Luxury 2050 Forum

Our mission

The IMD Luxury Alumni Community is a trusted community in which we help each other to learn and develop continuously. We are joining forces to help each other and to share experiences, learnings and views on the future of luxury in an informal environment; and to address the challenges and transformations our brands are experiencing, while providing mutual support and helping each other grow.

A group of several hundred IMD alumni working across a wide range of luxury industries, our enthusiasm is the result of many years and exposure to different programs. Our meeting through the IMD Luxury Alumni Community is often the first encounter we have had with each other. Join us today.

Why we are coming together

Although the luxury industries have promptly recovered from COVID, they are facing significant headwind going forward: growing geopolitical risks; over-dependence on a few markets; supply chain disruptions; relentless digital disruption – the latest being the metaverse; increasing pressures to transform for purpose and sustainability; start-ups transforming the field with new ambitions and inventing the next tradition; ecosystems becoming a norm for brand desirability; younger talents expecting new and more inclusive ways of working and revealing their own ideas; and younger consumers expecting different approaches and showing different buying habits… It is clear, therefore, that the shift to greater strategic, organizational and leadership agility in luxury comes with its own specifics.

What’s more, these pressures take different shapes depending on the sector. For example, in automobile the shift to mobility remains challenging.

One thing is clear: plenty is at stake.

Together, we are stronger in navigating these challenges and seizing these opportunities. We are a vibrant community with backgrounds in different cohorts and programs. We also want to give each other plenty of opportunities for networking, peer-to-peer learning, mentoring and reverse mentoring. And we seek to improve the latest thought leadership from IMD and beyond using learning as our instrument.

Join us today

Our success depends on ourselves and how active we are. Do reach out and join us in growing and developing the IMD Luxury Community network. Volunteer to be part of the governing team and/or contribute to our agenda.

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Our Board

It is more important than ever to look at the luxury industry holistically, from the brand to economic paradigms to human factors. While digital and environmental concerns disrupt the industry from outside, the talent shift and gig economy challenge corporate cultures from inside.

Developing a new luxury brand with a small budget in a world where most luxury clients buy a brand for its established reputation and name pushes you to deeply understand human psychology and its craving for happiness, and to find plan-B alternatives that most of the time are out of the box.

New Luxury consumers emerge after the pandemic, they will dig deeper into the meaning and purpose of brands that they choose to connect with, looking for brand values that match their own.

China's consumption habits are growing in dynamism and complexity. I have witnessed these transformations firsthand, both personally as a Chinese citizen and participant in Chinese online culture, and professionally as IKEA's China retail business director.

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Our Steering Commitee

My year at IMD, and in particular the shared experiences with classmates, strongly influenced my career. I welcome the chance to engage with the greater IMD community through the Luxury 2050 Forum, exchanging ideas on the fast-evolving luxury industry and its role in a modern world.

Given the unique importance of luxury leaders in multiple sectors in Switzerland – and in close countries such as France, the UK and Italy – the IMD Luxury 2050 Forum is well placed to provide an interesting platform for discussion and networking with the IMD faculty, IMD alumni and industry leaders.

WiReD Magazine started as a luxury product of sorts, which is why Condé Nast was the media group we sold to. I have always been a fan of things that I want but don’t need. Now digital is changing luxury: product, service and the surrounding business processes. I joined this group at my alma mater to see if I could understand those changes.

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IMD supports us through its Luxury 2050 Initiative spearheaded by Professor Stéphane J.G. Girod who directs the Reinventing Luxury Lab and writes columns about innovation and transformation in luxury in Forbes.

Professor Stéphane J. Girod

Professor of Strategy and Organizational Innovation

Stéphane J.G. Girod is Professor of Strategy and Organizational Innovation at IMD. His research, teaching and consulting interests focus on agility transformation, at the strategy, organizational and leadership levels in…

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