LuxurySummit

Luxury Summit Rises Again In 2010

In 2008, I reported from the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit and found that the luxury market was fairly concerned about the state of economy. In 2009 things got so bad, the summit was canceled. Can we take it as another sign of hope that the Luxury Summit is back for 2010? And what better place for renewal of luxury than that glittering symbol of the new luxury, the CityCenter project. The Luxury Summit takes place on April 25-27 at the new Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas. The program includes presentations by Louis Vuitton North America President Daniel Lalonde, Saks Fifth Avenue Chairman Steve Sadove, Taubman Chief Operating Officer William S. Taubman, and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. An early registration price of $3,250 is being offered until February 1 when the cost will rise to $3,450.

Tags: american express, AmericanExpress, las vegas, LasVegas, luxury summit, LuxurySummit

Blogging From the Luxury Summit: How the Wealthy Spend When Times Get Tough

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

With dire economic news coming out nearly every day what is going on in the luxury community? Are consumers worried? Have they stopped buying? At the American Express Publishing Luxury Summit the second annual Survey of Affluence & Wealth in America produced by American Express Publishing Corporation and the Harrison Group was revealed. As the survey reveals, no one is stopping their shopping anytime soon but they are shifting from what they call an "iWant" economy to an "iNeed" economy and finding new ways to spend money.

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Tags: economy, expire-images2009-4-20, luxury summit, LuxurySummit, recession, shopping

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Blogging from the Luxury Summit: the Recession, the Russian and the Icon

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Events

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.

Tags: american express, diane von furstenberg, DianeVonFurstenberg, expire-images2009-4-15, luxury summit, LuxurySummit, roustam tariko, RoustamTariko

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