We are thrilled to announce that the In Pursuit of Luxury Podcast is now live. Season One – Visionary Women celebrates International Women’s Day with 8 episodes featuring inspiring leaders from fashion, business, design and publishing.
Episode One: Bijou Abiola – Bijou Abiola – Director of Consumer Insights L’Oreal Luxe
Episode two: Maria Grachvogel – Designer
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new podcast. Season One – Visionary Women celebrates International Women’s Day with 8 episodes featuring inspiring leaders from fashion, business, design and publishing.
Our first episode of Season One drops on Thursday February 11th 2021.
On 10 December In Pursuit Of Luxury (IPOL) sponsored by Intellect Books, hosted its first digital symposium. What Next focused on the two Special Issue IPOL Journals and celebrated 25 years since Chris Berry’s seminal book The Idea of Luxury was first published. He was joined by Father Andrew O’Connor a Roman Catholic priest and the founder of Goods of Conscience, a sustainable non-profit luxury fashion firm in New York City, for a debate on the vice and virtues of luxury. James Campbell the director of international marketing at Intellect moderated the In Conversation and the two panels which followed.
Each panel featured authors who had published in two special issue IPOL journals, one edited by Veronica Manlow of Brooklyn College which focused on production and the other edited by Shaun Borstrock which focused on spaces of luxury. Each of the panel members brought in a different view and the format allowed for questions from the audience. From UH Silvo Carta and Mark Bloomfield participated in the panel on the space of luxury with architect Pieter De Kock and Sheena Calvert from the University of the Arts London. Kenneth Appiah-Nimo joined the panel on production from Johannesburg and he was joined by Federica Carlotto from Sotheby’s Institute of Art and Simon O’Leary from Regent’s University London.
The team received overwhelmingly positive feedback including this from one of the delegates:
“Thank you very much for a great conference. I have been to many practitioners’ luxury conference, and appreciate the rare opportunity to hear from academics who specialize in luxury and bring in a different point of view; especially because they represented diverse disciplines and perspectives and offered a critical view. Thank you for being provocative, authentic, and thoughtful in your remarks!”
We look forward to our next virtual event early in 2021.
Watch this space for news and upcoming events.
Luxury goods: why elite brands are weathering the pandemic better than high street retailers
Luxury goods: why elite brands are weathering the pandemic better than high street retailershttps://theconversation.com/luxury-goods-why-elite-brands-are-weathering-the-pandemic-better-than-high-street-retailers-144392
Date: December 10, 2020
Time: 14:00-18:00 GMT
For more information click here
26, 27 & 28 May 2021
We are pleased to confirm the dates for the forth IPOL Conference to take place online in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano on 26, 27 & 28 May 2021. For more information please click here.
We are pleased to announce the 3rd Special Issue In Pursuit of Luxury journal in collaboration with the Journal of Design, Business & Society, published by Intellect is coming soon.
About this Special Issue
Luxury, innovation and technology have always been intertwined. Whether rooted in the manufacturing techniques developed during the eighteenth century or the emergence of the kinds of digital processes that impact on design, craftsmanship and production today, this fundamental relationship persists. Technology continues to influence our lives and decision making processes. Circular economic models address the need to be aware of the impact of our actions on the production of goods and services. Data driven information informs and enhances our understanding of the customer and can provide goods and services to address their individual needs.
This is in stark contrast to mass produced products and ‘services’ which—through global portals—contradict the very nature of luxury, with its emphasis on the unique, the bespoke and the singular, over mass consumption.
It could be said that the roles of manufacturing and craftsmanship are, and remain, critical components of how luxury is defined. But is the impact of digital technologies changing our very understanding of what luxury means today? Should the notion of luxury be adapted/re-examined? If so, what form should luxury take in terms of reflecting and reacting to continued advancements in technological processes, opportunities and services? Current concerns that need addressing include consumption, waste and the impact of our actions on the planet, health and well-being, equality and change. An emphasis on corporate social responsibility has enabled the tracking and tracing of finished goods and the materials used in their construction, including their environmental impact and the well-being of those involved in production. As the industry becomes more transparent, can luxury continue to remain beyond scrutiny?
The luxury customer has historically demanded the best. But now customers are also demanding transparency, traceability and accountability. Through recognition of how mass consumption is polluting the environment we are beginning to better understand the importance of circular practice within the supply chain. Technology is instrumental in organising and defining this new process.
As artificial intelligence becomes common place and aids our decision making process, will the exponential growth of luxury prove to be the most effective or efficient course of action, or the least?
With this in mind the articles in this issue contribute to the emergent debates and discussions concerning the relationship between luxury, innovation and technology. We welcome papers that explore these links in all product and service categories including manufacture, on-line (including e-commerce), marketing, the virtual luxury experience, bespoke products, design, materials, the circular economy and innovation.
Themes
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and social media, the retail environment (physical and online), new forms of communication, branding, manufacture, materials, craftsmanship, supply chain, branding, the retail environment, materials, distribution, manufacture, and the ethics and practices of sustainable luxury.
Due to the current concerns around the coronavirus outbreak in Italy we have decided to postpone the In Pursuit of Luxury 2020 conference. We will announce the new dates in due course. Thank you for your understanding.
We are delighted to announce our publishing partner is Intellect Books. For information about our IPOL Special Issue Journals and publishing click here
Luxury, innovation and technology have always been intertwined. Whether it be through the manufacturing techniques developed during the eighteenth century or the emergence of digital processes that impact on design, craftsmanship and production today. Circular economic models address the need to be aware of the impact of our actions on the production of goods and services. Technology continues to influence our lives and decision making processes. Data driven information informs and enhances our understanding of the customer and can provide goods and services to address their needs. This is in contrast to mass produced ‘services’ that through global portals contradict the very nature of customisation.
It could be said that manufacturing and craftsmanship was, and remains, a critical component of how luxury is defined. But is the impact of digital technologies changing our understanding of what luxury means today? Should the notion of luxury be adapted / re-examined? What form should it take that reflects and reacts to the continued advancements in technological processes, opportunities and services?
Current concerns that need addressing include consumption and waste and the impact of our actions on the planet, health and well-being, equality and change. An emphasis on corporate social responsibility has enabled the tracking and tracing of finished goods and the materials used in their construction, their environmental impact and the well-being of those involved in production as the industry becomes more transparent. Can luxury therefore continue to remain aloof?
The luxury customer has historically demanded the best. But now customers are also demanding transparency, traceability and accountability. Through recognition of how mass consumption is fouling the environment we are beginning to better understand the importance of circular practice within the supply chain. Technology can and is being instrumental in organising and defining this new world order. And as artificial intelligence becomes common place and aids our decision making process, how long will it take to decide that the exponential growth of luxury is not the most effective or efficient course of action?
Advances in technology continue to challenge the status-quo where innovation takes precedence and forces change. This change is keenly balanced with traditional craftsmanship and skill. How do these two concepts converge in a market that is both becoming increasingly demanding and disparate? Some, if not all of these issues are pertinent and possibly contentious. With this in mind we welcome papers that will contribute to debate and discussion around luxury, innovation and technology.
We welcome papers that explore links between luxury and technology in all product and service categories including manufacture, on-line including e-commerce, marketing and the virtual luxury experience, bespoke product, design, materials and innovation.
The 2020 conference provides a platform to continue to expand our understanding of luxury. As with previous conferences we welcome contributions from various disciplines and practices including automotive, architecture, engineering, fashion, product, digital design, retail, hospitality – all of which explore luxury through a critical lens to encourage debate.
Themes and Strands
This conference intends to expand the parameters of the debate around the concepts of luxury to provide a refreshing context to construe the familiar debates surrounding the subject.
Indicative themes for the conference are:
For information about the organisers click here