London's recent Global Luxury Forum saw the gathering of luxury professionals from around the globe. Coming together at Old Billingsgate and greeted upon arrival by the Global Luxury Forum’s partner Maybach with their Maybach 62 and a Mercedes SLR and banners bearing the name of Robb Report Russia (main media partner to the event), numerous representatives of top premium goods companies gathered to hear and share the experiences of CEOs and MDs of the luxury industry, industry experts and individuals who had taken their brand from concept to acknowledged success stories of the high end market.



“The Global Luxury Forum was undoubtedly the ultimate luxury event of the year - drawing top industry executives and high-net-worth consumers to Old Billingsgate located on the banks of the river Thames, right in the heart of the City of London”.
PR-Inside.com

The Plenary Session, the busiest of the day with little sitting room left available, examined trends and consumers of the global luxury market. Pam Danziger, Founder and CEO, Unity Marketing (US) spoke about the 8 key global trends of the international luxury market; Saloni Nangia, Assistant Vice President of Technopak outlined Indian HNW consumer behaviour; Aliona Doletskaya, Editor in Chief, Vogue Russia looked at luxury in Russia: its successes, future, concerns; Natalia Vodianova, Top Model made reference to her personal experience of luxury and Graziano De Boni, President of Sales, Marketing and Retail Worldwide of Valentino SpA - the future segmentation of the luxury market.

Sessions then went on to look at Russia and its call to luxury from both the inside and outside perspective, with native Russians discussing their perceptions of the Russian luxury market and with brand managers comparing their success in Russia with that of other markets. Nikolai Uskov, Editor in Chief, GQ Russia moderated the discussion with speakers including Patrice Müller, Partner, Ipolitis & Hubertus SA who has frequently dealt with high profile mergers and acquisitions and understands well the strength and weaknesses of the few Russian luxury companies; Hardy Schneider, General Director of Wital, which distributes Vertu phones all over the CIS; Vadim Grigorian, Marketing Director Eastern Europe & Russia for Pernod Ricard and Maxim Shkadov, General Director of Kristall, President of the Russian Diamond Manufacturers Association and vice-president of IDMA.

“The GLF was a great event and had some very impressive speakers”.
Carmen Chin
Burberry




The second session on Luxury and it’s Democratisation looked at how the perceptions of luxury and the luxury consumer are changing across the board with moderation from Douglas Gollan, President and Editor-in-Chief of Elite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazine. Amusing commentary was delivered from Stephen Webster, Award-winning Jewellery Designer about changing style trends, the phase of ‘bling’ that has now progressed to a real taste in men’s jewellery and the need for a designer’s unique style no matter where the consumer; Tim O’Connell, MD Private Division & Global Marketing Director of Technogym talked about the wellness revolution that they seek to deliver straight to the home; Frank Rejwan, UK Managing Director of Quintessentially – the growing importance of lifestyle services; Mark Dunhill, President of Alfred Dunhill - clients’ changing expectations of the brand; Igor Poroshin, Editor in Chief, Robb Report, Russia - Aristocratisation of the Bourgeoisie and Jane Kaye-Bailey, Philanthropic Traveller & Advisor to Exquisite Safaris - giving something back through luxury travel.

Harvesting a brand led by the President & CEO of Mildberry Brand Building Solutions Oleg Beriev examined just how to make a brand work for itself, whether in or out of a luxury group. Olivier Müller, spoke from the heart with his experience of his own brand Villemont, recently merged with Norwegian watch brand Amundsen Oslo; Scilla Huang Sun, Clariden Leu Bank Luxury Goods Equity Fund Manager gave the perspective of an impartial investor; and Craig Allen, Creative Director, Linley (ex- Product Director for the Gucci Group world-wide), Franco Gussalli Beretta, Owner and CEO, Beretta and Tom McLoughlin, CEO, Per Aquum compared their experiences of new and family owned brands on today’s market place and how to grow them independently and with the help of luxury associations.

The penultimate session Luxury as an investment benefited from the background of moderator Patrick Hourcade, Art critic and designer, organiser of the Moscow Fine Art Fair and also the undoubted expertise of Karl Schweizer, Head of Global Art Banking for UBS. Jewellery & Luxury Goods Historian & Author Vivienne Becker expressed her doubts about jewellery being a good investment outside the context of the walking wealth of the Arab world and Max Bernardini, Owner of Bernardini, Luxury Vintage Shop, Milan, impressed the need to consider luxury in its historical context in order to evaluate its value. Other interesting takes on the theme included Jonathan Beckett, MD of Nigel Burgess; Sean Collins, MD of PURE International Property and Timothy Triptree, Specialist of Christie’s Wine Department.

Communicating with your consumer: Talking the luxury language may have been the last session of the day, but it was decidedly not the least. Uche Okonkwo, Director & Co-founder of Luxe E.t.c. achieved a wonderfully interactive session that played on the idea that luxury is all in the marketing. She noted clearly the juxtaposition of Michelle Ong’s (Director & Creative Head, Carnet) opinion that it’s all in the product, with Thierry Maman’s (Managing Director, Berluti) conviction that the consumer’s endorsement is all it takes, if they are the ‘right’ consumer. Anzor Kankulov, Editor in Chief, spoke of how to reach Harpers Bazaar’s specific audience in Russia and working with luxury brands and Peter Sosnkowski, Retired Chairman & CEO of Remy-Cointreau Group; currently Professor at ESSEC (MBA in International Luxury Brand Management) was asked the most questions from the floor as a result of his very informative insight into global marketing strategies. Tom Aikens, Top Chef and Restaurateur also joined the debate referring to how his restaurants have developed to attract the elite clientele that it does.

“I just wanted to say how amazing the GLF was, I was so impressed with the creativity - it was just so well done and the information there was unique, which I now feel is the new luxury!
I was impressed with the breadth of knowledge and of opinion, information that would be impossible to get so quickly and in such an intense manor anywhere else.
I feel very privileged to have been there and would very much like a role in any future event like this”.
Andrew. R. Downs
Founder, James English Moscow

In order to bring the event alive, the organisers worked closely with representatives of the luxury market in order to create a Luxury Gallery, showcasing not only items of significant financial value, but also those that merely suggested the ultimate meaning of luxury as captured by their own imaginations – the fulfilment of fantasies and the attainment of desires.

Within the venue, Unusual Villas represented their collection of high end resort vacation properties and Oldonyo Laro built a replica of one of their rooms at the Oldonyo Laro Estate - a luxurious African home that is leased for the ultimate luxury vacation for 3 weeks of every year with the proceeds going to the environmental upkeep of the area.

Beretta brought the flavour of Africa to the event by replicating creatively the Beretta lifestyle collection and Henry Poole heralded the art behind Saville Row bespoke clothing. A number of jewellers demonstrated the beauty of very unique designs from the funky style of Stephen Webster to the orientally influenced elegance of Michelle Ong and the creative intricate pieces of Francis Mertens. Manuel Carerra, designer of the Global Luxury Awards that were to be presented later that evening showcased delightful figurines and Moiseikin (Russian Luxury) exhibited a number of examples of beautiful traditional Russian cups, jewellery and porcelain pieces.

Certain exhibitors such as New Style captured the essence of the day by presenting rooms bursting with the supreme - Clive Christian’s No.1 Imperial Majesty Perfume (£115,000), Opera Gallery’s Grande Contorsionniste IV Sculpture by Mauro Cordo (£80,000), Lladro’s Queen of Nile Porcelain (£85,000), Blüthner’s Grand Piano (£67,895), a Luke Wilson White Diamond Wing Chair (Sharifi London, £275,000) and an Anna Casa Glass Top Dinning Table (£6135).

Villemont brought their top end watch designs to exhibit, whilst Jasper Bril presented Cartier’s Precious Collection of sunglasses. Iris Globes travelled from Holland with their antique collection of globes and maps and Technogym brought their Kinesis Personal, designed by architect Antonio Citterio, as a showcase of the wellness and luxury for which they have become synonymous. Many other exhibitors included the finest craftsmanship of a Linley Backgammon table and numerous antiques, art and precious rugs.

In between interactive discussion sessions in the main conference room, delegates aired their views and met both new and old industry professionals over a glass of wine offered by Bibendum or sipped the gems of little known Hungarian wineries, as well as sampling Hungarian canapés and the finest fare for lunch.

The evening ended with a cocktail reception hosted by Pernot Ricard where GLF guests were joined by yet more HNW individuals who had not had the occasion to pop by to the event throughout the course of the day to admire the luxury gallery and its potential purchases.
Finally at a special dinner hosted in Claridges Ballroom by Harpers Bazaar Russia and the GLF organisers - Eventica, and sponsored by Pernot Ricard, speakers, exhibitors and their guests could revisit the day’s ideas and strengthen new acquaintances over a dinner of foie gras, sea bass, duck and passion fruit tart finished off with Martell XO or Chivas Regal’s delightful 18 Gold Signature. Global Luxury Awards were given to Pam Danziger for her contribution to ‘understanding luxury’ the aim of the event and Maxim Shkadov of Kristall for progress in the Russian luxury sector – a focus of one of the day’s sessions.

“Thanks once more for hosting such a remarkable event! It is one of the best I have witnessed in the luxury industry yet and I hope you'll carry on for many years to come. It was a real pleasure for me to attend.”
Uche C. Okonkwo,
Director & Co-founder
Luxe E.t.c.


“I just wanted to …let you know I was very impressed with your event. Please keep me and Elite Traveler in mind for the future, and congratulations on your tremendous success!”
Douglas D. Gollan
President and Editor-in-Chief
Elite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazine


“The GLF was well attended, well organized and very productive. The calibre of speakers was also great. Please keep me up to date with all of your future events through your mailing list or otherwise”.
Andy Friedlander
Stealth Corporation


“Thank you for a superb day on Friday – what a great success! The event was beautifully organized and I found the sessions most informative especially the last one – many congratulations”.
Roz Murray-Smith
Head of Marketing & Communications
Morris Visitor Publications


Source: Global Luxury Forum

www.eventica.co.uk

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