François Pinault, owner of Château Latour and Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury group LVMH, have pledged to donate hundreds of millions of Euros towards rebuilding Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris after a major fire devastated the 850-year-old landmark yesterday evening.
Pinault has stated he will donate €100 million, and Arnault €200 million to the international fundraising campaign marked for cathedral restorations, according to French news agency Agence France-Presse.
The blaze began on the evening of 15th April, engulfing Notre-Dame, with the French fire service working through the night to extinguish the flames, which was finally confirmed this morning (16th April).
The LVMH Group announced on its Instagram account; ‘In the wake of this national tragedy, the Arnault family and the LVMH Group pledge their support for #NotreDame. They will donate a total of 200 million euros to the fund for reconstruction of this architectural work, which is an integral part of the history of France.’
The group has also offered the support of all teams, including creative, architectural and financial, to help with the long term work of reconstruction.
As owner of LVMH, Arnault owns Château Cheval Blanc, Château d’Yquem, Krug, Moët Hennsey and fashion brand Louis Vuitton.
Pinault also owns Eisele Vineyard Estate in Napa Valley – previously named Araujo, Clos de Tart in Burgundy and Château Grillet in Northern Rhône. His parent company Kering also owns luxury fashion brands Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
The Notre-Dame fire
The cathedral took 200 years to build and has been in Paris for 850 years, surviving both World Wars.
The fire burned the roof and caused the spire to collapse, but the north and south towers, and main structure have remained. The full extent of the damage is being assessed, but there were no casualties in the fire.
It is believed the fire was accidental and could have started during renovation work on the cathedral.
Translated by Sylvia Wu / 吴嘉溦
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