Flipboard- The New 'It' App

Flipboard signals the potential power of digital and social media for brand promotion

Steven Schapera, CEO, BECCA Cosmetics

One CEO’s ambitious strategy to reach a critical mass by selling a niche brand via diversity

Steven Schapera has led an interesting and chequered life before finding himself at the helm of cult cosmetics brand, Becca. The brand is sold in 23 different countries, at over 200 points of sale where it holds its own against giants like L’Oreal, Shiseido and Estee Lauder. The head office is in London although Schapera also travels frequently to the firm’s other offices in San Francisco and Sydney. According to Schapera, luxury cosmetics have held up relatively well during the crisis: “Australia rode the storm extremely well, hardly a dent. Whereas the USA has now emerged and is growing rapidly again, the UK is still suffering and will take some time to correct.” But it is the emerging markets, in places like India and Brazil, which Schapera is most excited about.

Nuno Mendes, Restaurateur and Entrepreneur

How adaptability is the key to pleasing the ‘made just for me’ luxury generation

Just when the recession began to bite the luxury sector, the El Bulli-trained chef and entrepreneur, Nuno Mendes, and his elegant partner, Clarise Faria, launched The Loft Project, a ‘chef’s gallery’ in London’s gritty yet trendy neighbourhood of Dalston.

The story goes back seven years to New York when Mendes found himself between projects. At the time, he had been working for a contract caterer who had an amazing, unused space that was going to waste.

Before the phrase had been coined, Mendes envisioned an exclusive ‘pop-up restaurant’ – a place you would need a password to get in and that would be promoted by word of mouth.

Each evening at The Loft Project, up to 16 guests pay $200 to visit Nuno’s private loft and enjoy a 14 course tasting-menu in the chef’s signature experimental style, eaten around a communal dining table in the open-plan space next to the kitchen.

Business of Fashion Pioneers: An Interview with Natalie Massenet

LS Editor-in-Chief Imran Amed speaks to NET-A-PORTER founder and luxury retail expert Natalie Massenet.

Blood, Debt and High School Sex

The sound bites and statistics that are causing a stir in luxury circles

Is the ‘Rich Recovery’ All it’s Cracked Up to be?

Opinions are divided over whether we’re really any closer to a return of the good times

Although there are some recent indicators which bode well for the luxury industry, like the Walpole-Ledbury research and evidence suggesting that the super rich are richer than ever other voices, including Robert Frank of the Wall Street Journal, are warning that the ‘rich recovery’ is stalling. Frank refuses to be blinkered to the other side of the story.