This study explores how the fashion and product designers of luxury and premium brands envision the direction of product innovation. The findings include valuable support for the luxury brand strategy of moving towards innovation in sustainability, customization, and developing the new concepts of rarity of experience and luxury sports products.

The global luxury travel market is in a constant state of flux, and traditional players have to adapt to the rising challenges in various areas of their business model. As new players emerge, using technology and the global reach of the Internet and social media to reach out to a discerning group of travelers, they speak to the changing expectations and behavior of international consumers. Our study will shed light on these consumption and travel patterns, on ways new disruptors in the field of luxury hospitality successfully differentiate themselves from their more traditional competitors and on the implications this will have on the business models of five-star hotels in Switzerland. While limited in scope, this study will provide insight relevant to academics and professionals in the field of luxury hospitality.

Over the years, luxury has built-up a reputation as recession proof industry. Even though the industry growth has slowed down in the mid 2000s, luxury firms have managed to cope with economic contingencies and shortening traditional demand by widening their clientele base to prestige mass consumption ― the “masstige clientele”. Doing so, luxury firms have been pursuing a dual strategy by wooing aspirational consumers as well as their traditional elite customers, thus managing the challenge of handling both a differentiation strategy based on scarcity and uniqueness, and increased volumes of sales. This has been a trend in mature markets such as Europe, the United States and Japan, but was significantly fostered by expanding into emerging markets. Sector specialists thus expect China to remain a major structural growth area in the medium term, where the number of both high-end clients as well as new aspirational consumers will substantially increase and influence firms strategy.

The world of luxury is harboring an endangered species: that of the independent companies! In an increasingly-challenging and globalized luxury environment, companies are fighting to escape from the ever-growing clout of luxury “conglomerates” - Swatch Group, LVMH, Kering, and Richemont. As of 2015, these “big four” own more than 100 brands and are maintaining a constant pace of acquisitions , relying on vertical integration to secure supplies (and deprive competitors of them) which has particularly insidious consequences for independents. Most independents are struggling to survive and end up being acquired or going out of business. Interestingly, this same movement towards consolidation is rendering brands more and more uniform, thus creating opportunities for players able to craft unique offerings for niche luxury clientele. Innovation is the path to follow in this challenging journey. Based on a multiple case study analysis of innovative independent luxury companies, we have identified four innovation strategies (Hoffmann & Lecamp, 2015). “Back to the roots” include independent companies innovating in the essence of luxury: extreme quality and extraordinary craftsmanship to create the ultimate sensorial and emotional experience. For companies like Vignes, Thomas Mercer, Mirazur by Mauro Collagreco, Norlha and Brunello Cucinelli, luxury is rooted in a terroir and a sense of purpose permeates this endeavor. “Code breakers” are playing with product and societal codes to culturally innovate and build the icons of today and tomorrow. Examples include Martin Margiela and Miuccia Prada in fashion, Fernando & Humberto Campana in furniture design, and HYT in watchmaking. “Eagle in the aquarium” companies are disrupting the way luxury companies create, deliver and capture value. Globalization and digitization are powerful enablers to reconfigure resources at the levels of funding (e.g. crowdfunding), design (e.g. 3D design), manufacturing (e.g. 3D printing), distribution (e.g. online platforms), marketing and communication (e.g. online social networks). “Game changers” are building breakthrough innovations at the product and business model levels. Comme des Garçons, Etudes Studio, Iris Van Herpen, MB&F, and W Motors are independents taking bold initiatives in a fascinating and inspiring journey. Managerial implications and venues for future research will be highlighted during the conference.