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The luxury house took over an L.A. airport hanger Thursday for an immersive Hermès Parade home goods event.

Hermès took over a Santa Monica airport hanger Thursday night to stage an immersive event celebrating its home goods business, which is soaring in the West Coast market and beyond as the brand continues to defy the slowdown in luxury spending.

The vibe at Hermès Parade was avant-garde Cirque du Soleil meets the Paris runway, with 50 acrobats dressed in blue boiler suits parading porcelain plates, leather globes and “H” pillows, twirling occasional tables, sashaying with wicker waste baskets, and dancing en pointe on the backs of Taurillon couches that cost as much as some homes.

The event was a movable feast of crates, platforms and furniture that pushed the crowd to different vignettes in the space, from a ballet performed under an installation of Hermès blankets hanging from the ceiling over an Hermès bed, to a group chair dancing.

Guests — actors, influencers, clients and interior designers, including Chloe Fineman, John C. Reilly, Casey Affleck, Pamela Shamshiri, Ariana Lambert Smeraldo, Ramya Giangola, Aimee Song, Adam Goldston and Marianna Hewitt — sipped Champagne and soaked it in with their camera phones.

There was chatter among guests about the tantalizing Hermès lawsuit filed in California by two customers suing over access to Birkin bags, alleging that the process to qualify violates antitrust laws. But the elephant in the room was a no-comment from the company executives in town to talk up the home category.

“Maison is really resonating with our clients,” said Hermès U.S. president Diane Mahady in an interview earlier in the day at the Rodeo Drive store, which has an entire floor dedicated to home. “We continue to invest in it both in the real estate in stores, the larger spaces to present the metier, and events like this one to raise visibility. Because it’s surprising, other clients don’t realize we have Maison, so there’s a lot of opportunity. Usually they buy one thing, and get pretty excited. It’s an important metier we will keep investing in.”

Hermès has had a love affair with Southern California of late, signaling how bullish it is on the market, with celebrations for the opening of a new store in Westfield Topanga, the cinematic Pegasus-inspired experience at Barker Hangar last year, as well as the opening of a one-night-only Blue Horse restaurant to fete the renovation of the South Coast Plaza store in 2022.

Southern Californians “want to be involved in the Hermès lifestyle….Porcelain is very strong, we’ve had instances where a client buys it for one home and they like it so much they want it for another home or a boat or a plane,” Mahady said. “We have collectors and very limited quantities, so we have people who are anxious when pieces come out…our allocation for the U.S. may be four or five pieces.”

The Hermès home business ranges from entry-level $210 coffee mugs (which may be among the most affordable items the luxury house makes) to $142,000 leather sofas with Canaletto walnut frames, cane side panel and storage compartments.

“We offer a full universe, all categories more or less — textiles, objects, furniture, lighting and porcelain, which is a point of differentiation compared to others…and that gives a lot of credibility to our positioning. We’re not a gift items metier; we propose an Hermès way of life,” said Anne-Sarah Panhard, managing director of Hermès Maison and president of the silversmiths Puiforcat, a subsidiary of Hermès since 1993.

While the house of Hermès is nearly 200 years old, Maison is 100 years old, tracing its roots back to the dawn of the automobile age in the 1920s, when cars were open-air. “It was cold, so we first started with blankets, and ashtrays also, in between the two-seat cars, with a specific design that fixed properly,” Panhard said.

The category grew quietly for years. Furniture began with a collaboration in the 1930s with Jean-Michel Frank, and porcelain production was vertically integrated in 1984. But the launch of the wider collection of home and lighting wasn’t until 2011.

It coincided with Hermès opening its Rue de Sevres boutique on the Left Bank in Paris, a concept store that felt like a bellwether for the brand’s development, more fully displaying the breadth and whimsy of its growing categories and renewed colorful, modern aesthetic.

“We have some strong links from one metier to the next,” said Panhold, pointing out that Maison plays with some of the functional hardware that appears on fashion and accessories, but that there are also things popular in the Hermès Maison world, like the blanket stitching, that are copied by other ready-to-wear brands not its own.

The furniture category consists of archetypical dining room tables and chairs, she said, as well as more unique pieces such as the Pippa lounge chair with natural maple wood frame and braided lacing on the seat. Smaller accent pieces between accessories and easy-to-carry items go along with the Hermès Nomad way of life, including Les Trotteuses d’Hermès occasional table with folding solid oak legs, bridle leather straps and a porcelain tray.

Then there are novelties — for the person who has everything — such as a $276,000 blue lacquer pool table, a $17,200 leather marquetry jewelry box depicting a modern Mexico-inspired scene, an exquisite $16,100 wicker picnic basket and a $940 tissue box cover.

One of the most in-demand items is a $27,000 Hermès leather globe.

“It’s difficult the pairing of each piece of leather, 15 or 20 pieces you have to put together. That work is very specific,” Panhold said. “We had only one craftsman who could do it, but now we have two. We are selling 300 a year — and it’s not enough.”

While the classic Hermès H blankets have long been collectors’ items, draped on sofas and chairs in the most stylish (and photographed) homes, and still remain a large part of the business, the textile division has diversified, incorporating hand-embroidery done in India, hand-stitching done in Nepal, and prints made in Italy.

“There are so many techniques people don’t realize until they come in,” Mahady said of the work in textiles, the largest category overall.

Porcelain and tableware are the biggest on the West Coast, and Hermès has at least one new collection coming out every year, some classic and some contemporary. “It’s a lot of R&D and expertise,” said Panhard, pointing to the tropical Pacifolia pattern that requires 21 steps to make, and adding that all the product development is done from scratch internally.

The Maison collection is represented in every store, but the Rodeo Drive location has a wider selection than most. “In general, most stores are getting bigger for Hermès because that’s the strategy when we renovate and open new stores, so more and more we have a large space for Maison,” Panhold said.

Production is done all over, but primarily in the Como area of Italy and in France, where there is a facility for porcelain near Limoges. “We go where we find the best know-how. The best lacquer is in Vietnam, the best exotic woods and wood work is in Geneva so we go there, the best embroidery we go to India, but still 80 to 90 percent is done in Italy and France,” said Panhold, adding that there are more than 400 artisans working on porcelain alone. “We’ve grown faster than our competitors in recent years,” she said.

She still sees opportunities for growth, though not necessarily in fabric, which Hermès had before but stopped. “Strategically, we like to have finished product and when you do fabric you don’t know what people do with it, and it ended up we had some skirts,” Panhold said. “I think we have many more things to do which align with what Hermès stands for which is function and aesthetics, so we have many more territories to explore and also materials.”

Outdoor furniture? “We’re thinking strongly about it,” she said.

Piccioli was named sole creative director in July 2016, after sharing the title with Maria Grazia Chiuri since 2008, a decade after joining the Rome-based couture house in 1999 in charge of accessories.

MILAN — Valentino and Pierpaolo Piccioli are parting ways, according to market sources.

Responding to WWD, Valentino issued the following:

“I am grateful to Pierpaolo for his role as creative director and for his vision, commitment and creativity that have brought the Maison Valentino to what it stands for today,” said chief executive officer Jacopo Venturini.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to Pierpaolo for writing an important chapter in the history of the Maison Valentino. His contribution over the past 25 years will leave an indelible mark,” said Rachid Mohamed Rachid, chairman of Valentino.

Piccioli said: “Not all stories have a beginning or an end, some live a kind of eternal present that shines so bright that it won’t produce any shadows. I’ve been in this company for 25 years, and for 25 years I’ve existed and I’ve lived with the people who have woven the weaves of this beautiful story that is mine and ours.

“Everything existed and exists thanks to the people I met, with whom I worked, with whom I shared dreams and created beauty, with whom I built something that belongs to all, and that remains immutable and tangible. This heritage of love, dreams, beauty and humanity, I carry it with me, today and forever.

“This is the beauty that we have created: life, hope, opportunity and gratitude, and my people, my heart and the love that gives you all the possibilities of the world, especially those that you could not imagine alone. Thanks to Mr. Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti who have blessed me with their trust, thanks to every single person who made this possible in one way or another, it was a privilege and an honor to share my journey, and my dreams, with you.”

A new creative organization for the house will be revealed soon.

Piccioli was named sole creative director of Valentino in July 2016, following the departure of Maria Grazia Chiuri to join Dior.

Chiuri and Piccioli first worked together at Fendi for 10 years. Valentino Garavani in 1999 selected the designers to boost his brand’s accessories category, which they did, rejuvenating that division. They were promoted to creative directors of accessories at Valentino when Alessandra Facchinetti was assigned the same title for ready-to-wear after Garavani retired in 2007. In 2008, they succeeded Facchinetti as creative directors of the brand.

While highly respectful of Garavani and the heritage of Valentino — in particular emphasizing the brand’s couture — Piccioli embraced a more diverse and inclusive approach, distancing himself from the rarefied and jet-set days of yore. In his understated manner, Piccioli continued to live in Nettuno, Italy, a beach town 44 miles south of Rome where he was born, where he met his wife, Simona, and where they are raising their three children. He has said for years that he also considers Valentino his home and has again and again taken the opportunity to pay tribute to the talent of the seamstresses who have long worked for the company — highlighting the exquisite craftsmanship of Valentino’s atelier.

At the same time, he has brought a younger spirit to the maison with a new perspective, for example choosing as Di.Vas brand ambassadors, an acronym that stands for Different Values, Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton or Suga, the much-loved member of the boy band BTS. Piccioli telegraphed his message of inclusivity by going contrary to Roman stereotypes, casting Adut Akech and Anwar Hadid for the Valentino Born in Roma fragrance.

With his influential designs, he introduced daring volumes and colors — including the PP Pink new Pantone shade — developing more daywear looks and dabbling with streetwear. His attention to detail was exemplified, for example, by his careful study of the white shirt for Valentino’s spring 2019 ready-to-wear collection.

While still fresh, speculation is that Valentino’s owner, Mayhoola, could be eyeing Alessandro Michele or even Chiuri as a potential successor.

In July last year, Kering revealed it bought a 30 percent stake in Valentino for 1.7 billion euros in cash as part of a broader strategic partnership with Qatari investment fund Mayhoola, which controls the couture brand. For this reason, Michele returning to work for Kering after his abrupt departure from Gucci may seem a stretch.

Kering has an option to buy 100 percent of Valentino’s capital by 2028, while Mayhoola could become a shareholder in Kering. The new luxury partners are expected to jointly explore further opportunities aligned with their respective strategies, including potential investments beyond fashion.

As per the latest figures available, a rebalancing of its retail and wholesale channels contributed to Valentino’s gains in revenues and profits in 2022. Sales reached 1.42 billion euros, climbing 15 percent compared with 1.23 billion euros in 2021. At constant exchange, revenues rose 10 percent.

Changes are taking place throughout Mayhoola, as earlier this week Balmain, also controlled by the Qatar-based fund, said CEO Jean-Jacques Guével was stepping down from the role after four years “to pursue other interests.” Guével’s next move could not immediately be learned, and his successor has yet to be named.

The week was slightly slower for huge rounds compared to previous ones, but half of the funding deals broke the $100 million mark. However, it still was not all that bad for big rounds, especially considering the huge $700 million raised by a food delivery company.

1. Wonder, $700M, food delivery: Marc Lore’s food delivery startup Wonder is back on this list again after making it last November and in June 2022. Wonder raised a whopping $700 million in its latest round. Investors in the deal — which was reportedly raised as a simple agreement for future equity, which has no valuation set — included NEA, GV, Accel and Bain Capital Ventures, among others. Lore himself reportedly invested $100 million. The company aims to open 100 more locations over the next two years. It currently has 11 locations in the New York City area that offer takeout and delivery from several restaurants cooked in a single kitchen. The New York-based firm has been pretty busy of late. In September, Wonder acquired meal-kit company Blue Apron for $103 million. Founded in 2018, Wonder has raised nearly $1.8 billion, per Crunchbase.

2. Mirador Therapeutics, $400M, biotech: More big biotech raises this week. The biggest was for San Diego-based Mirador, which launched with a $400 million Series A funding led by Arch Venture Partners. The company was founded by CEO Mark McKenna and executives from Prometheus Biosciences, which was acquired by Merck in 2023. With breakthroughs in genetics and machine learning, the company is focused on precision medicine for chronic inflammation and fibrotic disease.

3. Capstan Therapeutics, $175M, biotech: Capstan Therapeutics raised a $175 million Series B led by RA Capital Management. The San Diego-based biotechnology company focuses on vivo reprogramming of cells through RNA delivery to combat autoimmune disorders. Founded in 2021, the company says it has raised $340 million.

4. Engrail Therapeutics, $157M, biotech: Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are serious diseases in which therapies can be somewhat limited. Engrail Therapeutics locked up a fresh $157 million Series B co-led by new investors F-Prime Capital, Forbion and Norwest Venture Partners to help expand offerings to combat those problems. The San Diego-based biotech startup focuses on neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental diseases and will use the fresh cash to advance its pipeline through clinical development. Since being founded in 2019, Engrail has raised over $220 million, per the company.

5. Clasp Therapeutics, $150M, biotech: Clasp Therapeutics is the next biotech to raise huge. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup is developing T cell engagers tailored to each patient’s immune system to target tumors. The company launched this week with a $150 million financing led by Catalio Capital Management, Third Rock Ventures and Novo Holdings.

6. Foundry, $80M, cloud: While AI may be dominating business, the amount of compute available and its cost are still a hindrance to many. Foundry locked up $80 million — at a reported $350 million valuation — and came out of stealth this week to help with that. The Palo Alto, California-based startup unveiled its public cloud purpose-built for ML workloads. The company says its mission is to “ensure humanity maximizes the utility of the computing power we already have, and will produce.” The newly announced round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

7. (tied) BigID, $60M, cybersecurity: New York-based data privacy startup BigID raised a $60 million round led by Riverwood Capital. Founded in 2016, BigID has raised $320 million, per the company.

7. (tied) Figure Markets, $60M, fintech: San Francisco-based Figure Markets, a platform where investors can trade a wide range of blockchain-native assets, raised a more than $60 million Series A led by Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital and Lightspeed Faction. It was the company’s first announced round.

9. Succinct, $55M, Web3: San Francisco-based Succinct raised $55 million across a seed and Series A funding led by crypto investor Paradigm. Founded in 2022, the company builds open-source infrastructure for blockchain applications.

10. Hippocratic AI, $53M, healthcare: Palo Alto, California-based AI healthcare agent developer Hippocratic AI raised a $53 million Series A co-led by PremjiInvest and General Catalyst. Founded in 2022, the company has raised $118 million, per Crunchbase.

The U.S. dominated in terms of big rounds this week. The biggest round outside the U.S. barely broke $100 million.

Small, money-losing electric-vehicle makers are running down their batteries

In the electric-vehicle race, it’s increasingly clear that not every competitor will make it to the finish line.

Companies like Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group LCID -3.15%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Fisker FSR -4.22%decrease; red down pointing triangle are burning through their cash reserves as they spend heavily on expanding factory production and sales—all while losing money on every vehicle they sell.

For consumers, the increased competition translates into steep discounts on some of the flashiest electric-powered vehicles. But for EV automakers, a slowdown in demand starts the clock that might determine how long they can keep the lights on.

Many of these companies first unveiled a lineup of innovative battery-powered cars and SUVs in 2018 and 2019, following Tesla’s pioneering success in the new market. It seemed like an army of upstarts was poised to supplant stodgy giants such as Ford Motor and Toyota as the next household name in the industry.

Electric cars were just starting to break into the mainstream, and sales of Tesla’s popular Model 3 sedan were taking off.

These young companies went public at stratospheric valuations, even though many had no revenue and little experience building a car. Investors, analysts and ordinary shoppers believed EV makers could emulate Tesla’s success in disrupting the traditional car market. Rivian’s market value briefly surged higher than that of Ford or General Motors.

Now, these companies are fighting to stay afloat amid stiff competition. Sales of battery-powered cars and trucks have been weaker than expected in the U.S., leading companies from Ford to Tesla to slash prices in an attempt to jump-start demand. Too few buyers have been willing to make the switch to fully electric vehicles, worried about the relatively high sticker prices, still-nascent charging infrastructure and the long-term reliability of EVs. Money-losing startups are pulling back on spending and delaying investments as they seek to conserve their remaining cash.

Some, like electric-pickup maker Lordstown Motors and battery-powered van company Arrival, have already filed for bankruptcy, and others are producing only a trickle of vehicles.

These carmakers that went public in an era of low interest rates and rising buzz around electric vehicles now have to prove they can withstand tougher conditions. They say they are focused on stabilizing their cash-bleeding operations, but not all of them may be able to weather the storm.

Here’s our guide on who could survive the battle of the fittest, using battery icons* to signify financial health.

Vehicle Lineup: Rivian currently sells the R1T pickup and R1S SUV, which start at $69,900 and $74,900, respectively. The company also builds an electric commercial van for Amazon.com.

Sales Pitch: Often compared to the clothing brand Patagonia, Rivian targets affluent, climate-conscious adventure seekers. Company founder RJ Scaringe has said he wanted to build an electric pickup because it is the most popular type of vehicle sold in the U.S.

How It Got Started: Scaringe, an avid outdoors lover, started the company in 2009, mortgaging his home for startup funds. Rivian raised billions privately from investors such as Amazon and Ford before going public in one of the most lucrative IPOs of the past decade. The company purchased a former Mitsubishi Motors factory in Normal, Ill., in 2017 to build its first vehicles.

Quirks of the Vehicles: Rivian’s vehicles have features meant to be useful off the beaten track, such as “camp mode” that levels the vehicle on an incline for comfortable in-car camping and a portable speaker stowed under the center console.

What Happened: Supply-chain logjams and problems getting parts to the assembly line meant that Rivian struggled to operate its factory at maximum capacity. The manufacturing challenges contributed to the company burning around $1.5 billion a quarter. The company also had to redesign key parts of its vehicles in an attempt to bring production costs down. While Rivian was able to overcome many of the logistics snarls holding up its factory output, the company is now warning of weaker demand for its models.

Where Are They Now? Rivian is still losing money each quarter and faces immediate challenges in meeting its goal of generating gross profit by the end of the year. The carmaker loses tens of thousands on every vehicle it sells, but executives say those losses are expected to decline this year. Rivian said it plans to build roughly the same number of vehicles this year as last.

Ultimately, Rivian aims to become one of the world’s largest carmakers. The first step in that plan is a new, $45,000 SUV called the R2, which it unveiled this month and is to go on sale in 2026. The company says this model is key to transforming into a profitable EV maker.

Vehicle Lineup: Lucid currently sells one model, the Air sedan, which ranges in price from the $69,900 Air Pure to the $249,000 Air Sapphire. An SUV, called the Gravity, is due to go on sale later this year.

Sales Pitch: Lucid sold investors on a plan to build high-end battery-powered vehicles, fueled by what it calls “the best electric-vehicle technology.” The company’s battery and electric-motor technology allow it to squeeze out more mileage than its competitors. Even the cheapest version of Lucid’s Air sedan can travel 410 miles on a single charge, around 100 miles farther than most electric vehicles available in the U.S.

How It Got Started: Lucid started life at a battery venture called Atieva. That company’s founders in 2013 hired Peter Rawlinson, a former Tesla executive, who was brought in to help Atieva pivot to car manufacturing. In 2016, Atieva changed its name and Lucid was born. When the company started to run out of cash in 2018, a $1 billion investment from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund saved it. Rawlinson became chief executive in 2019.

What Happened: At first, Lucid appeared to have a deep well of demand, reporting more than 25,000 reservations for the Air in early 2022. With a factory in Casa Grande, Ariz., Lucid seemed both well-funded and well-prepared. Instead, sales have been relatively flat since the second half of 2022. Lucid began flagging slower demand for the Air last February—sooner than other startups on this list. In response, the company has been spending more on marketing and cutting prices to help boost demand.

Where Are They Now? Lucid’s newest factory in Saudi Arabia is currently assembling vehicles as part of a deal to sell at least 50,000 to that country’s government. The company is also slated to start production of the Gravity this year. Company executives say the vehicle will appeal to a wider audience, because SUVs outsell sedans three-to-one in the U.S. Lucid also says it is preparing to broaden its lineup further in 2026, when it plans to launch a new, more affordable midsize vehicle.

Fisker’s Sales Pitch: Fisker has taken a different approach than other startups, employing what it calls an asset-light business model. Rather than building the cars itself, it contracts that work out to an outside company. That way it doesn’t have to own a factory itself or employ a manufacturing workforce.

How It Got Started: This is the second electric-car startup started by former BMW and Aston Martin car designer Henrik Fisker, who is also CEO. His first company, Fisker Automotive, sold a $100,000 plug-in hybrid called the Fisker Karma, but it went bankrupt in 2013 after 300 vehicles were destroyed in a hurricane and its battery supplier went out of business.

Four Unique Features: “Each Fisker has to have at least four unique features that have to be either best-in-class or something nobody else has,” says the Fisker CEO. The features include the Fisker Ocean’s “California mode,” which opens every glass panel, except the windshield, and a small foldout shelf dubbed the taco tray. The company’s forthcoming Alaska pickup truck has a “cowboy hat holder” and “the world’s largest cup holder.”

What Happened: Fisker only started delivering vehicles to customers halfway through 2023 after missing self-imposed deadlines. The company says it ran into delays securing parts and regulatory approval. As a result, it slashed its production outlook twice last year, but ultimately fell short of even its reduced goals.

Where Are They Now? Fisker warned at the end of February that it risked running out of cash this year. As of mid-March, the company had nearly 5,000 unsold vehicles and its cash reserves had dwindled to $89 million. Fisker says it is raising $150 million in fresh funds from an investor and is negotiating with a large carmaker for another investment. Fisker has hired restructuring advisers to help prepare for a potential bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.

Vehicle Lineup: The carmaker sells three models: the $49,200 Polestar 2 sedan, $73,400 Polestar 3 SUV and approximately $60,000 Polestar 4 SUV.

Sales Pitch: Like Fisker, Polestar doesn’t own manufacturing facilities, and instead contracts to have its vehicles built at other companies’ factories in China, South Korea and the U.S. Unlike most electric-car makers, Polestar says it doesn’t want to make a mass-market EV. Instead, the company pitches itself as a sportier alternative to Volvo.

How It Got Started: Volvo Car and its Chinese parent, Geely, created Polestar as an EV-only brand in 2017. The company started by selling a hybrid, the Polestar 1, before launching the fully electric Polestar 2 in 2020.

Quirk: Polestar vehicles bear more than a passing resemblance to electric vehicles made by Volvo. That may not be surprising given that the CEO, finance chief, operations head and lead designer are all former Volvo executives.

What happened: Polestar appeared to have the smoothest launch of any of the current crop of EV startups. It has built over 100,000 vehicles since starting production and has even turned a profit in some quarters. But Polestar has faced slowing demand for its Polestar 2 sedan and the launch of its Polestar 3 SUV was delayed after Volvo ran into software development issues. The company has slashed its production outlook and Volvo said last month that it will sell the majority of its 48% stake in Polestar.

Where Are They Now? Polestar’s finances are now stable after raising nearly $1 billion in debt last month. Production of the Polestar 3 has started in China, and a U.S. plant is due to start producing the vehicle later this year. Polestar’s chief financial officer says the company is targeting a double-digit gross margin by the end of 2024. The company says the U.S. launch of the Polestar 3 SUV this year will help boost sales.

How It Got Started: VinFast was created in 2017 by Pham Nhat Vuong, the billionaire owner of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, which operates a diverse array of businesses from hospitals to theme parks. VinFast built a massive $1.5 billion factory east of Hanoi, which the company has said will be capable of producing nearly a million vehicles a year by 2026.

VinFast’s Sales Pitch: VinFast aims to compete with Chinese EV startups like BYD and NIO, and says that building cars in Vietnam means its labor costs are even lower than those of Chinese competitors. The company is expanding across Southeast Asia and in India, while also aiming to increase its sales in the U.S.

Quirk: Early buyers in the U.S. were offered free stays in one of Vingroup’s resorts in Vietnam. People who buy a home in Vietnam from the company’s property arm may also get a free car as part of the deal.

What Happened? VinFast tried an innovative pricing strategy in which it sold cars to customers but rented the lithium-ion batteries that power the vehicles separately. The company said the plan allowed customers to pay less upfront for VinFast vehicles, but ended up ditching the plan in the U.S. for now, because customers found it confusing. Ultimately, VinFast only delivered a little over 3,000 vehicles to U.S. customers last year, according to Motor Intelligence.

The company also had a rocky debut on Wall Street. Initially, its share price skyrocketed, briefly making VinFast more valuable than Ford or GM, in part because only a small percentage of the company’s shares were available for trade, boosting demand for them. Since then, the stock price has tanked as the company faced challenges getting its first batch of cars to U.S. consumers. Reviewers panned the VF8 for quality issues.

Where Are They Now? VinFast is building a $2 billion factory in North Carolina, which will allow its vehicles to potentially qualify for a federal tax credit. Over 70% of VinFast’s passenger vehicles and nearly half of its scooter sales last year were to a taxi company owned by Vuong, the head of Vingroup. VinFast has said it plans to deliver 100,000 electric cars and SUVs this year, but hasn’t said how many will be to customers outside of the Vingroup network.

Tehran pitches products including its new ‘Gaza’ drone to the international market in Doha

DOHA, Qatar—Iran says its latest drone can carry as many as 13 bombs with a turboprop engine that can power it over 1,000 miles at 35,000 feet. But its most distinctive feature is the name stenciled on the matte gray fuselage: “Gaza.”

A model of the Iranian defense industry’s new flagship product was exhibited at an international arms fair in Doha this month—the drone’s first display outside Iran, sharing a stage with products from American, Chinese and Turkish rivals.

Since the expiration of United Nations restrictions on Iran’s missile and drone exports in October, Tehran has increasingly sold its military wares on the international market, fueling concerns among the U.S. and its allies. The U.N. curbs had been part of the multilateral nuclear pact with Iran known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the U.S. withdrew from under former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Iran has for years provided free weapons to its Mideast allies to support their activities. Drones and rockets either supplied or designed by Iran have featured prominently in recent attacks by Iran-backed forces, including the assault on Israel by Hamas that started the Gaza war on Oct. 7.

Iranian weapons have also played a role in the indirect confrontation waged between Iran and the U.S., including in the killing of three U.S. service members in a January drone attack in Jordan by an Iran-backed Iraqi militia.

But in Doha, there was no doubt that Iran’s defense industry is going mainstream.

The new “Gaza” drone, named by Iran in solidarity with the residents of the enclave after an escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2021, represents a stepped-up threat to U.S. interests and allies. With a stated range of 1,243 miles, a 68-foot wingspan and a satellite link, the unmanned aircraft could fly from Iran to Israel while loaded with 13 precision-guided bombs. Iran says the aircraft is operational.

By contrast, the Shahed-129, a common Iranian drone, carries only four explosives.

The Shahed drone, however, contributed to the rapid growth of Iran’s arms industry. Iran sold about $1 billion in weapons from March 2022 to March 2023, three times as much as the previous year, Deputy Defense Minister Mahdi Farahi said in November.

Recent Iranian defense deals include an agreement to sell short-range ballistic missiles to Moscow, according to U.S. officials, and the delivery of explosive drones to the Sudanese government for its 11-month war against rebels, according to African security officials.

Before October, such sales would have been prohibited or extremely difficult, requiring permission from the U.N. Security Council.

The U.S. has targeted Iran’s Defense Ministry, which booked the booth in Doha, with sanctions because of its connections with the Russian military, alongside sanctions targeting Iranian drone makers. Washington has also designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which controls Iran’s defense industry, as a terrorist organization. An official from Iran’s Defense Ministry declined to comment.

At the Iranian display in Doha, visitors pored over glossy Russian-language brochures touting a dozen products, including a new air-defense missile. A brochure advertising a space-rocket launcher was printed in Spanish—a reminder of Venezuela’s recent deployment of Iranian-made antiship guided-missile patrol boats. Flyers in Farsi and English promoted new antiship cruise missiles and radar systems—the sort of technologies used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels to target American ships.

Iran has turned its ability to supply asymmetrical warfare—championing the underdogs against more powerful foes—into a sales pitch. One leaflet described Iran’s assault rifles as the best suited “for guerrilla warfare in all climate conditions.”

Sudanese official Mohammed Fath Alrahman came to Doha with a detailed shopping list of weapons for his government’s battle against Russia-backed rebels. After meeting with Iranian defense officials at the exhibition, Alrahman, who represented a government-backed militia, said he had discussed the purchase of 1,000 sniper rifles and night-vision equipment—and found Iran’s equipment a bargain.

“The quality is medium but it’s half-price” compared with the competition, he said.

Iranian defense officials also sat down with representatives from Qatar’s state defense contractor Barzan Holdings, who took a look at Iranian-made assault rifles. Barzan Holdings didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“I am very impressed by their medium-range missile technologies,” said a senior Qatar air force officer, visiting the booth in a peaked cap and epaulets. He said it wasn’t up to him to decide if Qatar should purchase them.

The Qatari defense officials were paying a courtesy visit to Iran’s booth, as they did for all exhibitors, according to a person familiar with the exhibition.

Nearby, a naval officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, recognizable by the insignia of two crossed machine guns on a blue background, strolled past the large U.S. pavilion. Exhibitors from the U.S., the world’s biggest arms exporter, included defense companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Atomics and Northrop Grumman—maker of the reconnaissance drone that Iran shot down in 2019.

Iran’s new drone represents an effort to catch up with the U.S.-made General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper, the drone used by the U.S. in 2020 to kill Iranian commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

General Atomics spokesman Mark Brinkley said he was aware of the Iranian drone exhibit in Doha—and said the Iranian copy could carry less than a third of the MQ-9’s payload. “Knockoff versions…are plentiful these days,” he said. “Often imitated, but never replicated. Don’t be fooled by look-alikes.”

The Iranian presence at the defense industry trade fair put Qatar, an American ally that hosts the region’s biggest U.S. largest military installation, in an awkward position.

The U.S. contacted the Qataris about Iran’s presence at the show, a State Department spokesperson said. “We continue to have serious concerns about Iran’s efforts to expand its proliferation of dangerous weapons that prolong and exacerbate conflicts around the world,” the spokesperson said.

Qatar, a tiny, energy-rich country, is used to such a balancing act. The Gulf nation has helped negotiate a now-blocked deal to exchange prisoners held in Iran for billions of dollars and is currently trying to broker a Gaza cease-fire.

While the exhibition was open, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, was in Washington receiving thanks from Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his efforts to facilitate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.

A former Qatari official said hosting Iran at the trade show was part of Doha’s policy to assuage Tehran, allowing a symbolic presence. No arms deals were signed by the Iranian Defense Ministry during its delegation’s visit, at the trade fair or on the sidelines, according to the person familiar with the arms exhibition.

The display also gave Western agencies the opportunity to gather intelligence on Iran’s latest technologies. At the Iran booth, a man who later identified himself as a German official was cataloging each weapon on his phone.

Iran’s direct rivals in the defense market—China and Turkey—were also fixated on Tehran’s rising profile. A Turkish defense executive appeared confident that Ankara’s technologies could triumph over the newcomers. “Their drones are facing ours in Ukraine,” the executive said outside the Iranian booth. “Ours are more accurate while they have to sacrifice a dozen to hit their target.”

But Chinese manufacturers said they had unfair competition from cheaper Iranian missiles of lesser quality. A Chinese official at his country’s display in Doha said the Iranian weapons were essentially knockoffs.

“They often reverse-engineer our products,” said the official.

As the Kering flagship struggles, one man has become the public face of making it work

A storm rolled over Milan as Sabato de Sarno’s big debut for Gucci took place, thwarting plans to use the city’s streets to present his new vision to the world. Last September’s event was the most hotly anticipated of the year after the designer was plucked from near obscurity by French luxury group Kering to reimagine its struggling flagship following the departure of former star designer Alessandro Michele. The stakes were high, the prospect of being judged harshly even higher. 

“The climax does not come right away, it is sometimes the second or third shows that are the most important,” Kering’s billionaire chief executive François-Henri Pinault told reporters as Julia Roberts took her seat in the front row behind him.

“I mean I would be, like, shitting myself,” Mark Ronson, the award-winning music producer and De Sarno collaborator, said in a recent Gucci-sponsored documentary on the designer.

Barely six months later, the pressure on the public face of Gucci’s turnaround has only increased. This week Kering, which also owns Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga, issued a rare profit warning for the luxury sector. Shares plummeted, bringing declines over the past year to more than 35 per cent. As ever at Kering, Gucci — which, with €10bn in revenue last year, accounted for half of group sales and two-thirds of profits — is at the centre of the problem. The parent company said it expected Gucci sales to have fallen about 20 per cent in the first three months of the year driven by declines in China, its most important market.

De Sarno, 40, bears little responsibility for this: product from his first collection only started arriving in stores in the second half of February. But Kering’s recent deteriorating performance in recent years while competitors such as LVMH, Hermes and Richemont had record growth shows how crucial it is that Gucci starts working again. “Kering is Gucci, and Gucci is Kering . . . The problem is there is a very big dependence and perhaps over-dependence on Gucci,” said a person close to the group.

Pinault has said that he thinks Gucci can grow to be a brand with €15bn in annual sales in the medium term, even as he acknowledged it was underperforming peers. But it raises questions about why it took Kering so long to act after it became clear that Michele’s maximalist, bohemian vision was no longer working. 

De Sarno’s rise has been so precipitous that the Gucci documentary is entitled Who is Sabato de Sarno?. Growing up in Cicciano, outside Naples, his interest in fashion led him to study design at Milan’s Istituto Secoli — a school he selected for its emphasis on technical skills as well as creative process, according to people who know him. He then worked his way up the ranks at Prada and Dolce & Gabbana before spending 14 years at Valentino, where he rose to become outgoing creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s right hand. 

In November 2022, before Michele’s exit had been made public, De Sarno was brought into Kering to interview for an unspecified position. His appointment was announced in January 2023. At his leaving party, the Valentino team wore shirts emblazoned with “I [heart] SDS”. “I was not born a creative director. I was an assistant director. Assistant. Assistant’s assistant’s assistant. I know the process,” De Sarno has said. 

The decision to pick an unknown surprised many, but it has precedent. Michele was not a big name before he took the reins in 2015. A lower-profile designer may also fit with Kering’s desire to present a sleeker, more pared back Gucci. “It’s pretty clear he was put in that role to execute Kering’s plan . . . and he has executed it. His pieces speak to a broader range of luxury consumers, older women too,” said an industry insider in Milan. “But it’s not an exciting product.”

Described by those who know him as a workaholic who likes to get involved in the details, De Sarno has also demonstrated a canniness for building on a theme. He dubbed his first collection Ancora, which in Italian can mean “still”, “more” and “again”, alluding to the desire to renew Gucci. “I loved the passion behind this word,” he said, so much so that he got it tattooed on his arm. 

His collections have been threaded through with a shade of carmine red which De Sarno found in the lining of one of the house’s classic “Jackie” bags. Shoes, bags and clothing have been produced to match, as have magazine pages and billboards. He also had the hall outside his office painted “Ancora” red.

And while De Sarno can speak in the diaphanous language of design (“My show is about shape, volume, fabric, right choice, right colour”), he also shows a shrewd understanding of the business. “Sabato started from a very simple thing: rather than build a collection and then put accessories on it, I want to build the collection around accessories,” creative director Riccardo Zanola, who worked on his first collection, says in the documentary. 

Accessories are the backbone of most luxury businesses, and Gucci is no exception: more than two-thirds of its revenues last year came from leather goods and shoes. And while critical reception has been mixed, the small amount of De Sarno’s work that has hit stores has been well received. “Our top customers liked the product and asked for it,” said Micheal Kliger, chief executive of luxury ecommerce retailer MyTheresa.

But whether it is enough to pull Gucci, and Kering, out of the doldrums remains to be seen. “He can do a great job, he just needs to be given time . . . you won’t see the effect on sales for a while,” said Domenico de Sole, Gucci’s former chief executive. 

Backstage at his debut, producers shouted final instructions as the lights faded to black. “OK, finally,” De Sarno intoned, as his show began.

Europe’s high-end houses are being challenged by the rapid growth of local brands

There are cracks showing in the most important market for global luxury. Gucci’s slump in sales, with parent Kering’s warning this week of a slowdown in Asia, prompted investor concerns about demand for the wares of Europe’s luxury groups.

Tastes in Asia — and its largest market China — are certainly changing. But a closer look at those trends suggests they won’t hit luxury groups equally. There will be winners, both among Europe’s high-end houses and a growing crop of local rivals.

China’s second-hand luxury market is booming. Rapid growth in this market, estimated to be worth over $8bn in China, is starting to be replicated in other parts of the region, notably in south-east Asia.

That means resale values are becoming increasingly important to shoppers, with consumers showing a preference for brands whose products retain their value. Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chanel tend to top that list, not just thanks to high demand but also because of regular price increases.

Shopper preferences are shifting away from affordable, mass market luxury to less frequent but higher-end purchases. With that comes a tendency to favour classic products, meaning a smaller number of brands are getting more demand. As share prices of European luxury companies fell this week after Kering’s warning, LVMH and Hermès fared best.

Another challenge to European brands is the rise of homegrown luxury alternatives. Rising geopolitical tensions in recent years have created a more patriotic group of Chinese shoppers. The tendency to turn to local producers has been evident in everything from electronics to electric cars, with millennials leading the shift. The luxury segment is no exception.

Chinese fashion and luxury brands have been growing rapidly in recent years, with premium brands such as Shang Xia — a Chinese luxury fashion brand backed by Hermès — gaining popularity among locals. Peer Icicle has grown to over 270 stores in China. Others, like Chinese outerwear brand Bosideng, have made progress in shifting upmarket to a more premium customer. Shares of Bosideng are up a fifth this year, reflecting improving operating margins of 17 per cent on sales of $2.3bn in the year to March

Even as luxury spending from the ultra-wealthy segment remains resilient, middle-class Chinese shoppers have been the real force behind the growth of the past decade. As long as the economic slowdown in China persists, consumers will get more choosy and more focused on resale values. Investors need to get more picky too.