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Riots in France have led to the looting of boutiques belonging to Dior, Celine, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Saint Laurent. Images of ransacked stores have become some of the most widely discussed scenes from the protests sweeping the country. But, as The New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman observes, the attacks on luxury brands may reflect not only street violence but also growing resentment over social inequality.

More than 3,000 shops are estimated to have been affected by the unrest, ranging from supermarkets and pharmacies to family-owned businesses. Yet it was the destruction of boutiques catering to wealthy customers that attracted particular public attention.

This is the third time in the past eight years that luxury brands in France have become targets of attacks. In 2019, during the Yellow Vest protests, Dior and Chanel stores on the Champs-Élysées were looted. In 2023, demonstrators protesting pension reform stormed LVMH’s headquarters in Paris and burned an effigy of Bernard Arnault, the billionaire owner of the luxury group.

According to Serge Carreira, head of an initiative supporting emerging brands at the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, France has traditionally had an ambivalent relationship with the luxury industry. The country takes pride in its global influence while questioning the industry’s moral principles and associating it with social inequality.

Friedman notes that the industry itself has helped popularize luxury brands among people who will never be able to afford their products. Celebrity brand ambassadors, fashion shows staged as spectacular productions and red carpets used as promotional platforms have made Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel recognizable to almost everyone.

The paradox is that while presenting luxury as the embodiment of success and impeccable taste, brands have simultaneously raised prices to levels beyond the reach of most consumers. According to Carreira, many young people feel excluded from this world: instead of dreaming of a glamorous lifestyle, they are left with envy and anger.

In this context, smashing boutique windows becomes a symbolic attack on a system that puts luxury on display but denies most people the opportunity to participate in it. The looters did not simply break windows; they also carried off merchandise. Some of the stolen goods later appeared on resale platforms and the black market.

As a result, products that luxury houses present as examples of craftsmanship and cultural heritage are transformed, in the eyes of protesters, into symbols of excessive consumption and the perceived excesses of capitalism.

The brands themselves have offered little detailed public comment on the events. In an internal message to LVMH employees dated October 19, Antoine Arnault, who oversees communications and sustainability at the group, said the company had taken the necessary steps to ensure employee safety and maintain uninterrupted operations. Media reports also said private security firms had been hired to protect the properties.

As France introduces curfews and cities prepare for another wave of protests, the government has pledged to strengthen security measures.

“I imagine that next weekend, as well as during any other protests over the coming weeks, Avenue Montaigne and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré will become a veritable Fort Knox,” Carreira said.

Billionaires, as we know, like their bunkers. But do the brands that cater to them really want to find themselves locked inside?

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