Mega-Trend 12 Luxe to 2011

Luxury is in a crisis, did you notice?

The luxury sector is not immune to the downturn and it may be tough for those who have surfed on the wave of "bling." However, the ventures of luxury do not cease and some of them even defy times of crisis. Think about Yves Saint Laurent's record-breaking auction results (€374m) or the recent opening of the 4000-square-meter Giorgio Armani store on New York's 5th Avenue.

According to us, a more toxic peril threatens the industry: it is the "creative crunch." We observe an upcoming divorce between designers and luxury brands. Fatigue is a great challenge for marketers, designers, retailers and investors operating in both mature and emerging luxury markets. Luxury needs to go rehab' from time to time and restore its creative potential.

In the Introduction of the 12th volume of the mega trend reports Luxe to 2011, we suggest rehab' guidelines. These rules have been established with the collaboration of our international panel of creative experts around the world to get rid of overused, cultural clichés and vocabulary as well as blocking preconceived ideas on the essence of luxury brands and consumers.

The 5 next chapters then describe our forecasts on Luxury to 2011 in five colours: BLACK, RED, BLUE, GREEN and GOLD. A different starting point, the luxury colour ranges were revealed by our cross-cultural survey and gave us the impulse to imagine future developments of luxury while maintaining a link with formers definitions; 

Based from a renewed, colourful palette, marketers, designers, retailers and investors should find creative routes and ideas to achieve a brighter future in the luxury industry. 

• Black luxury, a rediscovery of patience and the length of time. 
• Blue luxury, the soft power of the ruling class.
• Red luxury, an education to luxury.
• Green luxury, the pleasures of ordinary life.
• Golden luxury, the conquest of new territories.

Brands and place mentioned in this volume include:
Abraxas Rex; Alessandro Dell'Acqua ; Alexander Wang; Art Smart; Beth Ditto; Botanist; Boudicca; Breguet; Camilla Skovgaard; Canon; Cecilie Toklum ; CheBanca ; Colette; Condé Nast ; Crea International;; David Burel; Diamond Lounge; Didier Ludot ; Dubai Infinity Holdings; EDITT (Hamzah & Yeang) ; Forest Rain ; Gowoon Jeong; Guerlain; Hästens; Katie Grand; Kiehl's; Little Marc Jacobs; Mac Funamizu; Murat Ozveri, Gabriele Crivelli & Jian Ma; Nguyen La Chanh ; Om Aroma; Plaza Athénée ; Razvan Ciobanu; Roksan ; Samsung ; Sergio Rossi; Spire ; Starwood hotels & resorts ; Style Rookie; Tadao Ando; The Simpsons; The Sphere; The Yellow Treehouse; Vuitton ; Welcom; Yves Saint Laurent......