The 9th edition of VivaTech, Europe’s largest startup and technology gathering held in Paris in June 2025, served as a potent crucible for innovation, offering both glimpses into the future and tangible solutions for the present. For the luxury industry, the event underscored a profound shift: technology is no longer an auxiliary tool but an integral, often invisible, force shaping brand desirability, consumer experience, and even the very definition of craftsmanship.
@LVMH Dreamscape at VivaTech2025
The Dominant Echo: Artificial Intelligence Everywhere
Unsurprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was the omnipresent theme, moving beyond “magical novelty” to concrete applications. For luxury, this translates into:
Hyper-Personalization at Scale: AI is empowering brands to understand individual consumer preferences with unprecedented granularity. Startups like Kahoona, recognized with the “Best Business Prize” at the LVMH Innovation Award, demonstrated real-time predictive audience segmentation for anonymous online visitors. This allows luxury Maisons like Dior to create a hyper-personalized Browse experience, tailoring content and recommendations seamlessly.
Augmented Creativity & Design: AI is increasingly used to enhance human creativity rather than replace it. Tools showcased at VivaTech are assisting designers and marketers in generating content, optimizing visual assets, and even exploring new material compositions. This could lead to a rapid acceleration in bespoke luxury design and product development.
“Quiet Tech” in Retail: LVMH notably championed the concept of “quiet tech,” where technology is seamlessly integrated into the retail experience to elevate, not interrupt, the human interaction. This means AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 customer service (as seen with Louis Vuitton’s early initiatives), mobile POS systems for staff (Rimowa), and virtual try-on experiences that feel intuitive and enhance decision-making rather than overwhelming the customer.
The Unseen Revolution: Traceability, Authenticity & Sustainability
Beyond consumer-facing applications, VivaTech highlighted AI and blockchain’s critical role in the luxury supply chain. The Maison-Tech partnerships showcased by LVMH demonstrated this commitment. Brands are now leveraging technology to enhance transparency and reinforce their values.
Unveiling Provenance with Precision: Bvlgari, in partnership with Dev4Side, showcased “connected jewelry” using micro-engraving and artificial vision. A downloadable app scans unique serial numbers to access a digital passport for each piece, offering a wealth of information about its origin, quality, and rarity of stones. This provides unprecedented transparency and authenticity in a market plagued by counterfeits.
Sustainable Sourcing & Monitoring:
Genesis, awarded the “Best Impact Prize” at the LVMH Innovation Award, presented a data-driven digital tool to measure, monitor, and improve soil health. This has significant implications for luxury brands that rely on raw materials from agriculture (e.g., cotton for fashion, grapes for wine and spirits, leather). Moët Hennessy is already leveraging such algorithms to group environmental data and calculate vineyard resilience indexes, adjusting regenerative viticulture practices.
Platforms like Sweep, used by brands like Burberry and Lacoste, presented new modules that monetize emissions reductions, empowering luxury houses to actively track and reduce their carbon footprint across their supply chains.
Optimized Production: Companies like Rimowa demonstrated how AI-powered hyper-realistic imaging can reduce the photographic process for reconditioning luxury suitcases to just one hour, while meticulously preserving the patina of each piece. This efficiency, coupled with an emphasis on craftsmanship, supports circular economy models within luxury.
VivaTech showcased how technology is transforming how luxury brands engage with their audience:
Virtual Try-Ons & Digital Assets: The event featured numerous fashion tech startups, particularly from Asia, developing solutions like virtual try-ons and augmented reality (AR) jewelry. These technologies allow customers to digitally experience products with impressive accuracy, reducing returns and enhancing the online shopping journey.
Immersive Storytelling: Beyond product, AI is being used to create captivating narratives. The “Most Promising Prize” at the LVMH Innovation Award went to OMI, a content creation studio that uses 3D models to create high-quality visuals quickly and flexibly, opening new avenues for luxurious storytelling and digital marketing.
VivaTech 2025 painted a clear picture for luxury:
Invisible Integration is Key: The most successful tech in luxury will be the “quiet tech” that enhances the experience without distracting from the product or the brand’s heritage. It’s about seamless functionality that supports the luxury ethos.
Sustainability as a Data-Driven Imperative: Ethical and environmental responsibility will increasingly be backed by verifiable data and advanced monitoring systems, transforming sustainability from a marketing claim into a tangible, measurable aspect of luxury.
The Human Touch Remains Paramount: While AI automates and optimizes, Antoine Arnault of LVMH reiterated that “nothing will ever replace human interaction.” Technology exists to serve and elevate the in-store experience, freeing up luxury advisors to focus on bespoke client relationships.
Agility and Collaboration are Essential: The rapid pace of technological advancement means luxury groups must remain agile and continue to foster collaborations with innovative startups to integrate cutting-edge solutions into their highly decentralized structures.
In essence, VivaTech 2025 demonstrated that the future of luxury is not a sterile, tech-dominated landscape, but a meticulously crafted fusion where groundbreaking technology works in concert with unparalleled craftsmanship, deep human connection, and a profound commitment to authenticity and responsible luxury.
@LVMH luxury group
