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  • The Bulletin
    - 21 May 2012
    - by James Lawson

    Luxury Brands Advance with Cautious Optimism

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    James Lawson, director of Ledbury Research, confirms that luxury sector performance in 2011 was positive across the board, but highlights waning confidence from senior executives

    Most of the major luxury houses have released their 2011 annual financial results over the past few months. Results were positive across the board, continuing the good performances experienced by brands in 2010. Gucci was amongst the star performers with an impressive 23% year-on-year increase in sales; Hermés was also strong with 18% growth.

    LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, recorded a 16% increase in revenue reaching €23.7 billion in 2011. All business groups saw excellent momentum in Europe, Asia and the United States. Louis Vuitton, in particular, once again recorded double-digit revenue growth during the year.

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  • The Bulletin
    - 14 May 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    Record Breaking Auction Highs for Contemporary Art

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    Contemporary art becomes ‘the gold of the new rich’, following record breaking auction sales in New York for Rothko, Klein, Lichtenstein and other post-war artists.

    Fine art has been billed as the asset likely to offer the best returns this year against a climate of ever-increasing investor uncertainty, according to research by private wealth network Family Bhive. A preference to invest in fine art ranked above investment in property, alternative funds and soft commodities, where investors are thought to be looking for lower volatility through wider asset diversification.

    The sample for this particular survey was perhaps too small to draw definitive generalisations. A multiple choice question was posed to a group of 70 bankers, investment managers and lawyers, asking ‘What components of a diversified portfolio strategy will offer prospects of positive returns in 2012?’ But a record-breaking week of Spring auction sales almost confirms the sentiments of the study’s respondents, as the world’s wealthiest shelled out more than $650 million on contemporary works alone.

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  • The Bulletin
    - 7 May 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    Luxury Conglomerates Have Their Day in Court

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    All the latest from on-going counterfeit, copyright and patent disputes, instigated by Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Richemont, Christian Louboutin & Gucci

    For the modern luxury brand, the accessory du jour has shifted from a game of creative-director musical chairs, to the instigation of an intellectual property lawsuit. Legal proceedings are far from innovative in an industry driven by brand equity, design, craftsmanship and hallmarks, but recently everyone from Christian Louboutin to Hermès to Richemont have been battling everyone from Yves Saint Laurent to online counterfeiters to Russia’s patent authorities.

    Hermès International SCA recently won a judgment against 34 websites that sold fake copies of its luxury goods and was awarded approximately $100 million in damages. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in New York ruled that the sites sold items that infringed upon at least nine Hermes products, including the iconic Birkin and Kelly handbags.

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  • The Bulletin
    - 30 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    3 Key Trends from 2012's Beijing Auto Show

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    Sales in the Chinese luxury auto market are set to slow, but China remains an attractive opportunity for executives where cultural customisation will be key to survival

    Gone are the glory days of growth, when car sales could surge 46 per cent in one year – as they did in 2009 – according to Reuters. Instead industry executives and analysts expect growth to slow to an average of 7-8 per cent this decade, amid higher fuel costs and a decelerating economy (Bloomberg).

    There is said to be plenty of growth left; even the most conservative of forecasts have China’s auto market surging to 30 million vehicles a year by 2020, from last year’s 18 million. The more enthusiastic think volume could even reach 40 million and brands are acting accordingly.

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  • The Bulletin
    - 23 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    What Luxury Executives Expect from Online Career Services

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    Luxury Society shares the insights from its recent survey, seeking to better understand just what luxury executives expect from online career services

    As luxury moves into new geographical territories and expands well beyond provincial birthplaces, our workforce enters a period of great opportunity for advancement and mobility. But despite this increased mobility and positively swelling workforce, very little is understood as to how executives wish to manage their careers and what role the Internet will play in this dynamic new landscape.

    2011 was a mammoth year for the luxury industry in terms of leadership changes and the emergence of new roles. The digital revolution has forced many changes in marketing and often the need for new skills to enhance our industry. Whether it is a community manager, philanthropic projects manager, chief information officer or even the development of an in-house editorial team, the greater changes in industry are becoming more than evident in how we manage our human capital.

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  • The Bulletin
    - 16 Apr 2012
    - by Sophie Doran

    Challenges Remain for Luxury Brands in India

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    India’s union cabinet is standing by its local sourcing clause when it comes to foreign direct investment, making it difficult for luxury brands to enter the market on their own terms

    “These [BRICS] countries are 25 per cent of the global gross domestic product, so we have to think about them,” Missoni CEO Alberto Piantoni remarked to WWD, during a recent visit to India. “Somehow they are more open and there is a new middle class growing very fast and they are anxious to know what is going on in the whole continent in terms of fashion. It is an opportunity and we have to do something about it.”

    But as CPP Luxury’s Oliver Petcu recently asked, how do major international luxury brands evaluate the potential of a certain market? How do they decide when and if to enter emerging territories? And what is the basis of their decision-making in pursuing a wholesale or mono-brand distribution strategy? He asks these questions as he believes luxury brands are making slow inroads into BRICS countries and repeating their own mistakes.

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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

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