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French association for luxury brands searches for talent at Parisian school ENSAAMA

By May-Anne Oltmans

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A group of 26 MA students from two courses in ‘Design Strategies’ and ‘Economy and Production of Cultural Products’ from the Parisian-based École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers (ENSAAMA) were given the chance to deliver a pitch for a number of French luxury executives on Thursday. Amongst these executives were Françoise Montenay, who is part of Chanel’s supervisory board and Hermès International’s managing director Guillaume de Seynes. The event is part of a partnership that exists between ENSAAMA and the French luxury brand association Comité Colbert. The students had to base their pitch on briefs from six French luxury brands, ranging from Chanel and Christian Dior Couture to luxury home linen brand Yves Delorme.

Simultaneously with the MA students’ pitches, the school organized a project in collaboration with the University of Berlin in which French and German students were brought together in order to come up with ideas on how to unite French and German luxury firms. The purpose of the event, however, was the same for all participating students: demonstrating their creativity in front of what might be a potential future employer. “Since we are a growing company, if the candidate matches the profile of the house and has the capacity and the desire to come on board, then it is a very attractive proposition for us, because we train someone during the internship and then we hire them directly afterwards,” explained perfumer Francis Kurkdijan in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). “It works out great.”

Kurkdijan is not the only one who perceives the event as a good opportunity to scout for young creative talents. After listening to a pitch from two students who are proposing the creation of a floating Chanel pop-up store, Montenay commented: “There were so many interesting aspects to their project that, who knows, once our interior architects take a look at it, they may work with these youngsters. We hire people from the school virtually every year.”

Comité Colbert and ENSAAMA have been partners since 2011. In the years that have passed, 120 people have graduated from the school, of which 14 procent were eventually offered a job at one of the Comité’s partners. The association has a total number of 81 partners, including brands such as Givenchy, Eres and Louis Vuitton. “Some of our members are several hundred years old, but they must also embody the 21st century, and therefore our objective is to show how French luxury is about know-how, of course, but also design, creativity, innovation and modernity,” said Comité Colbert CEO Elisabeth Ponsolle des Portes.

Comite Colbert
École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers
ENSAMAA