ESSEC and the Palace of Versailles join forces to promote ‘French excellence’
AFP
Paris’ ESSEC business school and the Palace of Versailles have signed on Friday a partnership agreement and created a professorship, aimed at transmitting skills in ‘exceptional arts and crafts’ and at promoting ‘French excellence.’
“The Palace of Versailles is a worldwide benchmark for many arts and crafts, and XVIIIth century designers are a source of inspiration for those of the XXIst century,” stated Catherine Pégard, president of the Palace of Versailles, to the AFP agency.
“It was thus natural for our two institutions to work closely together,” she added as the agreement was signed at Versailles, allowing ESSEC students to carry out internships at the Palace.
The two institutions will jointly develop educational modules for students who have cultural and arts management in their sights.
The partnership’s objective is also to allow “French expertise to shine in Asia”, relying on the hub provided by the campus opened by ESSEC in Singapore in 2005.
Another aspect of the joint initiative is the creation within ESSEC of a new professorship labelled ‘Exceptional expertise’, in association with several major luxury goods groups (ChanelLVMH
About twenty students will undertake the course starting in autumn 2016.
“It is often forgotten that, behind the luxury industry, there lies a wealth of expertise accumulated over the course of the centuries by small artisanal companies,” explained Jean-Michel Blanquer, ESSEC’s Managing Director and Dean.
The existence of “this eco-system for luxury, arts and culture implies that we should train our students in how to acquire an SME or, if they are working for a major luxury brand, in how to establish links with such small companies,” he underlined.
