The Chaire Colbert for budding designers
This landmark partnership is a commitment to French creativity and the talents of tomorrow. It’s about going back to school to shape the future. Launched in 2011, the Chaire Colbert gives students on the Masters 2 Design Strategies program at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art (ENSAAMA) the opportunity to collaborate with the luxury goods company members of the Comité Colbert. Immediately attracted by the initiative, Louis Vuitton has decided to support eight young people trained in industrial design, textiles and brand communication in taking on a first creative challenge.
The chosen theme is Visionary Crafters. The challenge is to envision and design the man’s bag of the future. Timescale: five months to design and produce a model of tomorrow’s must-have bag for men on the move.
“It’s a completely unique experience,” says Millie, the Talent Acquisition Manager who initiated the partnership. “We began by inviting the students to an immersive learning phase focused around our Maison and its expertise. The experience was further enhanced by visits to our historic addresses, from the iconic Avenue des Champs-Elysées store to the Asnières workshops, and by meeting our designers, sustainability specialists and visual merchandising experts. We now look forward to seeing the results of the students’ work.” A meeting was held on January 29 at the Maison’s Rue du Pont-Neuf headquarters in Paris.
As creative project coach, Guido, our Senior Designer for Men’s Leather Goods, passed on his enthusiasm to the students grouped in pairs. “This is a new experience for me,” he admits, “full of refreshing ideas, during which the students passionately explored all aspects of product development. Heritage, functionality, technologies… we covered everything.”
From all the creative passion shared during this project, the students will retain “a challenge in which excelling yourself, expressing creativity from every direction and sharing will help them to grow as designers,” says Damien. “It’s a human adventure that opens up clear opportunities for identifying future talent, making connections and – who knows – maybe helping them through internships or recruitment into our company,” explains Maud, former Human Resources Director at Maison headquarters. “It’s also an opportunity to involve our design teams as closely as possible with the creative process and share new emotions.”