Louis Vuitton won its $1.5 million fight with a beloved Chinese tea chain. The backlash may have cost it hundreds more
Source: Fortune ·
LVMH's CFO acknowledged the tea controversy hurt Louis Vuitton as weaker Chinese demand hit the luxury giant
From the source
The trouble started with a flower. Louis Vuitton sued Chinese milk tea chain Molly Tea over its four-petaled logo that it argued looked too much like its famous monogram. The French luxury house won a $1.5 million judgment in June, but the victory sparked backlash in China and may have had an unforeseen cost. Revenue at LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division, which includes Louis Vuitton, fell to €8.25 billion in the third quarter of 2026 from €8.50 billion a year earlier, according to LVMH’s earnings report. Stripping out currency swings and acquisitions, sales fell 5% as Chinese shoppers pulled back. Luca Solca, managing director of luxury goods at Bernstein, told Fortune the Molly Tea backlash accounted for 2 to 3 percentage points of that decline. “Without it, for the avoidance of doubt, we could have had -2-3% instead of -5%,” he said. LVMH was more cautious. On the Oct. 12 earnings call, CFO Cecile Cabanis said it’s “very difficult to size” Molly Tea’s impact, but said it’s…