n.05_September_October.2009.Englisch._

• GLOBALBUSINESSLUXURY

ALL THAT GLITTERS

DerLuxuskenntkeineGrenzen- selbstwenndieZeitenhartergewordensind.DieAnbieterder

exklusivstenundteuerstenMarkensehenjedenfallskeinenGrund,anderZukunftzuzweifeln.

VICKISUSSENS-MESSERERhaterfahren,wasdieSuperreichenglücklichmacht. iMi!!i

all(hatcUtters(isnotCold) esislnichtalle'>Gold,was

[,~:löa:1,lJht;,zIZnOI'g;,old] glllnrt

aviatlonr,elvi'cl[>n) Fliegen.Fliegerei

bttlioNire[,bilj;,'ne;,1 Milliilfd3r(fii)

luxuryhistory:

aMareJaeob!l's

Christmasparty:

oneofVlctorla

Beckham's 100

Hermesbaes;

JackieOnaasl

wltha Gueeibai;

a1.

Cartierwateh

In anothcr sign ofpure decadence, business was

boomingforfirmslikeJetAviarion,whichworkswith

srardesignerssuchasPhilippeStarckroturnAirbuses

iotoluxury"flyingviUas". RequC5tsfrom clienrs-

mainlySaudiprineesandRussianoligarchs- included

cIl'CtronicgadicIscovercdinjewe1s,lilllhks.forhorses

andagaragefora Lamborghini.

Inearly2008,expertswerecallingthe1uxu-

ryindm.tryrhe"mostrobustofanybusinessseetor"-

despiregrowingfearsahout 3 financialcrisis.Butb)'the

endofrheyear,afterthecrisishadcutthenumberof

billionairesby 30 percent,theeuphoriaended.Asa

signofthetimes,louis·VuirrondesignetMareJacobs,

famous for his extravagant Christmas parties, ean-

ccliedtheOllefor2008."Lastyear,hispartywasheld

in Rockefeller P1aza, where, [in] golden showers of

.hli.Iu:..youngmen;llld\Vomenstood113kedand.d..u..s..tcl

inglitter.A )'carlarer,thegoldseemsvulgar,"comment-

edtrendfor«3!itersChrisSandersanandManinRay-

mondinthemagazine[l/xlIr)'Briefin~.

Luxuryhadcnmea langwavfromthedays wheo

Jeannelanvindresseda glamorousMarleneDietrich,or

BtigittcBaedotposedseductivdyonherRivaboat.The

vu1garitygrewpardyinresponsetothezeitgeistof.1:4::.

~.Smfirmsintheluxuryindumyhelpcdcreatethe

~."Theyconsrandyraisedthci30le,offeringmore

andmoreexeess,"saysBritishdesignguruStcphenBay-

ley,cal1ingit:"Machiavelliaoismaimedat consumers".

Withthepublicno\Vlw.s..ti.I..e.rosignsofgreed,firms

selIiogtheworld'sfinestproductsarerethinkingtheir

strategies.Thisisnothingnew.Eversineetheluxuryin-

dustrybeganwiththebinhofFrenchmaisQllssuchas~

Analyst(in)

Gerllt,Spielerei

Gier

eilK!lSacheablehnend

gegenOberstehen

(der)Machiavellismus

bloß

denEinsatzerhöhen

verfiIhrerlsch

hier:Unmengen

Stall

Beilage

Arnazonasgeb,et

blinglbll!jl]ifml.US Klunker.aulflilligerSchmuck

briefin,['bri,rlll] Inf(n1l<Jlionlen)

comeaIongwar.hawe~ esweitgebrachthaben

l,kAm;,,lno'WCI] -,;,__c;]"",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,",,,o;;=

conciergeclubr'konsi~;l3klAb] exklusiverClubmit24-Slun·

den--ServicefOrMJ!glieder

Betriebsleiterlin)

jmdn.best3uben

""'"""Siedepunkt

COO(chiefopel'atlngofficerl[,si:;lo':ou]

dustsb.[dASl]

~e$$[lk'se~l

leverpitchl'fi:v~rull

,.,r-,woyearsaga,Timercportedinitswinteredi-

tionofStyle&Desigllthatthedemandfor

exorbirantlyexoticluxuryhadreached"fever

ciIffi...ForbesbossSteveFarbesroldthemag-

azinethat 2007 wastherichestyeareverin

hllmanhisrory,withthenllmbcrofbilljonairesgrow-

ingby 19 percent.Asthegoudlifespread,t,hesuper-

richiookcdforevermoreextravagantluxuriestosep-

aratethcmfromthemerelyrich.Onesignwasthe

growthof"Iuxuryconciereeclubs",whosejobit is,

simply,tosatisfymembers'eveeywish.AsEclward

RosenthaI,.CQQoEtheglobalclubQuintessenrially

saidinaTimemagazine1uxurysupplementin2007:

"Wedoanythingandeverythingforourclienrs,as

longasit'snotillegal."

Forexamp1e,a groupofhedge-fllndmanagersonee

askcdtobedroppedintheAmazonjung1cfoefourdays

withnorhingbotknives,saying[heydidnotmindrhe

riskofseriousinjuryordeath."Ihadtoreadthee-mai

rhreetimestomakesureI gorit right,"saidRosemhaI.

OnememberinlvliamirangtheclubtOsay shenccded

a pairofshoesfroma shopinlosAngeIesfota party

thatnight.TheywerefIowntOherina privatejet.And

a membcrinLondonneededa last-minutegift- and

askedthcclubtofinda Picasso.

Machlavetnanisml,m!l:ki"'vdi~Il,Iz,,m]
merely!'m,~Ji]
raisetheaame[,rCIZ1)01'gcIml
5educllvely[s1'dAkllvli]
showetll'[aoozj
stableI'SIClb>l]
supp~1's...plUD.:Jal]
theAmazon[öl'l'I:m;n;>n!

foreasterl'f~:klJ:~uJ
pdpt['yzd3I1]
Vm[yri:d]
hostile:be-to5th.l'hnsta"l]

18 BusJnessSpodighl 5/