How to Show Maisons and Business Groups on a Luxury Group Org Chart
Draw a luxury group: business groups at the first level, Maisons beneath them, retail beside them, with family control kept off the operating tree, then check it against a design change.
A luxury group chart shows how brands are grouped into business groups, which houses sit under each, and where retail and ownership belong.
The short version
- Use the group's own business groups as the first level of the chart.
- Put each house beneath its group, with the names the group publishes.
- Draw shared retail as its own business group, not under one house.
- Keep family control and holding companies out of the operating tree and explain them in a note.
- Check the chart against a process, such as a design change, so each step has an owner at the right level.
A brand is not a department
A luxury group is a portfolio of houses with their own names, histories and customers. A chart that lists every brand under the chief executive looks like a flat list and does not show how the group is run. The group itself reports its houses in business groups, such as fashion and leather goods, wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, watches and jewelry, and selective retailing. Use those groups as the first level.
Put each house under its business group, using the names the group publishes. Draw retail that serves several houses as its own business group, not under one house. Keep family control through a holding company off the tree: it explains who owns the group, not how the houses are run, and a box for it would look like an operating unit.
The chart below is the editable LVMH chart, built from the group's own list of business groups and houses. A second chart, a design change approval, shows what the structure is for: a change to a product touches the house that owns the design, so the approval needs a named owner at that level.
Build a luxury group in three stages
Watch the LVMH chart grow from the first business group to the houses beneath it, and then to the other groups and retail.
Start with one business group and its houses
Draw the group's head, then fashion and leather goods with four of its houses beneath it. The houses keep their own names; the business group is only the level that groups them for reporting.
Add the other business groups
Wines and spirits, perfumes and cosmetics, and watches and jewelry join with their houses. Each business group has its own houses, so check that no house appears under two groups.
Add shared retail
Selective retailing is a business group of its own, because its stores sell products from many houses. Putting it under a single house would suggest that one house runs it.
Check the structure against a real process: a design change
A product change touches the house that owns the design. Here is a design change approval built in three stages, so you can check that each step has an owner at the right level of the group.
Write the steps and decisions
Start with the change request, the assessment of its impact on drawings and production, and the customer decision. Nobody owns a step yet.
Give each step an owner
Give each step a lane for a role at the house that owns the product, such as design, production planning or sales. If an owner is a role at the business group, the chart or the process puts the work at the wrong level.
Complete the process with its handoffs
The full process adds updating the product record, the schedule and the work already done. Check that each of those belongs to the same house as the change.
How it works
List the group's business groups
Take the business groups from the group's own annual report or website and write the date of your source next to the chart.
Add the houses beneath each group
Add the houses the group lists for each business group. Draw a selection if the list is long and say that the chart is a selection.
Use the published names
Keep each house's own name, with its accents and punctuation. A translated name is not the name on the store.
Draw shared retail as its own group
Add retail businesses that sell several houses' products as a business group, with their stores or banners beneath.
Explain family control in a note
State who controls the group and through which holding company in a note beside the chart, not as a box in the tree.
Mark what changed
If a house moved between groups or was added recently, write the year on the box so a reader can compare with an older chart.
Check it against a process
Open a process such as a design change and give each step a lane for a role at the house. Fix gaps in the chart or the process.
Mistakes to avoid
Listing every brand under the chief executive
A flat list hides the grouping the group itself uses. Use the business groups as the first level.
Drawing the holding company as an operating unit
A holding company owns shares and runs no houses. Explain it in a note instead of a box.
Putting shared retail under one house
Stores that sell many houses' products belong in their own business group.
Treating the selection as complete
A group owns far more brands than fit on one page. Say which houses you drew and that the chart is a selection.
Create your brand group chart
Open the editable LVMH chart, replace the groups and houses with your own portfolio and keep the date.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Maison on an org chart?
It is a house or brand with its own name and customers, such as a fashion label or a champagne producer. Draw it as a box under its business group.
Should the founding family appear on the chart?
Only in a note. Family control is about ownership, and a box in the tree would look like an operating team.
Where do shared retail businesses go?
In a business group of their own, because they serve several houses and are run apart from them.
How many houses should I draw?
Enough to show how each business group is built. Draw a selection from the group's own list and say so.