PARIS — French event and communications agency WMH Project has acquired boutique creative production agency Petit Ami as it seeks to expand its activities in fashion, luxury and art.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2017 by Laurent Bandet, who previously worked for French brand Agnès b., Petit Ami produces events including fashion shows and showrooms for brands including Mugler, Nina Ricci, Area, Kolor and Y/Project, and exhibitions for art entities like François Pinault’s Bourse de Commerce museum in Paris.
Originally known as FC2 Events, WMH Project, an acronym for “We Make It Happen,” has grown in the last five years through a string of acquisitions designed to consolidate the group’s position in its four core areas: corporate and institutional events, public relations, spatial design, and incentive and business travel.
Bandet, who becomes vice president of WMH Project’s newly created art, fashion and luxury division, told WWD that the deal will allow him to grow Petit Ami, with plans to open a branch in Milan by the end of 2024.
He hopes to leverage WMH Project’s existing activities and its relationships with clients such as luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton to rapidly double his team of 20 people, which are spread between creative and production functions.
Petit Ami posted revenues of 6.7 million euros in 2022, versus 145 million euros for WMH Project, which employs more than 300 people in France and Belgium.
“The union with Petit Ami will enable us to meet the diverse needs of WMH Project’s clients in the luxury, fashion and the arts and culture sectors,” WMH Project cofounders Marc Fischer and Franck Chaud said in a statement.
Bandet plans to continue working with emerging designers while taking on larger clients, taking advantage of Petit Ami’s network of artists such as French musician Orelsan.
“We have strong relationships with artists, dancers and musicians, and the idea is to bring a strong craft element to our events,” he explained. “For example, for showrooms, I often tap artists — whether young or more established — to work on the sets.”
Going forward, Bandet would also like to produce show sets and events for performers. In addition, he wants to launch an endowment fund and an incubator aimed at promoting sustainable event production.
He noted that a key reason for joining forces with WMH Project is that it recently became a mission-driven company with ISO 20121 certification for sustainable event management, and ISO 9001 for quality management.
Petit Ami, which already repurposes decor elements and prioritizes short supply chains, hopes to foster further research into materials and design with a lower environmental impact.
“We work on temporary events. What do we do with all these materials?” Bandet said. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done in this area, and creating an incubator for people to take on these challenges can be really, really interesting.”
