PARIS — Filled to the brim with vibrant booths and hosts in vibrant logo-ed T-shirts, VivaTech was buzzing with a mixture of acronyms from AI to AR to VR, as corporations debuted latest retail tech on the Porte de Versailles convention center.

Speaking on the major stage to present the LVMH Innovation Award, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chair and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault noted that the event was launched just seven years ago and has since change into “one of the essential events within the tech world, attended by a few of the most successful leaders.”

He was available to present the LVMH Innovation Award Grand Prize, which went to Save Your Wardrobe, a start-up that has worked contained in the group’s incubator since last September.

The beginning-up integrates care and repair options right into a brand’s website to make the means of booking and tracking repair seamless, in addition to in-store after care. It may possibly also provide a network of locally owned businesses which are specialized in care.

“The concept is to work closely to know the needs of the maisons to offer an excellent experience that’s at the identical standard because the purchasing one,” founder Hasna Kourda told WWD. She said she was initially inspired by witnessing the issue of Western clothing waste being dumped in her home country of Tunisia.

“Our mission is actually to expand the legacy of luxury; we care about clothing, we care about the way it makes us feel. Being supported by the group and partnering with the maisons will give us the size to have a world impact on people and in addition on the planet,” she said.

Along with the award, Kourda received a one-of-a-kind varsity jacket designed by Kenzo’s Nigo, naming her the 2023 winner.

LVMH head of communication, image and environment Antoine Arnault said discussions are beginning to integrate the Save Your Wardrobe platform into the varied LVMH houses. “It’s something that we’d like, it’s something that we try for nevertheless it’s very complex to implement — reparability and after sales repair — is at all times a really difficult and really sensitive topic, so having a 3rd party that’s skilled on this particular subject is something great for us,” he told WWD.

“We at all times say that our way of seeing sustainability is we don’t really talk about secondhand but we talk about second life,” he added. “We wish our customers to feel they get value for what they buy. It’s one other philosophy than if you buy a fashion item for the short term.”

Other projects honored were Woola, which goals to exchange plastic bubble wrap packaging with the 200,000 tons of sheep wool that goes to waste every year in Europe; NeoBrain, an AI-powered talent management solution; VidMob, which uses analytics to enhance campaigns; Living Packets, which reframes deliveries with reusable packaging, and Absolute Labs, which bridges marketing software within the Web3 space to enhance customer relationship management.

Inside VivaTech, Bernard Arnault was a rock star. He toured the LVMH booths surrounded by bodyguards and mobbed by throngs of fans attempting to snap photos of him or ask for selfies. He indulged a few fans just before his exit.

On the Louis Vuitton booth the brand demonstrated its virtual replication of the autumn 2023 men’s show. The show played out on two customized vintage arcade machines — swathed in Louis Vuitton’s iconic monogram canvas, and featuring LV logo-ed buttons — that may only be available on the VivaTech show.

The tech, in partnership with Epic Games, was an internal test to beat challenges, including conveying craftsmanship in a digital manner, show tips on how to digitize a show in a brief time-frame, and understand tips on how to work with an internal team as a substitute of outsource to an agency. LVMH director of leather goods and modeling Carole Fuchs took on a small digital design team of just five, which replicated the show in 2.5 months.

Within the 2D “game,” of sorts, a user moves across the set with a controller, crosses paths with models and points to items inside the show for added information. There aren’t any plans to roll it out on a wider basis, for now, but the thought behind the tech was to “make it very inclusive,” said Fuchs. “The show is normally very private and we desired to offer the potential of the experience potentially to other people,” she said.

Louis Vuitton also demonstrated a VR headset that takes customers on an eight-minute immersive tour of its Paris flagship. To this point, the tech is just available at special events and has been utilized in Dubai.

Dior Beauty demonstrated live shopping consultations, designed to take “chat with a sales rep” button to the subsequent level. Partnered with Swedish live streaming company Bambuser, customers can speak directly with a human adviser on fragrance, skincare and sweetness products to copy an in-store experience.

AR try-on received attention, with Zero10 available to display its mirror technology. At its booth, the young start-up demonstrated its tech. Founder George Yashin shared several use cases, including allowing brands to position the mirrors in airports where they’ve little retail floor space, or in street-level windows to realize attention from passersby.

Zero10 has already partnered with Coach on deploying the technology in display windows. Within the Coach case, that they had 175,000 try-ons in a one-month span, and their preliminary survey data show that customers said they were 3 times more prone to purchase an item after the AR try-on.

“It’s like a latest language,” said Yashin. “Brands like Coach can refer to a latest generation. Guys like 15, 16 years old who wouldn’t normally enter a Coach store, they’ll interact with the bag after which they may go in the shop. It’s a latest option to engage interest.”

Zero10 has also worked with Tommy Hilfiger to deploy the mirrors in its Amsterdam wholesale showroom, so buyers could try on items without the brand having to provide physical samples. Zero10 is next partnering with Calvin Klein, also owned by Hilfiger parent PVH Corp., and may also place a mirror in-store at the brand new Fusalp flagship in Paris when it opens in September.

The hardware solution tech is growing, Yashin said, and reported that they’ve as much as 20 requests a day from brands. Firms should purchase the system or rent it for short-term marketing projects or pop-ups. The two.5-year-old start-up is expecting to grow to 2.5 million euros in revenue in 2023, up from zero last 12 months.

Tmall Luxury Pavilion demonstrated its AR try-on app, which shows luxury accessories corresponding to jewelry, watches and glasses, with the flexibility to try on if a customer places their hand, wrist or face in front of a phone’s camera. Items corresponding to Cartier bracelets were rendered in 3D, which move across the screen with the flick of the finger. The app is meant for the Chinese market and only works within the Chinese language for now, a representative said.

Elsewhere, L’Oréal was on a diplomatic mission, and held a ceremony with South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups Young Lee to sign a memo of understanding agreement. South Korea will join the corporate’s next round of its Big Bang Beauty Tech Startup Challenge, which was launched in China in 2020 and has to this point been limited to competitors from that country.

Opening as much as other countries within the region is essential, said Fabrice Megarbane, president of L’Oréal North Asia and CEO of L’Oréal China. He added the north Asia zone is the second largest for the group, and accounted for nearly 30 percent of the group’s sales in 2022.

Particular areas of research that the corporate will engage in in South Korea are skin diagnosis and skin tech, powered by AI, representatives said.

L’Oréal deputy CEO Barbara Lavernos revealed one upcoming innovation that resulted from the group’s work with start-ups, the L’Oréal Skilled showerhead that uses 69 percent less water. It would be rolled out to 100,000 hair salons worldwide later this 12 months.

Last 12 months’s hot topic — crypto — seems to have cooled, as talked turned to the most recent developments in AI. The trade fair opened Wednesday with French President Emmanuel Macron announcing that the country will invest 500 million euros to develop AI projects.

Elon Musk shall be the most important name of the four-day convention, and is predicted to seem on Friday.