How Luxury Conquered the World

Author and journalist Astrid Wendlandt conducted a four-year investigation into the secretive world of fashion and luxury involving hundreds of interviews with top executives and designers. How Luxury Conquered the World explains how this industry has become one of the pillars of the global economy, putting it on a par with Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple combined in terms of job creation and economic might.

Karl Lagerfeld, the last great couturier, shares his thoughts in an exclusive interview. Three pioneers reveal what it takes to turn a small maison into an international brand: Alain-Dominique Perrin, Jean-Louis Dumas and Yves Carcelle, who respectively built Cartier, Hermès and Louis Vuitton.

These hugely successful business empires would not exist if consumers did not crave social recognition and status symbols. Then three contemporary leaders confide their ambitions and their doubts: José Neves, founder and CEO of fashion and luxury online giant Farfetch; Ralph Toledano, chairman of the French Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion and of British brand Victoria Beckham; and Jacques von Polier, author of the renaissance of Raketa, Russia’s oldest watchmaker. Through the prism of their own experiences, each one of these “Magnificent Six” tells a bigger story about the mysterious, magical and ruthless world of luxury.

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About the author

Astrid Wendlandt worked for 13 years at Reuters news agency, mostly as European Luxury Goods Correspondent based in Paris. She previously wrote for the Financial Times in Moscow and London. This is her third book and the first published by Miss Tweed Publishing, a young house specialized in fashion and luxury.

Astrid Wendlandt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Russian studies from McGill University and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy that included coursework at Harvard Business School.

About the illustrator

Claire Laude is a Parisian freelance illustrator who enjoys creating stories that allow her to explore her imagination. She works on projects that offer her the opportunity to give a fresh, unexpected, off-the-wall interpretation of a given subject. Claire Laude helps brands develop original and elegant worlds and construct their visual identity through illustration and animation.

After a Bachelor of History at the Sorbonne Paris IV, Claire Laude took classes at l’École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later at the École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs from which she graduated with an Applied Communication Arts diploma in 2003.

More details on the website : www.clairelaude.com.