Accelerate your career
At Louis Vuitton, every career path is unique. Whether it involves changing roles or locations, anything is possible.
Recently following a period of strong business growth, Louis Vuitton encouraged select employees to gain experience abroad in order to support teams in the Middle East. The goal of these short-term assignments was to offer internal talent the opportunity to build their careers internationally, while developing new skills and expertise, and interacting with diverse client profiles.
Having enthusiastically expressed their interest, several dozen employees demonstrated their adaptability, flexibility and versatility to take on this new challenge. We met with Justine, Sabina and Riccardo, who respectively left the Louis Vuitton Champs-Élysées store in Paris (France), the Louis Vuitton Puerto Banús store in Marbella (Spain), and the Louis Vuitton Galleria V. Emanuele II store in Milan (Italy) for a new adventure at the Mall of the Emirates store in Dubai.
After four years at Louis Vuitton, Justine was ready to further enhance her career. She seized this exciting opportunity offered by the Maison: a six-week assignment in Dubai.
While Justine loves adventure, the decision to leave home to build her career was met with some apprehension. "Everything about Dubai is impressive. The city, the buildings, the clients... When I first arrived, I was worried about making mistakes. So I spent a lot of time observing what was going on. I asked a lot of questions. Soon, I realized that I could 100% rely on the experience of everyone there and the cohesion of the entire team to guide and support me when needed.” Thanks to the easy integration with her colleagues, Justine never felt lost. “I think the spirit of our Maison is the same wherever you go”. Strength through unity is absolutely central to the values that drive Louis Vuitton’s teams around the world. “I felt like I had a great support network, which meant that I always had someone to turn to. The Maison also gave me everything I needed to settle in quickly and easily. As soon as I arrived, someone took me under their wing to make sure that all the official procedures were taken care of and to help me find somewhere to live, so that I could enjoy my mobility opportunity to the fullest”.
Not only does Justine view this international opportunity as a positive experience, but as a real and valuable springboard to advance her career. “It's an experience you can easily build on because it demonstrates that you’re open-minded and prepared to move around. The culture of challenge is deeply rooted in the mindset of the Maison, and it’s a fundamental value that I can totally identify with.”
Like Justine, Sabina also left her home country, Spain, for a secondment abroad in the Middle East. Sabina saw this opportunity as a way to advance her career by meeting exciting new client profiles. “I never expected that so much would happen in the first month. I knew the store had a very high sales volume, but I never expected to see so many clients eager to open the door and come in! I was a bit nervous to begin with, but the amazing support and guidance I received from my team helped me adapt very quickly!”
Thanks to this program, Sabina now wants to remain at Louis Vuitton in Dubai. “The opportunity to experience a new facet of the job you do by working on another continent is a challenge I’d advise anyone to grab with both hands. Don't be afraid of new things, and don't hesitate to change up a gear and experience a new career adventure. Keep an open mind and focus your positive energy! Both those things help the team be more dynamic. That’s because we pass our energy and passion on to our clients every day. And it's an incredible channel for motivation", advises Sabina.
After four years with Louis Vuitton in Italy, Riccardo had no hesitation when the Maison presented him with this opportunity in Dubai.
Upon arrival, Riccardo's intuitions were confirmed. “Everything here is different: the team, the clients... Everything. Most of them are local people who live in the city and visit the store regularly. It’s a new world to me, because I’m used to working in Milan, where the majority of clients are tourists.” With expatriates being the overwhelming majority of the population, the UAE capital is a unique megalopolis, unlike anywhere in the world. “The main language we use - English - isn’t the official language of the country. And it’s interesting to see that this level of diversity is the same in the store team. Together, we represent more than 30 nationalities, and our educations and backgrounds mean we’re able to adapt to every type of client, no matter how unique they may be.”
After three months with the Mall of the Emirates team, Riccardo has turned his temporary assignment into a permanent one, continuing this new stage of his career in Dubai. “When you’re lucky enough to work in a Maison like Louis Vuitton, where the culture of diversity and mobility is everywhere, I think you owe it to yourself to explore every opportunity and seize every chance to grow professionally and personally. Break with routine, discover another world and be ready to take on new challenges every day. You’ll never make it if you don’t try!”