In a world where the economy is an everyday concern, the luxury market is worried. Not overly worried, since as we've seen, the very high-end of the market remains secure but the recession was a factor in every panel held by the Luxury Summit. One of the strongest messages we keep hearing is that today's rich are not yesterday's rich; they are "middle class between the ears (not thinking rich)."

Certainly, we've lost the meaning of luxury but overall luxury is in the eye of the beholder, one man's luxury is another man's necessity. One of the hidden benefits of hard times is that they help to define luxury, for example a $500,000 ski condo is having a hard time selling right now but a $2 million ski condo is an easy sell. What was perhaps most interesting at this conference is watching the juxtaposition between stories of extreme luxury spending, fears of a recession and the theme of the conference: philanthropy. In this second post from the Luxury Summit held by American Express Publishing at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, CA I will look at some recent statistics regarding the wealthy, see my first real live Russian billionaire and pay homage to the one and only Diane Von Furstenberg.First up in the business sessions on the main day o the conference, Betrand Lavayssiere, the managing director of Capegemini delivered some of the news on the high net worth individuals. No big news here, yes, there are more wealthy than ever but they are all very different. Growth markets are the usual suspects, Russia, China and India, and one country that doesn't get quite so much press when it comes to talking about the luxury spending boom, Brazil.
Each geographic region also has different spending tastes, in the Middle East the passion is jewelry, in North America we love luxury collectibles, in Europe and Latin America art are popular investments. His data also confirms what we've heard elsewhere which is that the cost of living well keeps going up. The data on philanthropy is that people are allocating 7% of the portfolio to philanthropic causes but entrepreneurs tend to give more around double that amount. And one of the biggest trends in investing, socially responsible investing is experiencing double digit growth rates. As for that pesky recession, he predicts a few hard years but nothing too drastic.

One of the most entertaining speakers at the conference had to be Roustam Tariko, founder and chairman of Russia Standard vodka, Russian Standard bank. Tariko first came to U.S. attention when he debuted his vodka in the States by hosting a lavish star-studded party at the Statue of Liberty. Tariko seems to be in a perpetual good mood (you would be too if you ranked #307 on Forbes billionaires list). And he's single, which might just make him the catch of the conference. Tariko delivered some of the amazing statistics on Russia's boom. Since 1999, average wages have multiplied by a factor of eight and the number of Russian entrepreneurs is on the rise. Remember those pictures from the 1980s that showed Russians waiting in line for hours just for basic goods like toilet paper? Those days are long gone. Today Russians have easy access to consumer goods. Small wonder then that advertising spending is growing at a rate of 30% a year. There are more billionaires in Moscow than New York and like their Western counterparts they are becoming big philanthropic givers. He should know, Forbes recently mentioned that he helped Russian model Natalia Vodianova raise $6 million for her cause of building playgrounds in her homeland including paying early $500,000 for the right to name a rare new orchid from Madagascar at a silent auction.

And recession worries? Tariko says Russians are aware of the global economic crisis but he points proudly to Russia's s large foreign currency reserve ($500 billion compared to $75 billion for the U.S.) and says Russia is a great place to do business right now.

No slouch herself in the charm department, Diane Von Furstenberg was also one of the speakers as part of the "in conversation" talks. She seems to be one of those women who only gets more appealing with age, time adding soft edges to her accent and a pleasing angularity to her face. Being an icon is no easy task but she wears it well partially because she is genuinely interested in the world and its changes. She's someone who knows she got lucky the first go round, famous in her 20s for creating the patterned wrap dress, a sexy twist on the traditional fabric drape of a toga or kimono that took the world by storm. She became an fashion brand instantly. But by the mid 1980s, DVF and everything she stood for was a bit of a memory. She spent time in Europe and then in the late 1980s when she was eager to get back into the fashion game the world wasn't quite so eager to embrace her. She was, for a time, seen as a has-been.

Hard to imagine considering that now the wrap dress and Von Furstenberg are hot again. Her fashion line does huge business, she has a successful jewelry line with H. Stern and though she is married to a very wealthy man she is also a woman committed to female independence including supporting Vital Voices a nonprofit dedicated to helping women around the world. She is preparing for her first fashion show in Florence, called La Petite Valise, the little suitcase, based on her concept that if you can figure out how to pack, you can figure out how to live. Her soft clinging clothes are perfect for tossing in a small suitcase and jetting around the world.

She told one story that moved the audience. Her mother, Lily, a holocaust survivor, when she was on the trains going to Auschwitz struck up a friendship with a woman who spoke German. She decided she would stay with that woman for safety. At the camp they were dividing up people, the soldier in charge directed the woman who spoke German to go right and Von Furstenberg's mother followed her, the officer behind the soldier grabbed her, whipped her and threw her to the left. She hated him with a passion. That man saved her life, the line to the right led to the gas chamber. The lesson is that you never know what will benefit you. Perhaps a good thing to keep in mind during a time of economic turmoil.