world’s biggest luxury empire by acquiring some of the most iconic brands on the planet. And he did.
“You need to be a little bit crazy to succeed,” says Mr Beccari, who took that same daring approach when he was handed the reins at another LVMH jewel, Dior, in 2018.
Under his charge, Dior’s revenue surged from €46 billion (S$67 billion) in 2018 to nearly €80 billion in 2022.
Life came full circle when Mr Arnault personally tapped him to return and lead Louis Vuitton.
“I’d actually forgotten about Vuitton,” Mr Beccari jokes. But when the call came, there was no hesitation.
Musician Pharrell Williams, seen here with his wife Helen Lasichanh, was tapped to become Louis Vuitton men’s creative director.PHOTO: REUTERS
One of his first – and boldest – moves in his new role was bringing in Pharrell Williams, the American musician, producer and fashion icon, as men’s creative director. Eyebrows raised at the announcement, but the decision proved visionary.
“Pharrell radiates positive energy and great values – he’s a good person,” Mr Beccari says. “That’s what I look for in a collaborator.”
His instinct for talent goes beyond celebrities. He seeks authenticity, creativity and individuals who are not “corrupted by ambition”.
Retaining great talent, he believes, is all about building an environment where people feel inspired and valued. “People need to know they’re part of something truly meaningful,” he adds.
Since taking over, he has wasted no time in making the world’s biggest brand even more dynamic.
In addition to hugely successful fashion collaborations, such as the one with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, the last two years have seen Louis Vuitton venturing into unconventional areas like chocolates and dining.
LV The Place Bangkok houses Gaggan at Louis Vuitton fine-dining restaurant, an exhibition space, a boutique and Le Cafe Louis Vuitton patisserie.PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
For example, February 2024 saw the launch of Le Chocolat Maxime Frederic at Marina Bay Sands, the first Louis Vuitton chocolate atelier outside France.
That same month, LV The Place Bangkok opened its doors, an innovative “360 experiential concept” combining the upscale Gaggan at Louis Vuitton’s fine-dining restaurant, an exhibition space, a boutique and Le Cafe Louis Vuitton patisserie.
Next up? Beauty. From August, the luxury house will unveil its beauty line La Beaute Louis Vuitton, available exclusively in Louis Vuitton boutiques. The creative force overseeing the venture is Dame Pat McGrath from England, who has been hailed as “the most influential make-up artist in the world”.
“Beauty is profoundly anchored in the culture of Louis Vuitton, because at the beginning of the last century, we were producing beautiful vanity cases for the travelling actresses and sopranos of the world,” Mr Beccari says.
The founder’s grandson, Gaston Louis Vuitton, further enriched this legacy by creating the brand’s first fragrance in 1927. Although the company ceased perfume production in 1946, it reignited this tradition in 2016 with a fresh and luxurious fragrance line.
“Our fragrances have been an immense success, giving us double-digit growth for many years. So, it’s now time for our next step,” Mr Beccari says.
Dame Pat McGrath is the new creative director of cosmetics for Louis Vuitton.PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
The new Louis Vuitton beauty line, however, comes at a premium. “Yes, our lipstick will cost three times the price of the most expensive lipstick on the market,” he says with a grin. “But trust me, it’s five times better.”
While acknowledging the current economic downturn has made things challenging for the luxury market, he is optimistic.
“Yes, it’s a tough moment and, frankly, it’s lasting longer than I expected,” he admits. “But luxury will bounce back. I don’t know exactly when, but when it does, the world will be in a better place.”
After all, he believes luxury is fundamentally emotional. It is about joy, excitement and pleasure.
“Our goal isn’t to change the world,” he says, “but we can definitely make people’s lives more pleasant and enjoyable. That’s a need that never goes away. As Mr Arnault once jokingly told (Apple founder) Steve Jobs: ‘Your phone might not be around in a few years, but my Dom Perignon will still be here.’”
For Mr Beccari, luxury is timeless yet constantly evolving.
“We must honour our heritage but never stop innovating,” he insists. “Quiet luxury, fun luxury – it’s cyclical. Louis Vuitton has always been joyful, dynamic and full of life. We’re never going quiet.”
Le Chocolat Maxime Frederic at Marina Bay Sands is the first Louis Vuitton chocolate atelier outside France. PHOTO: LOUIS VUITTON
Married for 40 years to his childhood sweetheart, he believes this vibrant philosophy resonates particularly well with younger consumers – a demographic notoriously difficult to impress.
The corporate maverick says his three daughters, aged 20, 26 and 28, keep him sharply attuned to younger tastes, regularly informing him in no uncertain terms what is “s**t” and what is “good”.
“I never take for granted that they’re 100 per cent right. But they definitely make me think.”
“Young people have a radar for authenticity,” he adds thoughtfully. “In today’s age of social media and transparency, you just can’t fake who you are.”
Beneath Mr Beccari’s boundless confidence lies unmistakable vulnerability.
“Am I afraid of failure? Absolutely,” he says candidly. “Failure tastes terrible. But I never dwell on setbacks – I erase them instantly. Like Rafael Nadal in tennis, I focus only on the next ball because that is the most important.”
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