Luxury Futures Forum 2017: A change of emphasis

The day started with a lunch of wild sea trout confit in cultured butter, hogweed buds, lemon verbena and melilot flowers or wild Maitake mushrooms with Douglas fir, rainbow chard and toasted hazelnuts, inspired by the idea of seasonal rarity and delivered by caterers Blanch & Shock.

Attendees were updated with the latest cross-sector luxury trends as part of a global market overview before Sandrine Deveaux, managing director at the Farfetch Store of the Future, took to the stage with The Future Laboratory co-founder Chris Sanderson to discuss the shift away from a one-size-fits-all approach to luxury retail. ‘It is about solving the consumer problem,’ Deveaux informed the audience.

Guest speaker Dr Tara Swart, who is neurologist-in-residence at the Corinthia Hotel London, explained the growing importance of services that optimise brain functionality as people live longer and longer. ‘We’ll live to 100 but we’ll be demented or depressed, and that's not a life that I think anybody wants,’ Dr Swart explained.

Finally, Tracey Follows, chief strategy and innovation officer at The Future Laboratory, and Ghislaine Boddington, co-founder and creative director of body>data>space, discussed the pertinence of time versus space as the key future luxurian resource. Throughout the day LS:N Global examined the latest luxurian mindset, looking at emerging luxury consumers in Mexico and Vietnam, as well as unveiling a special report on the future of wealth.