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| By Caroline Olszewski (GMBA-Luxury Brand Management) |
Afterwards, we explored Reims and saw the Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, a historical location where the kings of France were traditionally coronated for over 800 years. We then returned to Paris at the end of the day feeling bubbly and filled with wonderful memories of our second Savoir Faire visit of the year! Looking forward to the next one very soon. Stay tuned!
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| By Sherley Vargas Issac & Aastha Sethi (Students of the Global MBA Luxury Brand Management track) |
This course introduced the cohort to the traditional Japanese practice of creating Urushi lacquer jewelry, with the help of a Master of Japanese Urushi Lacquer from Van Cleef & Arpels' High Jewelry ateliers. Japanese artisans have been using urushi lacquer to transform common objects into works of art. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for participants to design, create and keep their own Urushi Lacquer butterflies while applying three techniques: maki-e (literally translated as “sprinkled picture,” it’s the use of gold or silver powder to create a design), color application and shell mosaic using mother of pearl.
A key highlight of ESSEC’s GMBA Luxury Brand
Management program is the highly customized curriculum focused on the Luxury
industry, and which also gives plenty of opportunities to meet major players in
the market during field trips and ‘Savoir Faire’ visits, that no other program
can provide. These exceptionally tailored Savoir Faire visits are unique to
ESSEC’s GMBA-LBM program, and offer the most incredible and rare experiences to
its participants.
It was the much talked about Métiers d’Art show by
Chanel, a collection imagined by Virginie Viard – held at their industrial chic
space 19M, that was attended by Friends and Ambassadors of Chanel, such as
Vanessa Paradis, Sofia Coppola, Pharrell Williams, etc. The very next day of
the show, was the Masterclass by Bruno Pavlovsky which was attended by students
from a very select few Fashion and Luxury Management schools. One such invitee
was the GMBA LBM cohort from ESSEC Business School. By the time we arrived at
19M, us 11 participants had already realized the exclusivity of the event. We
were led to the lobby where we were served refreshments before the masterclass started.
Post refreshments, we were ushered into the really urban and chic space, all
visualized by Rudy Ricciotti, where we were seated on concrete benches to hear
Bruno Pavlovsky speak.
Last year, marked the 200th Anniversary of Louis Vuitton’s birth, the founder of the eponymous luxury house. To mark his bicentennial, Louis Vuitton, the namesake brand, has gone out of its way in paying rich tributes by way of a documentary, fictional novel, art piece, creative installations, and the iconic Louis Vuitton trunk makeovers. How could we at ESSEC’s GMBA Luxury Brand Management, miss out on the fun then? As part of our program’s ‘Savoir Faire’ site visits, this time we were invited to the Atelier Louis Vuitton at Asniere-sur-Seine, the iconic mansion where Louis Vuitton once lived and which today also includes next door a museum and limited editions workshop.
The moment we arrived, we were guided on a private tour of the house by its Director, Mr Thierry de Longevialle. We were told that the Maison is not open to the public, so it was a great privilege that we got to see the beautiful house for ourselves, while we participated in a detailed conversation with
Mr Longevialle on brands history and how the founder and then his son, George Vuitton, led the Luxury house to great heights. We were drinking in the interesting anecdotes and information with the refreshing drinks that we were served; the excitement level clearly building up for the next phase of the tour.
We were then led to the Atelier, where the exhibition to mark the founder’s bicentennial was set up. All around us, the iconic Louis Vuitton trunks had been given all kinds of makeovers by international artistes, as diverse as the K-pop group BTS, to stylist Ibrahim Kamara, to long term collaborators such as Alex Israel and Stephen Sprouse. Our senses were on an overdrive as we saw all shades of kitsch to classy, to artsy, to understated art on the trunks. We were given a thorough tour of the exhibition by a Guide who narrated interesting stories behind each piece of art. We took our own sweet time observing each trunk, taking pictures, and taking in the vision of its artist.
Our next stop was the quaint bookstore, with an almost quirky look, with Louis Vuitton city guides lined up in all of the rainbow hues. We were spoilt for choice as we shopped for city guides, glossy coffee table books, and even unusual posters. By the time we had finished our shopping, we were told that finally it was time to wind down our visit. Even though we didn’t want to, we had to bid adieu to the lovely people at Atelier Louis Vuitton, who gave us such an enriching afternoon with their warmth and hospitality. This one was for the keeps!
We’ve probably all heard of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies recently, but do we really fully understand the underlying and disruptive technology that they rely on? In this article we will talk about the future of trust: Blockchain!
Back to 1982 and a brief history of blockchain
Following the global financial crisis of 2008, an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created an unprecedented document: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system. The first conception of decentralized blockchain was based on this innovative and enhanced design. The terms block and chain were used independently in Nakamoto’s original paper until 2016, when they were merged into one phrase, blockchain. And this fueled a complete new era in technology and probably the most significant revolution after electricity and internet...
The technology adoption curve of crypto users vs. total worldwide internet users is depicted in the diagram above. Crypto has a far faster adoption rate than the Internet, with an average annual growth rate of 80%.
What if we try to sum up blockchain in a single sentence?
“Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed, continually updated and immutable ledger that records the history of transactions in a chronological order.”
So what is blockchain and why is it so unique?
Let’s
start with the structure of the name:
Block: the
file is made up of data blocks + Chain: each block is connected
to the previous block, forming a chain.
When a transaction in a block changes, the block's hash changes as well. When the block's hash changes, the next block displays a discrepancy with the previous hash it stored. As a result, blockchain has the distinct characteristics of being tamper-proof.
The blockchain stores data in a huge network of computers known as nodes, each of which has a copy of the blockchain. Every time a new block of transactions is added to the network, all members must check and verify that all transactions in the block are genuine. The new block can only be added to each node's blockchain when it has been approved by all nodes in the network. This process is called consensus.
To summarize, anyone attempting to attack or edit data on a blockchain must change the majority of computers in the network, which is how blockchain functions as a highly secure data storage technology.
To summarize, here are some key points!
Blockchain is:
Without a question, blockchain technology’s core and unique characteristics may be applied to a variety of industries, creating new potential opportunities for the future.
Here
are some examples of real-world blockchain use cases that can be applicable for
enterprises, institutions, and governments:
In the
next articles, we’ll go through in depth how above-mentioned blockchain use
cases will reshape the future in numerous industries. Don’t miss it!
