NEW ERA : TRADE WARS AND THE BATTLE FOR RESOURCES
LUXURY AT THE SUMMIT, APRIL 10-13 2025, VAL D'ISÈRE
NEW ERA: TRADE WARS AND THE BATTLE FOR RESOURCES
In the past decade, fashion and luxury brands have invested a lot of time and money to help preserve the environment and minimize waste and pollution. Some projects have made a difference, while others have allowed brands simply to tick the “sustainability” box. However,it seems difficult to talk only about the preservation of the environment when Europe’s security is at stake and the bloc is rushing to rearm itself to secure its borders. U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening the global economy with the introduction of tariffs on goods coming from many countries and regions including Europe. What impact will it have on the fashion and luxury industry? We have lined up incredible speakers to discuss all of these topics.
PROGRAM
Thursday, April 10
Progressive arrival of participants. Drinks by the fire in the lounge area of the Experimental Chalet hotel at 19:00. Afterwards, people are free to have dinner there or elsewhere.
The conferences on the following two days take place in the conference room of the Experimental Chalet. It is located next to the hotel’s restaurant.
Friday, April 11
10:00 / Giant slalom training with Astrid Wendlandt at the Stade Legettaz, a skiing area at the foot of Solaise mountain. We encourage you to join us if you want to win the cup!
CONFERENCES
14:45-16:00 /What will be Trump’s impact on green financing?
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing and impact investing are navigating a complex global landscape in 2025, shaped by the Trump administration’s anti-woke, anti‑diversity agenda in the United States, alongside regional resilience and evolving investor priorities. Sustainability as an investment thesis is adapting pragmatically, and major investors are recalibrating their strategies. These shifts have significant implications for the fashion and luxury sectors, which are deeply tied to sustainability trends.
EUAN RELLIE will explain how ESG and impact investing are changing globally in light of the Trump agenda. He will look into how sustainability will evolve as an investment thesis, who are the biggest investors and what does this all mean for fashion and the luxury sector.
MICHAEL LIEBREICHwill argue that many – but not all – clean energy solutions already make economic sense. He will give a 360-degree view of what is happening in the field. Decisions are as likely to be affected by China’s push for electrification and exports as well as by what is happening in the United States, and he will ask challenging questions about how Europe should respond.
Euan Rellie is the founder of M&A advisory firm BDA Partners, which has expertise in consumer, luxury, health services, sustainability and technology. Since founding BDA in 1996, he has lived in New York, London and Singapore. Previously he worked for UK investment bank Schroders, now part of Citgroup. Euan Relllie was the recipient of the 2023 M&A Advisor Leadership Award.
Michael Liebreich is an acknowledged thought leader on clean energy, mobility, technology, climate, sustainability and finance. He is Co-Managing partner of advisory firm EcoPragma Capital and the founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance where he is a Senior Contributor. Former roles include serving as a member of the UK’s Taskforce on Energy Efficiency, chairing the subgroup on industry and serving as an advisor to the UK Board of Trade, an advisor to the United Nations on Sustainable Energy for All, and a member of the Board of Transport for London.
16:00-16:15 / Coffee Break
16:15-17:00 / Watchmakers saving the planet: Do customers really care?
ID Genève is a pioneer and major advocate of sustainable production and design in watchmaking. Frédérique Constant pushes for greater transparency about supply chains in the watch industry. Their respective CEOs, NICOLAS FREUDIGER and NIELS EGGERDING, have different points of view on how best to serve their customers and help preserve the environment. They will debate the question of whether watch lovers and collectors really care about saving trees when buying a timepiece, or are they rather more interested in the story behind the watch and the originality of its spirit and engineering?
Nicolas Freudiger is the Co-founder and CEO of ID Genève watch brand. After graduating from the Lausanne Hotel School in 2015 followed by a short corporate career, Nicolas decided to pursue his dream and create a new identity in the world of watchmaking, entirely based on sustainable development and the integration of circular materials that have a lower carbon footprint than the industry average. In 2023, ID Genève received investment from actor and climate change activist Leonardo DiCaprio. His ambition is to inspire other industries beyond watchmaking to find real solutions to climate change.
Niels Eggerding started as a trainee for a distribution watch company in the Netherlands that sold Zenith and Frédérique Constant watches. In 2001, he joined the Swatch Group where he spent eleven years working for different brands. In 2018, Eggerding was appointed CEO of the Frédérique Constant Group after spending four years at the group, which became part of Japan’s Citizen Group in 2016. Looking ahead, Eggerding aims to continue pushing innovation within the maison’s price range of 1,000 to 4,000 CHF (primarily), develop more in-house calibers and strengthen its presence worldwide.
17:00-17:45 / Sustainability - What works and what doesn’t
ISABELLE GROSMAÎTRE and STÉPHANE GIROD will give us examples of sustainability projects and initiatives that are bearing fruit and making a real difference. They will also discuss projects and false good ideas that have not led to anything concrete and were a waste of time. They will share with us their perspective on what they think the fashion and luxury industry should be doing to drive change and not just tick the “sustainability” box.
Isabelle Grosmaître is the founder and CEO of Goodness & Co, a consultancy that helps organizations reinvent themselves for a better future. She is the author of Business as a Force for Good: How courageous leaders shift purpose into practice. Grosmaître is the co-founder of the “Board Member Program” of ChangeNOW, the annual fair dedicated to solutions to save the planet. She is also a member of 100 Davos Women, the global community of women leaders at the World Economic Forum.
Stéphane Girod is professor of strategy and organizational innovation at IMD Lausanne business school. His work in the luxury space focuses on helping luxury brands develop and implement sustainable strategies. Professor Girod works as a consultant for a number of luxury groups and brands on sustainability issues including Chanel, Cartier, Chloe and Audemars Piguet. His book Purposeful Luxury is due to be published in 2026 by Wiley.
17:45-18:30 / The challenge of producing alternative fabrics at scale
Years after climate goals for carbon reduction were set for 2030, the fashion industry is behind schedule in materially reducing its carbon footprint. The systemic lack of commitment and resistance to committing to transformation puts the industry in a nearly impossible position to achieve the 2030 targets.
CHRISTOPHER SUAREZ will present A Blue World, a marine biotechnology value chain that was born in Iceland and has developed alternative sustainable materials that can be produced in large industrial quantities. One of its products is called Seacell, an advanced innovative, eco‑friendly fiber that combines brown algae with cellulose fibers using a closed-loop Lyocell process, ensuring minimal environmental impact and making the fiber fully biodegradable.
Christopher Suarez is the co-founder alongside the British designer of footwear brand Nicholas Kirkwood, in which LVMH took a majority stake 2013. In 2021, Suarez co-founded Ziggurat Ventures, an advisory and investment firm. Its latest project, A Blue World, aims to help significantly reduce reliance on petrochemical-based products thanks to solutions that drive industrial change and environmental impact across the value chain to the consumer.
18:45/ Apéritif at the bar of La Savoyarde hotel.
20:00 / Dinner at the restaurant of La Savoyarde.
Saturday, April 12
9:30 / Miss Tweed Cup. Giant slalom competition organized by the Ecole du Ski Français and reserved for the participants of the Summit, at Stade Legettaz at the foot of Solaise mountain.
10:30 / Group photo with the participants and supporters of the Miss Tweed Cup.
CONFERENCES
14:45-16:00 / The Future of Security in Europe
The world has become unpredictable and unstable, even chaotic: conflicts, economic changes, new alliances, technological breakthroughs... How can we find our way and make the right decisions? Drawing on their respective backgrounds – military strategy and diplomacy – LOÏC FINAZ and ERIC DANON will develop a clear and powerful analysis of the upheavals underway. They will guide us through some of the world’s current major international issues and explain how they impact the economy and corporate governance. Their conference aims to give us some keys to understanding power relations, anticipating risks and seizing opportunities. An interactive exchange to sharpen our strategic vision and strengthen our ability to adapt.
Admiral Loïc Finaz of France has served on numerous warships including frigates and nuclear attack submarines. He has also led reforms of the structures he managed: the Navy recruitment service, the Navy’s Centre for Strategic Studies and Naval Command in Paris, the National Naval Museum, and the War College, which he directed. Loïc co-directs the Geopolitics, Defense & Leadership Center at French business school ESSEC and chairs the consulting company Esprit d’Equipage et d’Entreprise (3E). He is the author of numerous books, including The Freedom of Command: The Crew Spirit (Équateurs, 2020).
Éric Danon was France’s Ambassador to Israel from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as Deputy Political Director at the French Foreign Ministry (2016-19), Diplomatic Advisor to Interpol (2012-13), Ambassador for Disarmament in Geneva (2008-12), Chief of Staff to the Minister for Cooperation and Francophonie (1999-2000) and Deputy Director of Security (1995‑99) in charge of the diplomatic aspects of the fight against terrorism and organized crime. He is now an consultant in geostrategy, defense and security.
16:00-16:15 / Coffee break
16:15-17:15 / The True “Nature” of Man
SYLVAIN TESSON has a spiritual, intimate and poetic relationship with Nature. After 35 years of adventures from Cape Horn to the Faroe Islands, from Siberia to Marseille’s Calanques, the writer and adventurer opens his travel diaries. He shares his memories with us and asks this crucial question: what if literature was the best key to access the mystery of Nature?
Sylvain Tesson is a writer and adventurer who has published more than 30 books in as many years and won several prizes, including the prestigious Goncourt for his novellas Une vie à coucher dehors (Gallimard, 2009) and the Renaudot for La Panthère des neiges (Gallimard, 2019) about his search for the snow leopard in the Himalayas. Sylvain also wrote and featured in a film about this trip, which won the César for best documentary film in 2022. He is also the author of Berezina: En sidecar avec Napoléon (Guérin, 2015) and Dans les forêts de Siberie (Gallimard, 2011.) This month, he is publishingLes Piliers de la mer (Albin Michel), a travelogue around the world climbing more than 100 stacks, columns of rock in the sea or near the shore.
17:15-17:30 / How to take measured risks
Faced with environmental challenges, modern governments have opted for a precautionary approach. “Zero risk” has become the norm for collective and individual decisions. CATHERINE VAN OFFELEN argues that the ancient Greeks favored a form of conduct guided by Aristotle’s phronesis, which means prudence or practical wisdom. It encourages us to take risks after carefully weighing what is at stake. How can phronesis help us to deal effectively with the challenges posed by the climate crisis?
Catherine Van Offelen is a columnist and analyst whose research is published in European literary and geopolitical journals such as Revue des Deux Mondes and Conflits magazine. Previously, she worked as a security specialist for West and Central Africa at International SOS, a leading assistance company. Her new book, Risquer la prudence: Une pratique de la sagesse antique (Risking Prudence: A Practice of Ancient Wisdom), explains the notion of phronesis. It is due to be published in April 2025 (Gallimard).
18:30 / Departure for the closing dinner. Go to the bus stop on the main roundabout in front of the Office du Tourisme. It’s three minutes away from the Savoyarde hotel and the Expérimental Chalet hotel. Hop on the Train Jaune bus, which will take us to the Manchet Valley. Get off at the last stop, called Clochetons. We will be carried on a skidoo, eight people at a time, to l’Art des Mets restaurant, a picturesque spot right in the heart of the Manchet Valley. Champagne apéritif around a campfire or inside a yurt if you feel chilly, accompanied by DJ Jan Shaman. Awards ceremony for the lucky winners of the Miss Tweed Cup, who will receive Miss Tweed x Dynamic racing skis. There will be prizes for the three fastest skiers, the fastest snowboarder, the two slowest skiers and the most elegant slalomer (prix d’élégance). World Buffet diner and tasting of the Domaine des Bernard wines by owner Bernard Gault.
11pm / The party continues at the Piaf bar next door.
Sunday, April 13
Departure day, or more skiing for those who wish to stay.
MODERATOR
Astrid WENDLANDT
Astrid Wendlandt is the founder and editor of Miss Tweed, an independent news platform specialized in fashion and luxury. Previously, she was European luxury goods correspondent at Reuters for more than a decade and worked for the Financial Times in Moscow and in London. She began her career at The Moscow Times newspaper in the mid-1990s. She is the author of How Luxury Conquered the World: The inside story of its pioneers (Miss Tweed Publishing, 2019), L’Oural en plein coeur: Des steppes à la taïga sibérienne (Albin Michel, 2014) and Au bord du monde: Une vagabonde dans le Grand Nord sibérien (Robert Laffont, 2010).
PARTICIPANTS
Carine Beigbeder, founder and CEO of Bourienne Paris X, Sylvie Bénard, former head of environment at LVMH and president of Paris Good Fashion, Eric Danon, France’s former ambassador to Israel until 2023, Fabrice Daville of Premices Films, which films fashion shows, Niels Eggerding, CEO of Frédérique Constant watch brand, Admiral Loïc Finaz, former head of France’s War School and commander of a nuclear attack submarine, Nicolas Freudiger, CEO and Co-founder of watch brand ID Genève, Sylvie Freund-Pickavance, head of strategy at Value Retail,Richard Gadbois, Chairman of Hong-Kong based asset-management firm HS Group, Bernard Gault, investor and former luxury goods executive, Stéphane Girod, Professor at IMD Lausanne, Isabelle Grosmaître, CEO and Founder of Goodness & Co, Margeaux Leighton, retail strategist and director at consultancy AlixPartners, Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and former member of the UK’s Taskforce on Energy Efficiency, Fabienne Lupo, ex-president of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and founder of Re-Luxury, an event dedicated to second-hand luxury goods, Pascal Narboni, lawyer specialized in creative profiles, Alban Neveux, Group CEO, Advention corporate strategy advisory firm, Mathias Ohrel, founder and CEO of MO Conseil, a headhunting firm specialized in fashion and luxury, Clarisse Reille, director of DEFI, the French agency supporting the fashion industry, Christophe Reille, partner at Vae Solis Communications, Euan Rellie, managing director and founder of BDA Partners, Sophy Rindler, director of luxury partnerships at eBay, Jonathan Siboni, CEO and founder of Luxurynsight, André Terrail, owner and CEO of Groupe La Tour d'Argent, Sylvain Tesson, writer and adventurer, Thomas Trevesaigues, partner at AlixPartners.
The Luxury at the Summit by Miss Tweed in Val d’Isère is a great tradition. We can’t wait to get together again!
