Qatar may claim a tiny population and land mass the size of Connecticut, but that’s not stopped the emirate becoming an investment force to be reckoned with
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Small but Mighty
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Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Qatar may claim a tiny population and land mass the size of Connecticut, but that’s not stopped the emirate becoming an investment force to be reckoned with
Qatar may claim a tiny population and land mass the size of Connecticut, but that’s not stopped the emirate becoming an investment force to be reckoned with
The $2.25 billion deal struck between Qatar Holding and Mohammed Al Fayed to buy Harrods adds a feather to the cap of Qatar Holding’s already impressive investment portfolio.
A government-controlled investment vehicle of the Qatar government, recent transactions by Qatar Holding reveal the oil-rich emirate’s penchant for investing in high profile brands. These include a substantial stake in Porsche as well as interests in Barclays, supermarket chain J Sainsbury and the London Stock Exchange.
The Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who ultimately decides on these investments, clearly has a thing for London’s recording-breaking real estate, and his luxury portfolio includes the Shard skyscraper project, which at 1000ft will be the tallest in Europe, the US Embassy, and 100% ownership of Europe’s most expensive housing development in Chelsea, with estimated costs of $4.5 billion. All of this makes Harrods a perfect fit; an international landmark and respected brand with a solid business model behind it.
Although Qatar was already wealthy on the back of its oil reserves, new technologies enabled it to become the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the late 1990s. But despite being touted as the next Dubai, the Emir is conscious that his country should take a different direction to avoid its neighbouring emirate’s high profile credit problems.
Experts say that Qatar has learnt lessons from Dubai’s speculative building model. Qatar’s strategy seems to be to keep on spending to maintain growth momentum at home while it continues to invest in trophy assets overseas. Ultimately, Qatar is keen to diversify its economy beyond the extraction of resources. Plans for Harrods are unknown, but expansion is probable and an outpost in Shanghai is just one of opportunities reportedly being discussed.
Meanwhile, Dubai World is standing by its own department store investment, Barneys New York, whilst feverishly restructuring its $26 billion distressed debt as speculation continues to mount as to how long it can hold on. The Emir of Qatar is no doubt taking note.
Sources
BBC – 8 May 10
The Independent – 11 May 10
WWD – 2 Feb 10
