What The Luxe

What The Luxe started life with an episode titled Why We Hate Luxury, an unlikely opener for two people who run a luxury consultancy. A hundred episodes on, they seem to have warmed to the subject. To mark the milestone, Fred puts a round of questions from listeners and clients to Anant. Some call for a considered view on behavioural design or what AI means for creativity. Others are less high-minded and somewhat off-the-cuff. Equal parts charming, amusing and insightful, tune in as they revisit favourite conversations from the show, from authors Stephen Bayley and Aja Raden to Kerzner CEO Philippe Zuber and SIRO's Mattheos Georgiou , and tease a few episodes still to come. Expect plenty of mutual ribbing, strong opinions and the odd tangent.

Gilda Perez-Alvarado spent nearly two decades at JLL, ultimately as Global CEO of its Hotels & Hospitality group, advising the sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms behind some of the world's most significant hotels. She then crossed to the operator's side at Accor, where she went on to lead Orient Express. In this episode, Fred Moore sits down with Gilda to trace how a brand born in 1883 is being rebuilt as an ecosystem of trains, hotels and yachts. They get into why every property celebrates its own era while carrying Orient Express as its surname, and why the newest chapter is a sailing yacht with 54 suites built to be chartered whole. They also discuss what LVMH brings to the partnership and a service culture where the crew have no backstage to retreat to. Gilda also tells the story of the original 1929 carriages, spotted on Google satellite imagery near the border between Poland and Belarus and brought back to France in convoy.

Caroline Smith cut her teeth on brands from Glenfiddich and Sailor Jerry to Hendrick's and Balvenie, followed by a stint in brand licensing for character brands, before finding herself in the cruise category. A coffee her husband talked her into with Regent Seven Seas Cruises turned into more than a decade at the company, where she rose from EMEA lead to Chief Marketing Officer and has just taken on group responsibility for Oceania as well. In this episode, Anant sits down with Caroline to unpack the business of selling luxury at sea. They discuss what it means to market a perishable product, where every unsold sailing is gone for good, and how that shapes a role split between building brand demand ten years out and spinning up campaigns in a matter of days. Caroline explains why discounting is a trap for an ultra-luxury brand, and why Regent spent years avoiding the word "all-inclusive" before leaning into it. They also get into the Seven Seas Prestige, a ship 40% larger than its predecessors carrying only 10% more guests, its 9,000-square-foot Skyview Regent Suite, and the moment former Formula One driver Pedro de la Rosa looked out from his balcony at the old Valencia circuit and was visibly moved.

Dimitris Memos built MarineTraffic into the world's leading maritime intelligence platform before turning to the sky. Dimitris Kossyfas brought deep knowledge of the Greek islands and a storyteller's instinct for the brand. Together they co-founded Hoper after Memos nearly missed a friend's wedding on Patmos and realised Greece needed a faster way to connect its islands. In this episode, Fred Moore speaks to the duo about building Greece's first helicopter airline: scheduled routes, bookable seats, 40+ connections across Athens and 14 islands. They discuss why the idea took 50 years to work, what it takes to run a fleet of helicopters day to day, how they think about luxury versus accessibility, and where vertical mobility goes next as flying taxis move from demonstration flights to reality.

Aifric Lennon began her career in neuroscience, researching how music affects the brain at Goldsmiths before becoming managing director at Father, a music and sound design studio. In this episode, Fred Moore sits down with Aifric to unpack why sound is still "grossly undervalued" by brands, and how a landmark IPA study she led found that music perceived as surprising or distinctive drove measurable uplift in brand fame and sales. They also discuss what separates luxury sound from mainstream branding, and why AI-generated music still fails to move listeners emotionally even when they can't tell it's AI-made. A conversation about memory, distinctiveness, and what it takes for a brand to actually be heard.

Aja Raden began her career designing engagement rings before turning to writing, using books like Stoned and The Truth About Lies to trace how objects come to be considered valuable, and what happens when that agreement breaks down. In this episode, Anant Sharma sits down with Aja to unpack the myth-making behind the modern diamond industry, how De Beers and N.W. Ayer engineered scarcity where none existed and tied it so tightly to love that "diamonds are forever" became gospel. They also discuss the panic now gripping the Natural Diamond Council as lab-grown diamonds undercut the very story the industry built itself on and the origin story of the beads that bought Manhattan. A conversation about scarcity, storytelling, and what happens when an industry gets trapped by the mythology it invented.

In this episode, Luke Hemsley, Founder of Wednesday's Domaine, joins Fred Moore to unpack the behavioural tension driving the alcohol-free wine movement, the desire to participate in the ritual of drinking without overdoing it, and why that shift has as much to do with psychology as it does with taste. From sourcing high-quality base wines to using vacuum distillation to strip out alcohol without stripping out flavour, Luke breaks down what it takes to make a 0% wine that tastes like wine. The conversation covers the wine industry's resistance to the category, the awkward social codes around not drinking, and how design and premium cues shape the ritual of pouring a glass, whether or not there's alcohol in it. This is a look at what happens when a category built on heritage is forced to adapt to modern life, and why choice, not abstinence, might be the thing that reshapes wine for a generation drinking differently.

Barbara Muckermann has led at nearly every altitude of the travel industry, from PR and trade through Silversea Cruises, MSC, and Loro Piana, to her current role as CEO of Kempinski Hotels, one of the oldest independent hotel groups in Europe. In this episode, Anant sits down with Barbara to unpack the operational complexity behind luxury hospitality, comparing the economics of running a cruise ship against running a hotel, the wildly different booking cycles for each, and how metrics like ADR and TREVPAR actually shape the business. They also discuss the shift toward brand-led leadership in hospitality, why so few luxury hotel CEOs still come up through pure hotel operations, and the origin story of Kempinski itself, a brand built on the idea that life is simply better lived well. A conversation about scale, judgment, and what it takes to run luxury at every size.

Mattheos Georgiou has spent three decades in luxury hospitality, working across Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai and beyond, shaped by crises as much as by calm. As Head of Global Operations for One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds, he now oversees brands with very different ambitions, but a shared conviction that hospitality should help you perform at your best. In this episode, Anant and Mattheos get into what it means to build a wellness brand with genuine substance, why the guests turning up to SIRO aren't who anyone expected, and what the hospitality industry still hasn't fixed since 1985. They also talk leadership through crisis, lobbying for ideas in Tokyo, and the Ottoman mansion in rural Greece that started a second obsession.

Bob Donofrio has spent more than three decades at the summit of luxury, leading some of the world's most storied maisons, including Bulgari, Roberto Cavalli, and Asprey. But it was a question he'd never thought to ask that changed everything. Where does gold actually come from? In this episode, Anant sits down with Bob to trace that question to its source. From small-scale miners using mercury in Papua New Guinea, to the UN's Minamata Convention, to Futura, the jewellery house Bob founded to prove that ethical sourcing and exceptional design aren't mutually exclusive. They discuss why the luxury industry has been slow to act, what recycled gold gets wrong, the leadership rotation problem inside heritage houses, and why provenance is becoming the defining measure of value in fine jewellery. A conversation about responsibility, craft, and what it really means to build something that lasts.

Pär Heyden has spent his career at the intersection of precision design and brand building, from the tactile engineering of Hasselblad cameras to the industrial heritage of Volvo, and now as Head of Brand and Executive Creative Director at Polestar. In this conversation, Anant sits down with Pär to explore what it really means to build a considered brand from the ground up. They discuss why restraint is a competitive strategy in a sector defined by feature escalation, how Polestar approached the redesign of the in-car interface with the same craft typically reserved for physical materials, and why the automotive industry has consistently underestimated the intelligence of its customers. Pär also reflects on the role of retail space in shaping perception, the thinking behind some of Polestar's most distinctive brand moments, and where enduring value sits as mobility becomes increasingly software-defined.

Berry Bros. & Rudd has been trading from the same address on St James's Street since 1698. It was founded by a woman, holds two Royal Warrants, and today offers more than 5,000 wines selected by five Masters of Wine. Claudia Stebbings, Director of Marketing & Experiences, joined in 2019 bringing a background in media and television to one of Britain's most storied businesses. In this conversation, host Fred Moore and Claudia explore what it means to be a merchant, the link between producer and drinker, and why trust is at the centre of everything Berry Bros does. They talk about wine as a passion asset, the collector's mindset, and how a bottle can outlast the person who bought it. They also get into how new generations are discovering wine, why the category is less intimidating than it once was, and what a 328-year-old business still has to learn.

Filippo Arnaboldi joined Frette in 1999 as one of six employees in the US. Twenty-five years later, he leads the brand globally, having grown it from a small European heritage business into one of the world's most recognised names in luxury home textiles. Founded in 1860, Frette has supplied royal households, grand hotels, and private residences for over a century and a half, and under Filippo's stewardship it has expanded well beyond the bedroom into a broader expression of how people live at home. In this episode, Anant talks to Filippo about what long-term stewardship of a heritage brand actually looks like, why service is the real product, and how the convergence of retail and hospitality is reshaping the way Frette reaches its customers. They also get into the discipline behind expanding a brand without overstretching it, what it means to frame quality beyond thread count, and why in a world of endless distraction, the hours you spend at home might matter more than ever.

Daniel Bense spent nearly 12 years inside Aesop, helping build its commercial engine and cultural presence across Europe and the US, before leading British heritage brand Sunspel as Managing Director. In 2022 he stepped away to build something of his own. To My Ships launched in 2024 after two years of unusually rigorous product development, and what emerged is a personal care brand that treats a category most people never think twice about with the seriousness typically reserved for fine fragrance. In this episode, Fred Moore talks to Daniel about what he saw missing in the deodorant category, why formulating without cost restraint produces a fundamentally different product, and how the Iliad became the unlikely foundation for a brand built on depth and substance. They also get into the tension between natural efficacy and performance claims, what 12 years at Aesop actually taught him, and why the most intimate products on your shelf might be the ones most worth reconsidering.

Lew Frankfort joined Coach in 1979 when it was a $6 million leather goods company with a factory, a handful of offices, and a cult following. Over the next three decades, he led its transformation into a $5 billion global brand, coining the term accessible luxury along the way and building one of the most consumer-centric businesses in the history of fashion. In conversation with Anant Sharma, Lew traces the full arc of that journey, from opening the first Coach store on Madison Avenue to taking the brand public, breaking into Japan ahead of every European luxury house, and what it actually means to keep a brand emotionally relevant across generations. A conversation about long-termism, consumer insight, and what it takes to build something that truly lasts.

James Cavagnari has built a thirty-year practice on a simple but hard-won idea: that the best spaces get better with time. The founder of PRIMA DESIGN, a Florence-based studio working across luxury retail, hospitality and residential, joins Fred Moore to talk about craft, context and the discipline of designing without trends. They cover his early years rolling out stores for Ferragamo and Bulgari, the conversion of his childhood home into a Florence hotel, and why the future of luxury is moving toward the personal and the particular. A conversation about what it means to create something that truly lasts.

Long Lane is not a spa, a hotel or a members' club. It's a rethink of how hospitality can operate when health is the starting point. Co-founder Loui Blake joins Fred Moore to unpack the model behind it. From designing environments that support both social and physical wellbeing, to building an audience in public before the doors have even opened. They discuss the changing expectations of younger consumers, the limits of traditional wellness, and why the next wave of hospitality may look very different from what came before.

Sam Bompas is the co-founder of Bompas & Parr, a studio known for creating experiences that sit somewhere between food, architecture and theatre, from inhalable cocktails to large-scale edible installations. In this episode, he joins Anant Sharma to explore what it means to design for the senses. They discuss how taste can be shaped by sound, environment and expectation, why brands still default to the visual, and how experiences that disappear can often be the ones that last longest. This is a conversation about perception, memory, and what food and drink can do when treated as a serious design medium.

Bombardier started with a snowmobile. Today, it builds the world's fastest business jet. In this episode, Ève Laurier, VP of Communications & Marketing at Bombardier, joins Fred Moore to unpack the company's transformation into a focused, pure-play business aviation brand—and the work required to reshape how it's understood. Eve shares what it takes to rebrand an institution that an entire country feels emotionally attached to—from months of stakeholder listening before briefing a single agency, to presenting the new identity to the founding family. She challenges common perceptions of business aviation, explains why "esteemed brand" sits more comfortably than "luxury," and reflects on the moment a client takes delivery of an $85 million aircraft on the factory floor. This is a conversation about engineering culture, brand transformation, and what it means to carry a national legacy forward.

What makes a city work? According to Chris Choa, it has very little to do with the buildings. In this episode, Anant Sharma speaks with Chris Choa, Founder of OUTCOMIST, about the behavioural logic that shapes how cities attract people, evolve identity, and create lasting value. Drawing on decades of work advising mayors, sovereign wealth funds, and developers across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, Chris shares how he approaches urban systems, working backwards from outcomes and always asking why before what. The conversation moves from the accidental success of Silicon Roundabout to the limits of greenfield cities like Dubai, the rise of mega-city regions, and why the future of luxury might be less about products and more about what Chris calls the "life moat" — a deliberately constructed set of conditions that protects and consolidates the life you want. This is a conversation about cities as systems, identity as infrastructure, and what it means to design for outcomes rather than objects.