What The Luxe

Caroline Smith cut her teeth on brands from Glenfiddich and Sailor Jerry to Hendrick's and Balvenie, followed by a stint in brand licensing for character brands, before finding herself in the cruise category. A coffee her husband talked her into with Regent Seven Seas Cruises turned into more than a decade at the company, where she rose from EMEA lead to Chief Marketing Officer and has just taken on group responsibility for Oceania as well.

In this episode, Anant sits down with Caroline to unpack the business of selling luxury at sea. They discuss what it means...

Dimitris Memos built MarineTraffic into the world's leading maritime intelligence platform before turning to the sky. Dimitris Kossyfas brought deep knowledge of the Greek islands and a storyteller's instinct for the brand. Together they co-founded Hoper after Memos nearly missed a friend's wedding on Patmos and realised Greece needed a faster way to connect its islands.

In this episode, Fred Moore speaks to the duo about building Greece's first helicopter airline: scheduled routes, bookable seats, 40+ connections across Athens and 14 islands. They discuss why the idea took 50 years to work, what it takes to run a fleet of...

Aifric Lennon began her career in neuroscience, researching how music affects the brain at Goldsmiths before becoming managing director at Father, a music and sound design studio.    In this episode, Fred Moore sits down with Aifric to unpack why sound is still "grossly undervalued" by brands, and how a landmark IPA study she led found that music perceived as surprising or distinctive drove measurable uplift in brand fame and sales. They also discuss what separates luxury sound from mainstream branding, and why AI-generated music still fails to move listeners emotionally even when they can't tell it's AI-made. A conversation about me...

Aja Raden began her career designing engagement rings before turning to writing, using books like Stoned and The Truth About Lies to trace how objects come to be considered valuable, and what happens when that agreement breaks down.

In this episode, Anant Sharma sits down with Aja to unpack the myth-making behind the modern diamond industry, how De Beers and N.W. Ayer engineered scarcity where none existed and tied it so tightly to love that "diamonds are forever" became gospel.

They also discuss the panic now gripping the Natural Diamond Council as lab-grown diamonds un...

In this episode, Luke Hemsley, Founder of Wednesday's Domaine, joins Fred Moore to unpack the behavioural tension driving the alcohol-free wine movement, the desire to participate in the ritual of drinking without overdoing it, and why that shift has as much to do with psychology as it does with taste.
From sourcing high-quality base wines to using vacuum distillation to strip out alcohol without stripping out flavour, Luke breaks down what it takes to make a 0% wine that tastes like wine. The conversation covers the wine industry's resistance to the category, the awkward social codes around not drinking, and how...

Barbara Muckermann has led at nearly every altitude of the travel industry, from PR and trade through Silversea Cruises, MSC, and Loro Piana, to her current role as CEO of Kempinski Hotels, one of the oldest independent hotel groups in Europe.

In this episode, Anant sits down with Barbara to unpack the operational complexity behind luxury hospitality, comparing the economics of running a cruise ship against running a hotel, the wildly different booking cycles for each, and how metrics like ADR and TREVPAR actually shape the business.

They also discuss the shift toward brand-led leadership...

Mattheos Georgiou has spent three decades in luxury hospitality, working across Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai and beyond, shaped by crises as much as by calm. As Head of Global Operations for One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds, he now oversees brands with very different ambitions, but a shared conviction that hospitality should help you perform at your best.
In this episode, Anant and Mattheos get into what it means to build a wellness brand with genuine substance, why the guests turning up to SIRO aren't who anyone expected, and what the hospitality industry still hasn't fixed since 1985. They also talk leaders...

Bob Donofrio has spent more than three decades at the summit of luxury, leading some of the world's most storied maisons, including Bulgari, Roberto Cavalli, and Asprey. But it was a question he'd never thought to ask that changed everything. Where does gold actually come from?
In this episode, Anant sits down with Bob to trace that question to its source. From small-scale miners using mercury in Papua New Guinea, to the UN's Minamata Convention, to Futura, the jewellery house Bob founded to prove that ethical sourcing and exceptional design aren't mutually exclusive.
They discuss why the luxury industry...

Pär Heyden has spent his career at the intersection of precision design and brand building, from the tactile engineering of Hasselblad cameras to the industrial heritage of Volvo, and now as Head of Brand and Executive Creative Director at Polestar. In this conversation, Anant sits down with Pär to explore what it really means to build a considered brand from the ground up.

They discuss why restraint is a competitive strategy in a sector defined by feature escalation, how Polestar approached the redesign of the in-car interface with the same craft typically reserved for physical mate...

Berry Bros. & Rudd has been trading from the same address on St James's Street since 1698. It was founded by a woman, holds two Royal Warrants, and today offers more than 5,000 wines selected by five Masters of Wine. Claudia Stebbings, Director of Marketing & Experiences, joined in 2019 bringing a background in media and television to one of Britain's most storied businesses.
In this conversation, host Fred Moore and Claudia explore what it means to be a merchant, the link between producer and drinker, and why trust is at the centre of everything Berry Bros does. They talk about wine as a...

Filippo Arnaboldi joined Frette in 1999 as one of six employees in the US. Twenty-five years later, he leads the brand globally, having grown it from a small European heritage business into one of the world's most recognised names in luxury home textiles. Founded in 1860, Frette has supplied royal households, grand hotels, and private residences for over a century and a half, and under Filippo's stewardship it has expanded well beyond the bedroom into a broader expression of how people live at home.
In this episode, Anant talks to Filippo about what long-term stewardship of a heritage brand actually looks li...

Daniel Bense spent nearly 12 years inside Aesop, helping build its commercial engine and cultural presence across Europe and the US, before leading British heritage brand Sunspel as Managing Director. In 2022 he stepped away to build something of his own. To My Ships launched in 2024 after two years of unusually rigorous product development, and what emerged is a personal care brand that treats a category most people never think twice about with the seriousness typically reserved for fine fragrance.

In this episode, Fred Moore talks to Daniel about what he saw missing in the deodorant category, why formulating with...

Lew Frankfort joined Coach in 1979 when it was a $6 million leather goods company with a factory, a handful of offices, and a cult following. Over the next three decades, he led its transformation into a $5 billion global brand, coining the term accessible luxury along the way and building one of the most consumer-centric businesses in the history of fashion.    In conversation with Anant Sharma, Lew traces the full arc of that journey, from opening the first Coach store on Madison Avenue to taking the brand public, breaking into Japan ahead of every European luxury house, and what it actually means to...

James Cavagnari has built a thirty-year practice on a simple but hard-won idea: that the best spaces get better with time. The founder of PRIMA DESIGN, a Florence-based studio working across luxury retail, hospitality and residential, joins Fred Moore to talk about craft, context and the discipline of designing without trends. They cover his early years rolling out stores for Ferragamo and Bulgari, the conversion of his childhood home into a Florence hotel, and why the future of luxury is moving toward the personal and the particular.   A conversation about what it means to create something that truly lasts.

Long Lane is not a spa, a hotel or a members' club. It's a rethink of how hospitality can operate when health is the starting point.

Co-founder Loui Blake joins Fred Moore to unpack the model behind it. From designing environments that support both social and physical wellbeing, to building an audience in public before the doors have even opened.

They discuss the changing expectations of younger consumers, the limits of traditional wellness, and why the next wave of hospitality may look very different from what came before.

Sam Bompas is the co-founder of Bompas & Parr, a studio known for creating experiences that sit somewhere between food, architecture and theatre, from inhalable cocktails to large-scale edible installations.
In this episode, he joins Anant Sharma to explore what it means to design for the senses. They discuss how taste can be shaped by sound, environment and expectation, why brands still default to the visual, and how experiences that disappear can often be the ones that last longest.
This is a conversation about perception, memory, and what food and drink can do when treated as a serious design medi

Bombardier started with a snowmobile. Today, it builds the world's fastest business jet.

In this episode, Ève Laurier, VP of Communications & Marketing at Bombardier, joins Fred Moore to unpack the company's transformation into a focused, pure-play business aviation brand—and the work required to reshape how it's understood.

Eve shares what it takes to rebrand an institution that an entire country feels emotionally attached to—from months of stakeholder listening before briefing a single agency, to presenting the new identity to the founding family. She challenges common perceptions of business aviation, explains why "esteemed brand" sits mo...

What makes a city work? According to Chris Choa, it has very little to do with the buildings.
In this episode, Anant Sharma speaks with Chris Choa, Founder of OUTCOMIST, about the behavioural logic that shapes how cities attract people, evolve identity, and create lasting value. Drawing on decades of work advising mayors, sovereign wealth funds, and developers across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, Chris shares how he approaches urban systems, working backwards from outcomes and always asking why before what. The conversation moves from the accidental success of Silicon Roundabout to the limits of greenfield cities like...

Liquid Death didn't grow by following category rules.

In this episode, Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death, joins Anant Sharma to unpack the brand's anti-marketing marketing strategy, where the focus is on making things people actually want to watch.

From launching with an ad before the product existed to building an in-house creative model, Andy shares how Liquid Death approaches marketing when the product itself doesn't change. The conversation explores how humour, cultural instinct and a clear point of view can create value in a category defined by sameness.

In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma speaks with Alex Schellenberger, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, about redefining loyalty for the affluent traveller.

As luxury hospitality grows more transactional, Mandarin Oriental is shifting focus toward emotional recognition and building fandom rather than points accumulation. Alex shares how the evolution of Fans of M.O., the integration of guest data into a unified global profile, and a renewed emphasis on generosity are reshaping the brand's relationship with its most discerning guests.

The conversation explores scaling without dilution, delivering brand promises...

Peace One Day's mission is to institutionalise the International Day of Peace on 21st September and create a more just, inclusive, sustainable and peaceful world.
In conversation with Anant Sharma on What The Luxe, Jeremy shares the idea behind the movement and the extraordinary journey of bringing it to life.

In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma speaks with Carolyn Turnbull, CEO of Nammos Hotels & Resorts.

From her formative years working alongside one of hospitality's most influential founders to leading the global expansion of Nammos, Carolyn reflects on brand guardianship, ambition, and the discipline required to build at scale.
At the centre of the conversation is what she calls an ethos of joy — a philosophy shaping Nammos as it grows from a Mykonos icon into an international ultra-luxury platform.
A focused discussion on leadership, growth, and building brands with conviction.

In this episode, Fred Moore speaks with Laylah Holmes about applying fashion's discipline of cut, construction and material to handcrafted rug design.

With early experience at Vivienne Westwood and Ralph Lauren, Laylah brings a textile sensibility to the floor. Every piece is dyed, woven, tufted and finished entirely by hand, working with long-standing artisan partners across Nepal and India.

They discuss longevity, scale and the responsibility of making objects that are built to endure. At a time of accelerated consumption, this is a conversation about patience, precision and designing interiors with the care of couture.<...

In this episode, Anant Sharma speaks with Hanan Eissa, Vice President of Marketing & PR at Atlantis Dubai, about the industry's blind spot and how it shapes the way hospitality builds brands.

With a background in FMCG and agency strategy, Hanan brings commercial rigour to luxury hospitality, grounded in product, pricing and consumer psychology. Together, they examine how marketing drifts toward surface-level visibility, how sameness creeps in, and how reference points become too narrow.

From launching Atlantis The Royal next door to an established icon, to backing ambitious creative decisions on a global stage, this is...

The diamond industry has always traded on mystery — its allure built on scarcity, tradition and the myth of perfection. Tobias Kormind, Co-Founder of 77 Diamonds, saw an opportunity to do things differently.    In this episode, Tobias joins James Lees to explore how technology, transparency and a customer-first philosophy helped reshape one of luxury's oldest categories. From the origins of diamond scarcity to the digital transformation that redefined how people buy engagement rings, Tobias reflects on two decades of challenging convention and what it takes to modernise an industry.    A conversation about innovation, craftsmanship and the revolution changing what we value — and how we buy

In this episode, Philippe Zuber, CEO of Kerzner International, joins Anant Sharma to explore how one of the world's most ambitious hospitality groups approaches growth without dilution.

From Atlantis and One&Only to the launch of SIRO and Rare Finds, Philippe shares how Kerzner thinks about luxury as an ecosystem — where emotion, memory and habit matter more than transactions or points. They discuss why restraint can be a strategic advantage, how loyalty is earned through return rather than reward, and why the future of luxury depends as much on what brands refuse to do as what they pu...

Design and taste are often spoken about as if they're the same thing — but Stephen Bayley has spent a lifetime arguing that they're not.

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Anant Sharma sits down with the critic, author and founding director of the Design Museum to explore the uneasy, often misunderstood relationship between design, taste and luxury. From his early encounters with architecture in Liverpool to making design a public conversation through the Boilerhouse project at the V&A, Bayley reflects on how design gained cultural authority — and how it may have lost its nerve.

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Fred Moore speaks with Crispin Somerville, Managing Director of El Pastor, Quo Vadis & The Drop, about a journey that spans MTV, music and television, Mexico City nightlife, and ultimately some of London's most culturally significant restaurants.

Crispin reflects on how time spent immersed in Mexico's food and hospitality culture reshaped his understanding of generosity, conviviality and transportive experience — lessons that continue to inform how he builds restaurants today. Together they explore why authenticity is a slippery concept, why great hospitality resists formula, and how restaurants succeed when they prioritise at...

What if wellness wasn't something we added on — but something we designed into experience itself?
In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma is joined by Ramy Elnagar, Founder of White Mirror, to explore how technology, design and the built environment can actively shape how we feel, behave and flourish.
Ramy's work sits at the intersection of sensory design, emerging technology and human psychology, challenging the idea that wellness is about optimisation, biohacking or indulgence. Instead, he argues for intentional experiences — spaces that teach us how to sleep better, listen more deeply, regulate our nervous systems and reco...

In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma sits down with Maz Farrelly, the former television executive behind some of the most-watched formats in the world, to unpack what luxury brands can learn from the mechanics of mass entertainment.

From producing global television hits to advising leaders and brands today via MazSpeaksGlobal.com, Maz argues that attention is never owed — it's earned. Drawing on decades spent building shows that people actively choose to watch, she explores how desire, illusion, and respect for the audience are just as critical in brand-building as they are in television.

For the first time since episode one, What The Luxe brings its two hosts together at the same table. In this end-of-year Christmas episode, Anant Sharma and Fred Moore step away from the usual guest format to reflect on the past year of conversations. They talk candidly about what we've heard throughout 2025, from the patterns to the anomalies, the anecdotes and the insights. Moving easily between the podcast, the studio, and the wider world around us, the two cover topics including experience, taste, leadership, travel, and the shifting signals of value across luxury.

A deliberately unstructured episode...

In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma speaks with Stacey Langham, Head of Corporate & Luxury Partnerships at the Royal Academy of Arts, about how culture, commerce and philanthropy intersect when relationships are built for the long term.

Stacey shares her journey from magazine publishing into the cultural sector, and how that perspective shapes the way she builds partnerships at the RA — not as sponsorships, but as collaborations rooted in shared values, creative ambition and cultural resonance.

The conversation explores the Royal Academy's unique model: a fiercely independent institution with no public funding, home to...

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Anant Sharma sits down with Oliver Spencer, founder of the eponymous menswear label and formalwear brand Favourbrook, to explore a career built on patience, craft and a quiet resistance to fashion's obsession with scale.
From selling hand-painted waistcoats off a wheelbarrow on Portobello Road to building two enduring British brands, Oliver shares why he never followed the traditional Savile Row path — and why he continues to make a significant proportion of his collections in England, even when the economics point elsewhere

Together, they discuss:
• Why true luxu...

Professor Charles Spence has built one of the most influential bodies of research in modern psychology, reframing how the world understands taste, pleasure and perception. As Head of Oxford's Crossmodal Research Laboratory, his work has shown that nothing we experience is ever singular: sound alters flavour, colour reshapes expectation, weight changes perceived quality. These ideas have travelled from the lab into Michelin-starred kitchens, automotive design studios and the playbooks of global luxury brands.

In this episode, Charles sits down with host Anant Sharma to unpack the sensory mechanics behind value and delight. They discuss why our brains...

In this episode, What The Luxe dives into the world of Aqua Expeditions with its Founder & CEO, Francesco Galli Zugaro. Raised across 16 countries and driven by an innate spirit of exploration, Francesco has spent nearly two decades crafting highly intimate, design-led journeys for what he calls the affluent explorer — guests who crave authenticity, comfort and adventure in some of the world's most fragile ecosystems.

Host Fred Moore explores how Aqua began with a single 12-cabin ship on the Peruvian Amazon and grew into a fleet spanning Indonesia, the Mekong, the Galápagos and soon East Africa and the...

Belmond has spent decades redefining the romance of travel—inviting guests to slow down, savour time and inhabit destinations rather than pass through them. Across 43 properties in 24 countries, the brand has become synonymous with slow luxury. Arnaud Champenois, Senior VP of Global Brand, Marketing and Communications, is the architect of that vision, balancing Belmond's storied heritage with the cultural shifts reshaping modern travel.
In this episode, Arnaud sits down with Anant Sharma to discuss what slow luxury actually means in practice. They explore Belmond's property-first approach, the creative risks behind reimagining icons like the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, and how partnerships wi...

For over 60 years, KEF has redefined what it means to listen—turning sound into sculpture and engineering into art. Under the leadership of Grace Lo, the brand continues to push boundaries in both technology and design, shaping the future of high-fidelity audio for a new generation.

In this episode, Grace joins Anant Sharma to explore what luxury means when it comes to sound. They discuss the founding spirit of Raymond Cooke, the shift from passive to active systems, and why the ritual of listening—whether that's filling a room with music or the deliberate act of putting a re...

Each of Mia Reay's wallpapers begins as a painting - layered with history, character, and a quiet defiance of trend. Inspired by centuries of craftsmanship, from Islamic ceramics to Swedish palaces, her designs bring storytelling back to interiors with a distinctly English eccentricity.
In conversation with Fred Moore, Mia shares the accidental origins of her brand, her belief that true luxury is measured in time and craft, and why she designs for beauty that lasts, not trends that fade. A celebration of imagination, patience, and the enduring power of the handmade.

Behind the gloss of London Fashion Week lies a complex machinery of trade, taxation and soft power. David Leigh Pemberton sits at its centre — navigating the delicate relationship between creativity and government as Deputy Director of Policy & Engagement at the British Fashion Council.

In this episode, he unpacks how fashion's future depends on the policies shaping it — from the campaign for VAT-free shopping and the realities of post-Brexit trade to the quiet diplomacy that keeps British design globally relevant. We explore how advocacy sustains artistry, why creativity is one of Britain's most undervalued exports, and what it take...

Luxury hospitality is evolving—dissolving the boundaries between home, hotel, and cultural space. Few designers navigate that shift more intuitively than Tatjana von Stein. As Founder and Creative Director, she leads a London and Mallorca-based studio reimagining how people experience place through narrative-led design that incentivises human behaviour. From award-winning members' clubs and boutique hotels to her collectable furniture line Mise en Scène, her work explores what she calls "human tempo"—the rhythm and psychology of how we move through multifaceted spaces.

 In this conversation with Anant Sharma, Tatjana unpacks how design quietly directs behaviour, mood and co...