Want to Be an LVMH Apprentice? They’re Hiring

Fashion's No. 1 brand, LVMH, has created an apprenticeship program for kids interested in the arts. The New York Times reports:

On Wednesday it unveiled yet another new initiative, L’Institut des Metiers d’Excellence, that the announcement says is a “program of professional training that will allow the LVMH Group to ensure the transmission of its savoir-faire while enhancing the different métiers in the fields of craftsmanship and creation among young generations.”

Specifically, LVMH will run official degree programs in conjunction with established schools to create certificates in jewelry arts and techniques and in dressmaking, including the opportunity to apprentice with an LVMH brand. (There also are also plans to extend the program to leather goods, visual merchandising and sales.) Even better, these apprentices will be paid.

To put it simply, LVMH is out to cultivate their creative talent earlier than ever before. This amazing opportunity should alleviate, at least a little, France's unemployment problem. But it's a two-sided coin. As LVMH apprentices, these kids will receive a sense of direction and an unmatched education in the business of fashion. For the other side of the coin, look no farther than Todd Marinovich.

The phenom teen football player and, later, USC quarterback, was raised his entire life to be just that: a quarterback. He trained vigorously every day of his childhood to be the best QB he could possibly be. Football was the only thing he really knew. Fast forward to his first taste of freedom, when he escaped his father/trainer to pursue the sport in college, and the guy went bananas trying to explore all the things he missed out on in his youth. Marinovich ended up abusing drugs and throwing away his football career — all because for his entire life, he was only allowed to be a one-trick pony.

Granted, that's a bit of a far-fetched comparison, but the implications remain the same. LVMH's new apprenticeship program, by virtue of its lofty status, could potentially turn its young participants into LVMH lifers and fashion one-trick ponies. We doubt the program will be nearly as intense as Marinovich's training regimen, but it still may hinder these young'uns creative growth.

Keeping someone locked into one thing starting in their teen years can eventually lead to frustration and exhaustion. And that's something LVMH can't afford.