Marigay McKee, Fashion and Beauty Director, Harrods | Source: Harrods

LONDON, United Kingdom — Later this month, Luxury Briefing will hold its 14th Luxury Briefing Conference, an annual gathering of the industry’s great and good in London. Called Future Luxe, this year’s conference will explore the luxury industry of the future and incorporate a new format designed to foster more networking and interaction amongst the attendees. The speakers — including writer Dana Thomas, Soho House CEO Nick Jones, and WGSN founder Marc Worth — come from all quarters of the luxury sector, and will tackle a wide range of issues to make sense of an industry that is engulfed with change.

Amongst the most significant developments in the luxury sector in recent years has been the rapid evolution of the luxury consumer. We have witnessed shifting attitudes and buying behaviour of luxury consumers in established markets like Europe, America and Japan and the rise of luxury consumers in emerging markets, especially China. We have seen the emergence of the ‘aspirational’ luxury consumer, but also the rise of the ultra-high net worth consumer, each of whom have different expectations when consuming luxury products and services.

One of the undisputed global leaders in luxury customer service is London’s iconic luxury department store, Harrods, which has years of experience in serving different types of consumers, with different levels of spending power, from different parts of the world. In advance of the Luxury Briefing Conference, BoF caught up with Marigay McKee, Fashion and Beauty Director of Harrods and one of the store’s most important ambassadors, to get an exclusive sneak peek of a panel of influential women who will discuss luxury retailing of the future.

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Prada S/S 2009 campaign photographed by Hedi Slimane, courtesy of Prada

LONDON, United Kingdom — At the Luxury Briefing Conference held in London last month, Claire Kent, former Morgan Stanley analyst and current luxury goods consultant, spelled out her thoughts for the future of luxury.

“Regardless of the credit crunch there was growing fatigue about luxury brands,” she said. “People want a redefinition of luxury. People don’t want to be buying the same brands as the people they have working for them.”

So, what are the key elements of the new luxury?

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LONDON, United Kingdom – By now, it is well known that Japan, Western Europe and North America are already well into recessionary mode, but emerging markets have not been spared either. In India, so the wisdom goes, people spend for occasions but during this year’s Diwali Festival, usually brisk sales of diamonds have stalled, as consumers tighten their belts. In China, at a major luxury goods fair in Shanghai, accessibly-priced merchandise moved, but the most pricey items sat on the shelf.

Perhaps more than ever before, luxury businesses need to seize new business opportunities in emerging markets, but the market context there is changing so fast, it is hard to keep up with it all.

James Ogilvy has convened a great set of speakers to provide their perspectives on the opportunities presented by emerging markets against the backdrop of global economic doom and gloom at the annual Luxury Briefing Conference. Sheikh Majed al-Sabah of Villa Moda, Chris Colfer of Dunhill, and Tyler Brule of Monocle are amongst the experts scheduled to speak.

I am honoured to have the opportunity to present my own points of view on “What work’s where?”, focusing on case studies from in India and China.

For tickets to the annual Luxury Briefing Conference, contact Luxury Briefing. For a complete agenda and further information, please click here.

LONDON, United Kingdom - James Ogilvy noticed something in 1996: there was no dedicated business publication for the wider luxury industry. So he conceived of Luxury Briefing, a monthly publication which is read by leaders and senior executives in luxury companies from fashion to cosmetics to gourmet food to design to media. Since then, James and his team have launched a website and a series of annual conferences that dig into the issues that impact businesses across the luxury spectrum.

James comes into contact with idea makers and opinion leaders from different parts of luxury and knows the topics and concerns on these executives’ minds. I caught up with James to benefit from this unique industry-wide vantage point and to learn about an exclusive Luxury Briefing offer for readers of The Business of Fashion.

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