At the Lord’s house, talent management is a delicate art, akin to rotating bottles of grand cru. At LVMH, one does not speak of “internal mobility”. That would be vulgar. Instead, one prefers a “trajectory”, a “journey”, even an “HR odyssey”, complete with Manhattan views, champagne on ice, and a perfectly pressed CV. On Tuesday, the luxury giant announced three top-level HR appointments. Three promotions, three emotional continents, and one certainty. At LVMH, talent does not stagnate. It travels first class.
Paula Fallowfield, from vineyard to skyscraper, is appointed Chief Human Resources Officer of LVMH Americas as of April 1st. No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. Based in New York, she will report to Maud Alvarez-Pereyre, the group’s high priestess of HR, and work hand in hand with Michael Burke. In other words, Paula is arriving where decisions are made fast, very fast, somewhere between two meetings and an oat-milk-dollar latte.
Former Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Moët Hennessy, Paula brilliantly modernized the function. She managed to speak fluently about inclusion, engagement and corporate culture without triggering hives in maisons over a century old. A diplomatic feat worthy of a ticket to Trump’s America, now the Lord’s new playground.
Her career reads like a flawlessly cast runway show. Harrods, her own recruitment firm, Burberry, Natura & Co. Paula collects experiences the way others collect iconic handbags, at Speedy pace, which may be a sign. Always useful when one is tasked with “fostering proximity with talent”, a concept highly prized in the towers of the Big Apple.
Claire de Coincy, back to roots and spirits. To replace Paula at Moët Hennessy, another fine vintage is brought up from the cellar. An ESCP graduate, former L’Oréal executive with a stop at Chloé, Claire de Coincy takes over as Head of Human Resources for the Wines & Spirits division. Her mission is crystal clear. Develop talent, promote diversity, and engage employees. In short, make sure everyone feels heard, valued, and ready to give their best, even on a Monday morning.
After fifteen years at L’Oréal, Claire knows the tune by heart. She understands that behind every great brand stands an army of employees seeking meaning, recognition, and an access badge that actually works. At Moët Hennessy, she will also navigate maisons where history is measured in centuries and change is served in small doses, preferably in a Baccarat crystal glass.
Anna Briem, fashion in its truest form, complete with thirty years of heritage. The third appointment sees her named Chief Human Resources Officer of LVMH Fashion Group. She succeeds Vincent Coubard, who retires after more than three decades with the group. Suffice it to say, he knew the talents before they even knew themselves.
Anna arrives with a résumé that would make an uninspired designer turn pale. Disney, BIC, PPR, L’Oréal, Chloé, then Celine, where she has been Global CHRO since 2017. She knows fashion, its geniuses, its egos, its urgencies, and its contradictions.
Her mission is a noble one. To elevate internal talent and accelerate the development of iconic houses such as Fendi, Loewe, Givenchy or Patou. In other words, ensure creativity is not lost in process, and process does not kill creativity. An equation almost as complex as staging a runway show under budget constraints.
Between the lines, these appointments tell a simple story. At the Lord’s house, human resources are no longer a support function. They are a strategic lever, almost a vital organ, somewhere between haute couture and high-wire acrobatics. And while talents rise, rotate and reinvent themselves, Sidney Toledano, freshly exited from the stage, returns to the “Casa”.
At Fashion Group, one does not replace. One succeeds. One does not promote. One consecrates. And above all, everyone is reminded that in a group of this magnitude, the true luxury product is neither the bag, the perfume nor the champagne. It is talent. Provided, of course, one is willing to step down from the ivory tower to go and find it.