At the annual gala, Louvet recalled his own journey from Saint-Cloud, France, to Princeton, N.J., as a 9-year-old who spoke no English.
PRAISING PATRICE: The French American Chamber of Commerce Foundation did more than honor Patrice Louvet, chief executive officer of Ralph Lauren Corp., at its annual gala in New York Monday night.
It stirred up some clearly poignant memories for the CEO, who began his remarks at the event with a confession.
“The first time I came to America, I actually did not want to come,” he said. “It was 1974. I was 9. And my brother Didier, who is here tonight, was 6. Our father’s work took our family from Saint-Cloud, just outside of Paris, to a little town in New Jersey called Princeton.
“I had friends, a school, activities, a whole world I understood,” he said. “And all of it was staying behind.”
Although Louvet spoke no English, Princeton gradually became a home that offered a new angle on his native country.
“Looking back across the Atlantic, I saw France more clearly than I ever had from inside it,” he said. “There is no substitute for living, working and connecting in another culture. Sitting somewhere else in the world, your whole perspective shifts.
“You learn resilience, because adversity is part of the journey,” he said. “You learn agility, because you have to adapt. And above all, you learn to listen. That is empathy.
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