A recent news article published in the Bloomberg talks about Pursuits Weekly: As Global Economy Slips, Luxury Is Doing Just Fine.
Chris Rovzar, the editor of Pursuits
Hello luxurious readers, it’s Chris Rovzar, the editor of Pursuits. I’ve been doing a bit of traveling lately, for work and for fun, and it’s been so nice to be on the road again. And let me tell you: Luxury is doing great these days.
In Milan, I wandered the busy streets and met with brands including Armani, Brunello Cucinelli, Prada and Valentino. All had exciting news to share in the coming months—debuts in new categories, updated lines, and new flagships opening around the world. You’ll read more about much of it in Pursuits soon.
In Paris, I tried out the famous blue lobster at Langosteria restaurant on top of LVMH’s ultra-glamorous Cheval Blanc hotel, overlooking the Seine. (I’m from Maine, so I can’t legally say that it was the best lobster I’ve ever tasted—but it was close.) I dined at Coco in the Opera Garnier while musicians wandered between the crowded tables, and then made my way into a secret speakeasy called La Colonia. It’s a lush cocktail bar with a DJ, hidden under a perfume shop near the Jardin du Palais Royal, and requires a code to get in which changes every day. I felt very cool, and also very old and tired.
I also wandered LVMH’s stunning new Samaritaine department store, and talked to the employees at boutiques for some of my favorite brands like Bulgari, Tiffany and Thom Browne. They said they’ve been seeing tourist foot traffic come back since the pandemic lightened its grip on the city, but it seems like locals are still mainly going to rivals Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Meanwhile the Bourse de Commerce-Pinault Collection, the relatively new contemporary art museum created by Kering billionaire Francois Pinault, was busy and impressive.
My one non-work mission in Paris was to find a dress for my two-year-old daughter which was so undeniably French that when she wore it, everyone would immediately ask me where I got it. Then I, smug as Splenda, would be able to loudly reply: “Oh just this little boutique in Paris.”
I accomplished my mission at Bonton Filles Du Calvaire in the Marais, where I also found myself my dream leather backpack at Sandqvist. Next time, I’m staying in this neighborhood!
While in Paris, I met with Cartier, Hermès, Zenith and others. Like the Italian luxury houses, they are expanding and investing. Business is booming. They may be facing supply chain issues—but they are as popular as they have ever been, selling out of items left and right and struggling to meet demand.
I told the Hermès team how much I was wow-ed by their recent, mind-bogglingly over-the-top party for the new boutique on Madison Avenue. For the opening, they commissioned an entirely new musical, and hired three separate casts of Broadway actors to perform it throughout the store and out on the streets, among revelers, repeatedly through the evening. I would say that was an “Only in New York” evening, but the truth is this kind of thing is happening all over the world when it comes to these top-tier brands.
Which brings me to my point in telling you about these travels: despite currency disasters and inflation around the globe, an ongoing war in Europe, and a possible impending global recession—luxury is doing perfectly fine.
In fact, luxury is thriving.
This is the question people ask me the most when we do the regular Q&As for these newsletters: Will luxury face a downturn as pretty much everyone else does? I think people ask this because it seems impossible that the party could continue. And if it does, it won’t look very pretty, and it won’t feel particularly fair.
But the answer is: no, luxury’s not going to face a downturn. At least not very soon.
Everyone from ultra-rich jet setters all the way down to the upper upper upper middle class (which represents more people than you think) are relatively immune to many of the economic pressures that face the rest of us when it comes to discretionary spending. And I fully expect the success of the market for high-end goods and services to continue to boom for at least the next year or two—especially once China opens its borders again and its citizens can once again travel… and shop.
What else I’m reading
Nothing seems to represent the wealth gap more than superyachts, huh? If you want to get right into the culture and community of the sordid society of superyacht owners (many of whom, its true, are Putin cronies) you can’t do better than Evan Osnos’s New Yorker story from this summer, “The Haves and the Have Yachts.”
For good measure, you should also re-read the story by intrepid Pursuits contributor Brandon Presser where he went undercover to work as a deckhand on some of these vast vessels. He witnessed everything from artfully arrayed cannabis buffets to dedicated cocaine rooms—plus, as you can imagine, had to cater to a murder of misbehaving clients.
If you want a peek at this lifestyle yourself, without shelling out the $100+ million usually required for entry, you can book a berth on the Ritz-Carlton superyacht that set sail for the first time this fall. Trips on the 298-passenger Evrima start at around $1,000 per person, per night.
What are the best restaurants in Madrid for a business lunch?
I did a Fulbright in Madrid in my twenties; it’s one of my favorite cities on the planet. And even though that experience of living there was very recent and definitely not many many years ago, I think I’m slightly out of date on my Madrid recommendations.
Thankfully, one of my dear friends and a Bloomberg Pursuits contributor, Benjamin Kemper, is the ultimate expert for all things Madrid. When I was back there in 2019 I took all of his recommendations, and he never led me astray. So I’ll direct you to his list of the best restaurants in Madrid from Condé Nast Traveler, and highlight three:
- Dos Cielos in the Palacio de los Duques Gran Melia hotel, by the Royal Palace, features Michelin-star Castilian dishes, and has a private dining room.
- El Paraguas in Salamanca for classic food in a beautiful, cozy environment.
- And if you really want to impress, take them to DiverXO, which features an aggressively creative gastronomic menu and colorful decor, which combine to place it at a whopping No. 4 on the World’s Best Restaurants list.
Where do you see the luxury watch market going in the next six, or 12 months?
I get asked this one a lot, too. We’ve seen prices on the secondary market for coveted Rolexes and Patek Philippes soften over the past year, with Morgan Stanley last month predicting they’ll decline even further. But I continue to hear stories about Rolex boutiques opening where entire rooms or even floors are empty because there aren’t enough watches to put on display.
Here’s why: There’s a difference between the secondary market, which is rife with speculation and crypto money, and the primary market—where many luxury retailers will only sell to clientele they know and respect as collectors. In fact, to manage currency fluctuations, Rolex just raised their prices in Europe by 5% this week.
(Honestly, they could probably raise them a lot more—like fashion brands including Chanel have done with bags—and it’s a credit to them that they haven’t.)
Generally, I expect retail watch sales to continue to grow for luxury brands over the next couple of years. And then I expect them to soften somewhere in the next five or more years, because these things come in cycles, and tastes across global markets tend to change.
But I want to make something very clear: Rolex and Patek and Audemars Piguet aren’t the whole luxury watch market. In fact, haute horology extends way past most of the brands you’ve heard of, such as Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier, or TAG Heuer.
There are so, so many independent companies making exciting watches at a variety of price points, and I really hope the heat on the top-tier investment brands serves to push interest out to lesser-known artisans, and interesting historical models. I’m going to do a story on these brands I like around the holidays, so stay tuned!
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: Bloomberg
