The sixth edition of Arab Luxury World, the Middle East’s leading luxury business conference, had a successful first day today, rich with valuable insights, learnings and take-aways for those in attendance. This year’s conference, launched under the theme of Digital Transformation Focusing on Data and Premium Retail, featured a number of panel discussions and workshops that provided an in-depth exploration of the latest ideas and trends within the world of luxury.
In the morning’s Keynote Address, the Founder and Creative Director of Messika, Valerie Messika, spoke about how she was able to identify a gap in the market which lead to the creation of her brand 14 years ago, how social media has been a pivotal platform for growing the brand and how customization and detail makes the Messika brand luxury. “Social media, specifically Instagram, has played a significant role in our business over the past few years, and what I live by, whether it be online or offline, is to remain authentic and organic in all business activities. I have been fortunate enough to work with incredible celebrities whom I admire and show their love for the brand so beautifully”, Valerie comments.
Day one saw a number of choice industry-leading sharing their thoughts on the impact of digital on businesses, including Ounass.com/Al Tayer’s Head of Digital Trading, Amit Rawal; Oliver White, Head of Ecommerce at Sephora; Founder & CEO of The Modist, Ghizlan Guenez; Regis Dupertuis, CEO of Le Monde des 5 Fleurs and Retail Excellence Strategist at the Luxury Hive; Salama Khalfan, Founder & Creative Director, Salama Khalfan; and Chantal Khoueiry, Chief Culture Officer, Value Retail.
Key agenda highlights included ‘The Future of Premium Retail’, an analysis of how brands have reacted and responded to the continuous change in consumer habits; ‘Regional Outlook by Cyrille Fabre’, highlighting regional economic and retail outlooks and what 2020 is expected to look like for the industry; ‘Diversity in the Luxury Retail Industry’, which evaluated how ‘diversity’, ‘inclusion; and ‘empowerment’ have had an impact on the region and on premium luxury businesses. Alexander Schmiedt of Vacheron Constanin commented, “The most important part of luxury is the relationship with our customers – and diversity is a key element. The Middle East region here has two separate worlds. From my experience, Dubai is one of the most diverse places and a true melting pot of nationalities. But on the other hand, we also have a very local market that is different, such as in Qatar”; and ‘Big Data’, which discussed how luxury brands have reacted to the new digital reality and how this translated into an increase in digital space investments.
CEO of Mediaquest, Alexandre Hawari, commented: “The first day of the Arab Luxury World 2019 conference was truly momentous. It was great to witness not only a great turnout, but also an engaging interaction between the delegates and the renowned speakers. From in-depth details on how luxury brands need to implement digital strategies, to steering toward unexplored opportunities such as blockchain and data-centric decisions, the conference covered the key topics defining the future of premium retail. The regional and economic outlook for the luxury retail landscape shared by Cyrille Fabre from Bain & Co, as well as the keynote by Valerie Messika were particularly memorable. We look forward to another exciting day tomorrow.”
Arab Luxury World sees over 500 regional and global professionals from the premium goods and services sector congregate in Dubai to discuss problems and offer solutions to all of the industry’s stakeholders. It brings together luxury brands, agents, distributors, mall operators and service providers to the luxury industry all under one roof, where they discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. Delegates seek to understand consumers' insights through unique research, to make sense of major disruptions in the business of luxury and to find ways to achieve growth.
First launched in 2014, the Arab Luxury World conference has gone from strength to strength and has seen thousands of industry professionals and speakers share invaluable knowledge and insights on the growing luxury market. Now in its sixth year, Arab Luxury World has grown into a global networking platform that is generously supported by key movers in the industry, including Laha, Jamalouki and OMD as the Gold Sponsors; Linkedin, Marriott International Luxury Brand and MMP World Wide as the Silver Sponsors; INFINITI Middle East, Luxurynsight, Teads and The Luxury Hive as the Bronze Sponsors; Z7 Communications as the Luxury PR Partner; Careem as the Official Transportation Partner; The Marketing Boutique as the Marketing Partner; Lightblue as the Content Partner; Fleurology as the Floral Partner and Arabnews, Haya, Savoir Flair and The New York Times as the Media Partners.