PARIS — Underscoring the growing synergies between fashion and art, French creative consulting firm Mazarine said Wednesday it has acquired Arter, an agency specializing in the production of artistic and cultural events for clients including the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Kering and Chanel.
The deal was completed in July for a sum ranging between 15 million euros and 20 million euros, Mazarine founder and chief executive officer Paul-Emmanuel Reiffers told WWD.
Arter will work in tandem with Mazarine’s event production arm, La Mode en Images, and Mazarine Events, which creates and produces tailor-made brand experiences. An art collector himself, Reiffers also owns Numéro magazine and its spin-off Numéro Art, in addition to helming the Reiffers Art Initiatives foundation.
“The synergies are complete,” he said.
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Renaud Sabari, who founded Arter in 2004, will remain a minority shareholder and continue to be involved with the company, which employs some 40 people, Reiffers said.
“Joining the Mazarine group offers our team an exceptional opportunity to move to a different scale, particularly in terms of our international presence, while maintaining our commitment to creative and responsible cultural production. The Arter spirit and our specificities will be preserved, strengthened and exalted,” Sabari said in a statement.
The Balenciaga showcase for European Heritage Days at Kering headquarters in Paris.
Eric Sander/Courtesy of Kering
The deal comes at a time of rapid growth for Mazarine’s events division, which now accounts for half of its business, up from a third in 2021. The group, which has a staff of 500, expects to log revenues of 250 million euros in 2024, including 20 million euros generated by Arter, Reiffers said.
“We see growing relationships between luxury, fashion and art. There is more and more crossover, whether it’s luxury brands financing exhibitions or events at public institutions, or inversely, artists collaborating with major brands not just on commercial projects, but also on experiences,” he said.
“Brands are increasingly asking us to help them organize exhibitions and events, and that requires real talent and expertise,” Reiffers added, noting that Arter handles the coordination and technical implementation of exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, as well as projects for the French pavilion at the Venice Biennale, among others.
In parallel, it has helped major fashion houses produce exhibitions. These include a series of “Culture Chanel” shows; the Balenciaga archival exhibit at the headquarters of parent company Kering during the European Heritage Days in 2022, and Louis Vuitton’s “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition” at its private museum La Galerie on the outskirts of Paris.
Active in every aspect of luxury and fashion, the Mazarine group has seen strong growth in the U.S. and China and continues its international expansion, with the opening of an office in Dubai last year and plans to add another in Milan, building on Arter’s presence in Venice.
“We’ll be able to offer highly specialized services to all the brands that want to stage exhibitions in increasingly far-flung destinations, and help the major museums and foundations that are being created around the world to develop their content program,” Reiffers said.
He noted that Arter is B Corp-certified, which will help Mazarine respond to growing demand for sustainable event production. “Having an agency that is B Corp-certified is a powerful asset and will help everyone move forward,” he said.
Illustrating the new synergies within the group, Arter will produce the next Reiffers Art Initiatives exhibition pairing Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone with French emerging artist Tarek Lakhrissi, due to take place from Oct. 15 to Nov. 16 to coincide with Art Basel Paris.
The “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition” show at Louis Vuitton’s private museum La Galerie.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
