Podcast · Business

What The Luxe

by Matter Of Form · English · Business

What makes something worth more than the sum of its parts? Why do certain brands command belief whilst others struggle for attention? What does 'luxury' even mean? What qualifies? Investigating the minds, mechanics and mythologies of modern luxury, What The Luxe is a series of conversations with t

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 40 min
Latest: 12 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026 · 34 minNew

99. Rebuilding Orient Express: Trains, Palazzi and the World's Largest Sailing Yacht with Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Group Chief Strategy Officer of Accor

Gilda Perez-Alvarado spent nearly two decades at JLL, ultimately as Global CEO of its Hotels & Hospitality group, advising the sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms behind some of the world's most significant hotels. She then crossed to the operator's side at Accor, where she went on to lead Orient Express. In this episode, Fred Moore sits down with Gilda to trace how a brand born in 1883 is being rebuilt as an ecosystem of trains, hotels and yachts. They get into why every property celebrates its own era while carrying Orient Express as its surname, and why the newest chapter is a…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

28 Sep 2026 · 40 min
98. Space and Choice: Selling Ultra-Luxury at Sea with Caroline Smith, Group CMO of Regent Seven Seas Cruises
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 to market a perishable…
1 Sep 2026 · 22 min
97. Building Hoper: The World's Helicopter Platform with CEO, Dimitris Memos and CCO, Dimitris Kossyfas
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,…
17 Aug 2026 · 36 min
96. Sonic Branding: The Neuroscience of Sound with Aifric Lennon, Managing Director at father
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…
3 Aug 2026 · 45 min
95. Aja Raden on Diamonds, Luxury and Lies
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 undercut the very story…
20 Jul 2026 · 39 min
94. Ritual and the Rise of 0% Wine with Luke Hemsley, Founder of Wednesday's Domaine
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…
6 Jul 2026 · 40 min
93. Operational Complexity in Luxury Hospitality with Barbara Muckermann, Group CEO of Kempinski Hotels
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 in…
15 Jun 2026 · 40 min
92. Wellness for the C‑Suite with Mattheos Georgiou, Head of Global Operations, One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds
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…
8 Jun 2026 · 40 min
91. The Gold Standard, with Bob Donofrio, Former CEO of Roberto Cavalli
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…
1 Jun 2026 · 38 min
90. Interface as Craft: How Polestar Rethinks the In-Car Experience with Pär Heyden, Head of Brand and Executive Creative Director
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 materials,…
26 May 2026 · 35 min
89. The Oldest Bottle in the Room with Claudia Stebbings, Director of Marketing & Experiences at Berry Bros. & Rudd
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…
18 May 2026 · 49 min
88. 165 Years of Frette with CEO, Filippo Arnaboldi
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…
12 May 2026 · 39 min
87. Routine Luxuries with Daniel Bense, Founder of To My Ships
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…
5 May 2026 · 38 min
86. How Coach Became a $5 Billion Brand, with Lew Frankfort, Chairman Emeritus and Former CEO
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…
27 Apr 2026 · 34 min
85. Emotion and Logic: Creating Spaces That Age Beautifully, with James Cavagnari, Founder, PRIMA DESIGN.
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…
20 Apr 2026 · 42 min
84. Rethinking Wellness Hospitality, with Loui Blake, Co-Founder of Long Lane
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.
13 Apr 2026 · 40 min
83. Jelly Science and Polysensory Experience, with Sam Bompas, Co-Founder of Bompas & Parr
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…
7 Apr 2026 · 36 min
82. Canada's Aviation Legacy with Ève Laurier, VP of Communications & Marketing, Bombardier
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…
31 Mar 2026 · 54 min
81. "Life Moats" and The Psychology of Place with Chris Choa, Founder of OUTCOMIST
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…
23 Mar 2026 · 47 min
80. Liquid Death: Selling Water Like It's Entertainment with Andy Pearson, VP of Creative
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. This is a look at a…
16 Mar 2026 · 46 min
79. Fandom For The Affluent Traveller with Mandarin Oriental's Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, Alex Schellenberger
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…
10 Mar 2026 · 38 min
78. Peace One Day with Founder, Jeremy Gilley MBE
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.
2 Mar 2026 · 34 min
77. Joy as a Business Ethos with Carolyn Turnbull, CEO of Nammos Hotels & Resorts
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.
24 Feb 2026 · 34 min
76. The Sartorial Home with Laylah Holmes, Founder of Holmes Bespoke
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…
17 Feb 2026 · 43 min
75. Hospitality's Myopia Problem with Hanan Eissa, Vice President of Marketing & PR at Atlantis Dubai
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…
12 Feb 2026 · 49 min
74. New Diamonds: Revolutionising an Ancient Industry with Tobias Kormind, Co-Founder of 77 Diamonds
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…
9 Feb 2026 · 48 min
73. Can Luxury Be Scaled? With Philippe Zuber, CEO of Kerzner International
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 pursue.…
2 Feb 2026 · 43 min
72. The Relationship Between Design and Taste with Stephen Bayley, Author and Founder of The Design Museum
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. The…
26 Jan 2026 · 40 min
71. From MTV to Mexico City: Building London's Best Restaurants with Crispin Somerville, Managing Director of El Pastor, Quo Vadis, & The Drop
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…
20 Jan 2026 · 38 min
70. Experience as Wellness with Ramy Elnagar, Founder of White Mirror
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…

About What The Luxe

What The Luxe is a English business podcast from Matter Of Form. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Matter Of Form
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 40 min
Latest episode: 12 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1650398428
Rights: 2022

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