“From time to time, the Vienna Philharmonic could play without a conductor because they are so good.”

I think in business, you have to learn to be patient. Maybe I’m not very patient myself. But I think that I’ve learned the most is be able to wait for something and get it when it’s the right time.

Working in the context of ultra-famous brands like Dior and Vuitton, creative spirits are always going to feel reined in. It’s important that they are free to develop ideas.

A good product can last forever.

It’s true that I am not from the south and I have a certain reserve. I take time to get close to, and I don’t immediately throw my arms round someone. But it is more a question of style.

Louis Vuitton, the world’s biggest luxury brand in terms of sales, is planning to dampen its expansion worldwide and focus on high-end products to preserve its exclusive image.

I am and will remain a tax resident in France and in this regard I will, like all French people, fulfill my fiscal obligations.

I’ve always been pleased with the investments I’ve made with my friend Albert Frere and I regret not having followed him more, because I would have been a lot richer.

Affordable luxury – these are two words that don’t go together.

China is clearly going to be the number one economic power and it is already full of potential.. with lots of population and the buying power increasing by the day. .

Oh, I was brought up in the north of France, and I had a very enjoyable childhood with my family working as entrepreneur.

And rather than detracting from the principal job, it reinforces it. I think of that money as venture capital. It’s not a big investment.

I take time to get close to, and I don’t immediately throw my arms round someone.

When you are on the management side, you still have to understand the artistic sensibility so that there is a dialogue with the creative side.

Luxury goods are the only area in which it is possible to make luxury margins.

I like that combination between creativity and the creative process and the organization needed to make a business like this successful worldwide.

I think this is a challenge we face, how the global region will evolve in stability with such a fast growth. If they succeed to do that, no doubt, in the next generation it will be the major area of the world, economically.

I might be a sand-hog, burrowing away and losing my health for $8 a day. I might be a street-car conductor at $12 or $15 a week.

Directors have a tendency to use their hands like orchestra conductors.

I was the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad.