Going Green: The Future of Luxury

What steps has the luxury industry taken to face future environmental issues and what’s the next move?

The world is contemplating a future where environmental challenges must be faced head on. The luxury industry is not exempt, with resource shortages, climate change and increasing consumer expectations of luxury brands ever-more prominent issues.

In Going Green: The Future of Luxury, The Luxury Channel meets with LS member Dr Jem Bendell who has been challenging the industry to place sustainability at core of luxury. The video investigates the industry’s response to the environmental and social changes affecting the world in the aftermath of economic downturn.

Quintessentially's Lawrence on Luxury in 2010 and Beyond

LS member Guy Lawrence, chief executive officer of Quintessentially, talks with Bloomberg’s Andrea Catherwood about the current state of the luxury industry and how he expects it to evolve in 2010. Points of discussion include the future of “austerity chic” for 2010 and the luxury consumer’s increased focus on philanthropy. Guy talks about the growing appetite for bespoke services and personalisation that he’s seen amongst clients.

Poppy Trowbridge also reports on the growth of high-end cars from companies like Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and Mercedes.

Marketing to the Masters

Foreign brands set their sights on the capital of luxury
Paris finds itself in an unfamiliar position. In recent years, the city has watched on with pride as Paris-based luxury conglomerates like PPR and LVMH go forth and conquer a multitude of new markets and territories.
Now, the tables have turned, as foreign brands eye Paris as their next target for expansion.

On the back of record third-quarter profits Coach is readying itself to win the hearts and minds of Parisians. CEO Lew Frankfort announced plans to open at least 14 locations in Printemps department stores throughout France over the next three years, starting with a 1,700 sq ft boutique within the Printemps flagship on Boulevard Haussmann this June. Frankfort now faces the challenge of balancing the brand’s New York roots with a local environment bursting with luxury products and heritage.

Vanna Teng: CEO Bund18

A shake-up in China’s luxury market is just within reach

SHANGHAI – As the world anticipates the extravagant Shanghai Expo 2010 next month with awe and, in places, bemusement, Bund18’s CEO Vanna Teng has designs on using this limelight to propose her vision of what luxury in China can – and should – become. For the uninitiated, Bund18 is something of a trailblazer, bringing well-heeled Shanghainese an impeccable combination of luxury brand retail, world class art and fine dining all housed within a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award-winning site. According to Teng, Bund18’s recipe for luxury goes something like this: combine top-level brands with a creative atmosphere, coupled with a dash of old and new Shanghai, and an experience that balances the best of East and West.

But Teng believes that attitudes to luxury – both towards and within China – must evolve for the industry to truly blossom. She wants to replace the “me-too” consumer and brand mentality with a more considered appreciation of quality and design.

Fountain of Youth

Are brands making the most of the dynamic young affluent market?

The American Express Business Insights on luxury spending makes you wonder. Giving a snapshot of global luxury spending in 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, the report examines consumer spending patterns at more than 700 luxury merchants with transactions on annual luxury spending totalling more than $111 billion.

The findings confirm recent data from the likes of Mastercard Spending Pulse and first-quarter company results across the sector: global luxury spending is showing signs of a rebound, and even growth; luxury online retail is a small but hugely successful segment, and BRICS are leading in consumer growth. But this data also sheds some fascinating light on demographic shifts.

In Conversation with Mark Edleson, President and CEO of Alila Hotels & Resorts

Steering an Asian luxury brand roll-out from Singapore, with sustainability at its core

BALI, Indonesia – How many ultra-luxury, five star resorts would intentionally shut their lights off in the middle of the dinner hour, plunging their guests into complete darkness?

This was my experience recently at the Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali, part of the award-winning Alila Hotels & Resorts chain, whose destination properties have become discreet getaways for in-the-know luxury travellers with an ethical conscience and a high-level of discernment in food, culture, art and design.

As it turned out, it was Earth Hour, an international effort to draw attention to the devastating impact of climate change on the state of the world’s environment. Alila had joined cities, businesses, and international landmarks around the world — including London’s Big Ben, Beijing’s Forbidden City and Sydney’s Harbour Bridge — in shutting down the lights for an hour, ultimately reaching more than 1 billion people.

But while the Jakarta Post reported that “Jakartans largely ignore Earth Hour” and critics dismissed the effort as having little real impact, for Alila this couldn’t be further from the truth. Indeed, waiting for me in my hotel suite was a personal note from the hotel’s general manager, Sean Brennan, and a message from Mark Edleson, President and CEO.