Luxury & markets analysis without the PR gloss. On-the-ground channel checks from Monaco to Madison Ave. Coverage includes LVMH, Ferrari, RH, Hermès, Cucinelli
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Everyone says Gulf luxury collapsed.
So I flew to Dubai in 40°C heat and walked 18 boutiques in one day to see for myself
Bain is wrong about the Middle East
And the way they're wrong matters
A thread on what's actually happening on the floor 🧵
ALT Four-photo grid of the Louis Vuitton boutique at The Dubai Mall. The polished marble storefront under the illuminated LOUIS VUITTON sign and monogram lock display; a window of handbags styled with colorful toy cars and figurines on lit beige plinths; an interior wall of shelves holding dozens of bright toy cars beside mannequins in neutral ready-to-wear; and the brightly lit two-floor entrance across a patterned marble walkway. Tasteful, creative merchandising in a luxury Gulf retail setting.
ALT Nine-photo grid of the Loro Piana boutique at The Dubai Mall. The storefront with mannequins in neutral outfits; racks of quiet-luxury knitwear, polos, and tailoring in navy, beige, and grey; a glass case of folded cashmere and a row of logo-free leather belts; calm wood-panelled sales floor with navy lounge chairs; and associates assisting seated customers. Understated, high-quality menswear in muted tones, illustrating the brand's quiet-luxury positioning.
ALT Nine-photo grid of the Gucci boutique at The Dubai Mall. A green velvet bench and associates at a counter; a wall of leather belts with ornate interlocking-G buckles; a cream knit logo polo; monogram-pattern denim and shirting on racks; a leather goods table with a green-and-red stripe detail; the multi-level staircase and floor; and a window of mannequins in bright printed womenswear. Loud, logo-forward product mix in warm green and gold tones.
ALT Grid of the Hermès boutique at The Dubai Mall. Silk scarves with equestrian and vibrant "City of Light" illustrated prints; a close-up of a blue enamel printed bangle; a warm furniture-and-home section with armchairs, a styled table, and the signature horse motif on wood shelving; and a circular glass jewelry display case on the polished floor with associates and shoppers. Bright, airy, design-forward presentation across the brand's full product range.
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Seems simple, if you want to sit together pay for seats together. Don’t be cheap and expect a stranger to switch. Another case for flying private @preston_holland
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Not sure why this is so controversial. Middle Eastern countries make it very clear what their laws are and if you don’t agree with or want to follow those laws and respect their culture then simply don’t travel
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This whole wedding was an exercise in money don’t buy class. I can’t imagine Tom Brady, Sydney Sweeney, Leonardo DiCaprio (in addition to acting of 1MBD fame), etc. are actually close friends with the couple. It’s sort of sad that they needed to have a public display with people they most likely don’t know well especially on a day that’s supposed to be spent with close family and friends
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This may seem extreme, however there is an easy solution to this as it’s out of control. Companies should be required to pay applicants for their time after more than 2hrs of interviews especially on case studies (a lot of them do it to get free work or ideas). To curb the amount of postings used to build a “pipeline” of candidates when there really isn’t a job, companies should have to prove that they were not able to find a suitable candidate if the posting has been up for more than two months. Obviously there need to be exceptions for doctors etc. but if a company can’t find a sales person, marketing associate or an analyst after 10 rounds of interviews it’s the company’s problem not the candidate pool.
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I sometimes forget Spain has a King. Good to see this though the PM is going to have a lot of questions to answer and I’d assume will continue to become more unpopular
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In all fairness I don’t think most kids are aspiring to be factory workers regardless of the generation. There’s nothing wrong with that as a job but very few people would “aspire” to do it
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America needs actual healthcare / insurance reform. As a European I don’t understand how you can pay so much money per month for health insurance and still owe money out of pocket when you go to a doctor. We pay 150€ per month for private coverage (also have the public option is needed) and I’ve never had an issue seeing a doctor, getting medication and everything is covered no matter where in the world I am.
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That’s fairly standard for the weekends and the shorter hours at the beginning of the week are because it’s August and in Europe we generally don’t work for the month and take vacation with our families.
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Imagine if JPM had bothered to do a small bit of due diligence on this they would’ve avoided this
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Then don’t stay there. If you’re paying $1.100 for a hotel room for the night who cares about an extra ~$200
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As far as the German government is concerned that business hasn’t turned a profit in 15 years
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As a European I'd like to know how you think Europe is going to mobilize quickly (given the illustration below)? Donald Trump's job is to do what's in the best interest of the American people not blindly back one side in a foreign conflict. Our leaders in Europe should be doing that same and if that means supporting Ukraine is in the best interest of the Europeans than fine go for it. That being said peace seems like a pretty good option so thousands more people do not die unnecessarily on either side.
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Classic nerd made it in life, “upgraded” his wife to whatever plastic surgery monstrosity that is and is now “flexing”. Money doesn’t always buy taste or class
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This is an oversimplification. Didn’t it take the US quite a bit of time to adopt chips in cards and tap to pay?
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I think she is smart enough to see that LVMH is a potential dumpster fire and many of their brands (ie Pharrell’s football cleat sneakers, loud sweaters & lobster bag) are headed in the wrong direction which will be difficult to correct
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This should be a wake up call to Americans who make their job their identity. The company you work for doesn’t care about you as a person and you’re easily replaced.
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Imagine working that much on projects like billing $4m to NYC via a 40ish page deck on how to use trash bags. Seems like McKinsey needs to evaluate their own efficiency
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The number of times I’ve heard my friends who live there complain that other friends over the age of 30 who make $300,000+ per year ask to stay at their apartments for 3+ nights is outrageous. You’re adults and can afford it, get a hotel!
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Recruiters can be the worst. From what I’ve heard, half the time they won’t tell you who the company is or comp and then expect you to spend 30-45 mins speaking with them. Why would somebody waste time if the role doesn’t match their expected comp and wfh/PTO expectations?
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Good luck getting Spanish, French and Italian workers to agree to the same labor laws as those in Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands etc.
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I can't wait to read this. July / August is the worst time to be in the Mediterranean and the American TikTok "girlies" and sunburned lads with broccoli cuts are the worst. It seems to get worse every summer.
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Fairly accurate Paris is empty, however the Olympic events have been full so people are staying somewhere. The QR code thing is driving people crazy. That all being said it has been great with nobody here and I wish it was like this all the time.
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Wait until Americans find out about the bureaucracy or that there is no “sense of urgency” and everything is “impossible”
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I think if we’re ignoring price and brand you’d go with the AP. Rolex honeycomb dial doesn’t look great (just my opinion) and the Tissot looks a bit clunky.
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This is disappointing to see as Italy makes some of the best consumer products in the world & is rich in culture. Simple fix would be lower taxes and make it easier & less bureaucratic to operate a business. @GiorgiaMeloni I would love to help with this!
reuters.com/world/europe/ita…
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At some point labor laws in the US or Europe (not sure where this was) should require prospective employers to pay candidates for more than two hours time. Especially when you’re doing case studies which is in many cases free work or idea generation.
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Come on stop with the drama. It was close enough to warrant a penalty so take it with class and move on. Simple solution would be to not put yourself in that situation next time. Moping like a five year old who didn’t get what they want is absurd for a professional athlete
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I woke up to this news. I thought the whole point of America was being able to have an opinion on something and not get shot. Seems like America is turning into Venezuela
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Hang it in the Louvre—this is a masterpiece of everyday Spain. ☕️📰 Old friends, strong coffee, deep discussions, and the slow swirl of cigarette smoke. A timeless scene, unchanged and unforgettable. If unpaid internships don’t work out I might transition to photography!
ALT Spain cafe Barcelona Spanish Madrid jamon old men España coffee cigaretttes cigarette news politics discussions
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Stop with the fear porn this essentially applies to nobody if you actually read it in detail. Consider how many people in France make more than that 230.000€. It also only applies to French citizens and for countries that France doesn’t have a tax treaty with so (UAE etc are fine)
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Politics aside why is anybody spending $62.000k on a Tiffany necklace when there are materially better options out there at that price point
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The sell side continues to be useless this has been obvious for months 🤦🏻♂️ if you’re interested in LVMH or consumer discretionary feel free to check this out: substack.com/@internpierre?r…
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At a certain point companies should be required to compensate candidates for time spent over a certain threshold (~2hrs). 7 rounds of interviews is unreasonable. At that point the company is dicking around and in many cases having candidates do free idea generation or casework.
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Interesting spin on “severance payments”, similar to saying a salary is living on a “fixed income”. I wonder how much time went into wording that and how many meetings they had to circle back on the idea so as not to boil the ocean?
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Consulting is just an insurance policy that MBB have perfected so if something doesn’t go well the C-Level team can say “well McKinsey, Bain, BCG recommended it so it’s not on us”. It doesn’t really provide much more value than that
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Looks like people are finding value in what I have to say! open.substack.com/pub/intern…
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I think it’s a cultural thing in the US and also depends on the family situation. As others have mentioned in Europe this really wouldn’t happen as families help their children and wealthy families have trusts etc set up for them to ensure their children aren’t in this type of situation. There is also less social mobility in Europe and other parts of the world. Many US “boomers” seem to think that if you just work hard and follow a path you’ll end up successful, which in fact is becoming less and less the case now from what I’ve heard about the US
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That's about right, not many French nationals in Monaco since they still have to pay French taxes, Saudis spend the summer here because it's too hot in KSA this time of year. You'll probably also see a lot of new sports / luxury cars with Ukrainian license plates.
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Imagine being a grown adult and losing your shit over a baseball 🤦🏻♂️ What is going on over there in America?
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It’s amazing how Americans managed to turn a relatively classy sport with decorum into the Waste Management Open. Not a great look: open.substack.com/pub/intern…
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This is pretty common, the lifts in buildings are very slow and the delivery guys don’t want to leave their bikes outside unattended since there’s a high likelihood of them getting stolen (even if they’re locked up). Another alternative would be to go to one of the many fantastic places to eat in Barcelona.
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Definitely have gotten this type of response from an American in July - August / first half of September
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$LVMH Neverfull TikTok campaign really seems to be backfiring (1/2)
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He’s a bit off but overall 50-60k€ in Spain is better off than $100k in a high cost of living area in the US from a quality of life / disposable income perspective
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I generally forget that Spain even has a King. The Prime Minister there seems to be generally disliked by the people I’ve met from Spain
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What’s he so upset about Sainz drove well and frankly Ferrari is making a poor decision by replacing him next year
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Business Insider is garbage, and this is another example of why they’re going to be obsolete soon (if not now). Stealing ideas is one of the many shitty things they allegedly do just ask @litcapital
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Who would’ve guessed @NYCMayor would be indicted when gov employees are driving around in chrome wrapped Lamborghinis. @ARBLETTER would be interesting to get your take since this seems like a first and could have some interesting international implications
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Did a number of expert network calls with currents & formers from DeepSeek. Interesting conversations & may share transcripts if it’s of interest to anybody?
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