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  • The Latest
    - 15 May 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Investments: Acquascutum, Ducati & Vertu

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    Audi takes control of Ducati for a cool $1.1 billion, Coty bids farewell to Avon and an insolvent Aquascutum is bought by China’s YGM for just £15 million

    Audi has acquired Ducati Motor Holdings for a sum of $ 1.1 billion, close to seven times the revenue of Ducati in 2011. The famed Italian motorcycle brand will become the 12th company in the Volkswagen Group’s portfolio, which now includes everything from supercars to full-size trucks.

    Fragrance firm Coty has withdrawn its $10.7 billion bid for Avon Products, saying the US beauty firm had taken too long to respond to its offer. Chairman Bart Becht, in a letter to Avon made public, explained: “Your total lack of engagement with us leads us to believe that you remain reluctant to explore a friendly, negotiated combination on a reasonable timetable. Consequently, as our deadline to begin discussions expired today, our proposal is withdrawn.”

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  • The Latest
    - 9 May 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Boutiques: Sotheby's, Shanghai Tang & Salvatore Ferragamo

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    The Latest openings from Armani Casa, Vacheron Constantin, Roger Vivier, IWC and Jimmy Choo, in Miami, Beijing, Costa Mesta, Milan, New York & Hong Kong

    Cautious whispers of a slowdown in China have rippled through the luxury industry, despite the stellar performance of luxury goods in 2012. Ledbury Research recently confirmed the increasingly wary attitudes of luxury brand CEO’s, and pointed out that while sales have increased, in many cases market share has declined.

    CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets explicitly disagrees, saying Chinese consumers will continue to purchase watches, handbags, jewellery and expensive clothes. “Wealthy individuals won’t slow down their spending,” remarked CLSA analyst Aaron Fischer to the Wall Street Journal. Barring a terrorist attack, pandemic or corruption crackdown, China will continue to lead the boom in luxury goods for years to come, according to the firm’s research.

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  • The Latest
    - 2 May 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Digital: IWC, Chloé & Christian Louboutin

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    IWC takes on Apple’s Newsstand, Chloé debuts an Instagram inspired mobile photo competition, whilst Christian Louboutin launches e-Commerce in Europe

    Its no wonder brands are feeling the pressure to be across as many digital media platforms, communities and devices as possible, following the news that young consumers switch between media platforms as often as every two minutes. New research has revealed that “Digital Natives,” surrounded by a choice of TV, tablets, magazines, smartphones and Internet, shift between media platforms up to 27 times each non-working hour, or about once every two minutes.

    The latest platform to catch the eye of the luxury and fashion worlds is stylised social video sharing app Viddy, touted as the motion picture equivalent of Instagram. The mobile application enables users to shoot, beautify and share 15-second video clips via the Viddy network, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, email, SMS or to a personal website with embed codes. Titles, tags and geo-location are powered by Foursquare.

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  • The Latest
    - 24 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Hotels: Kyiv, Abu Dhabi & Western Australia

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    InterContinental Hotel Group launches a brand dedicated to Chinese consumers, whilst Sofitel opens its second property in the UAE and Hilton’s Conrad launches in New York

    Luxury hotel brands were some of the quickest to acknowledge the potential of Mainland China, developing properties far beyond Beijing and Shanghai well beyond luxury goods brands came knocking. But what they are now also beginning to gauge, is the growing significance of the affluent Chinese traveller, an increasingly global and mobile consumer who interacts with brands in Shanghai, Wuhan, San Francisco and Paris.

    Thinking along these lines, the InterContinental Hotel Group has developed a new hotel brand based on four priorities it feels are important to Chinese travellers: tradition, rejuvenation, status and familiar spaces. HUALUXE – a hybrid of ‘Hua’ meaning majestic China and luxe – has been launched with the understanding that the Chinese traveller wants the status of a world-class luxury hotel group combined with a feeling of pride in China and respect for Chinese tradition.

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  • The Latest
    - 17 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Appointments: Cartier, Cacharel & Christian Dior

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    The Latest Appointments at Starwood Hotels, Christie’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Cartier, YSL Beauté, Sonia Rykiel, PPR, Bentley Motors, Akris & Cacharel

    The Dior saga is finally over. After one year of speculation – where everyone from Riccardo Tisci, Marc Jacobs, Kayne West, Alber Elbaz, Alexander Wang and even the disgraced Galliano himself were rumoured to be taking the top spot – Raf Simons has been confirmed to head womenswear and haute couture, whilst Kris Van Assche continues to head design at Dior Homme.

    Over at Richemont, group manufacturing director Jan Rupert is stepping down to focus on other activities and to broaden his remit within the family of companies controlled by Johann Rupert. Whilst Mr. Rupert will remain an executive director of the group, Richard Lepeu, Richemont’s deputy chief executive, will oversee the group’s manufacturing strategy as of April 1.

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  • The Latest
    - 11 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    The Latest Investments: Instagram, Ducati & Louis Vuitton

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    After a year of rampant M&A activity, a more strategic approach to investment is falling into fashion, championed by industry-savy funds like L Capital

    When it comes to investment deals, it’s not difficult to get distracted by the often-dizzying financial sums changing hands. Cash is a much-needed commodity in the modern luxury landscape, the fuel for retail expansion, accompanying inventory, digital development and the necessary communications strategies to ensure the success of all of the above.

    But without the assistance of a backing conglomerate or a patient private equity partner, these cash-hungry growth strategies become nigh on impossible. And the pressure is on – it’s not difficult to see that now is a prime time for capitalisation in the luxury industry. Brands are quite literally scrambling to establish physical retail in emerging markets, or invest in sleek yet functional e-Commerce platforms to serve the new global consumer. Much capital is required not only to grow, but also just to keep up.

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Members opinion

  • Karen Weiner Escalera Generation Y: Luxury's Most Buoyant Market by Karen Weiner Escalera 3 May 2012
  • Isa Lavs Luxury Shopping in the UK: How the Market Continues to Grow by Isa Lavs 1 May 2012
  • Marina Cozzika South Africa’s Luxury Consumers Buck International Trends by Marina Cozzika 25 Apr 2012
  • Sophie Maxwell Has Luxury Brand Diversification Gone Too Far? by Sophie Maxwell 18 Apr 2012

Recently published

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    WWD - 21 May 2012 09:28

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    Superyacht Times - 21 May 2012 06:04

  • Dubai jewellery expo in Italy tieup

    Trade Arabia - 21 May 2012 05:50

  • Trouble in the Great Mall of China?

    Financial Times - 21 May 2012 03:15

  • Global brands can generate jobs in India: Montblanc

    Economic Times - 21 May 2012 02:55

Featured Members

  • Greig Catto Greig Catto

    Finance Director UK, Richemont
    United Kingdom

  • Martin Mackenzie Martin Mackenzie

    Director, GoldVish Switzerland SA
    Switzerland

  • Nicolas Besse Nicolas Besse

    Vice President Worldwide sales, Sofitel
    France

  • Stacey Staaterman Stacey Staaterman

    VP Corporate Integrated Marketing & Sales, American Express Publishing
    United States