It has been two years since the final film was released, yet the magic of Harry Potter is still very much present. The lightening bolt scar and the round glasses are as ubiquitous now as they ever were, compared to such antiquated icons as Poirot’s moustache or Holmes’ deerstalker hat.

First appeared in Retail Week.

I raised a knowing eyebrow last week at the news according to HSBC that Louis Vuitton had quietly raised prices across all markets for its non-leather handbags – the “bread and butter” of their business. LV prices have gone up by at least 10 percent in the UK and USA, and by 5 percent to 10 percent in Asian markets including China.

 
First appeared in The Huffington Post.
 
The days of status shopping are 'so' over.
 
Once upon a time, shopping was as much about making a statement about your place in society as it was buying essential items. Even if only once a month, those ostentatious displays of wealth were an integral part of 'retail therapy' and the idea of a luxury purchase was all about pure, self-indulgence: "I luxury shop, therefore I am better".

 
Last week at Imagination we asked the big question of whether luxury is history. Now while the concept of luxury is certainly not history, some of its historical attendant attitude may well be, and thank goodness for that! 

Luxury is unique. The current misconception is that innovation for luxury brands revolves purely around how they are marketed on digital channels.

Whisper it, but the ever-growing luxury end of the market might be coming to meet its own unglamorous decline.
 

Tomorrow, we’ll be asking a special select panel of industry experts the question “Is Luxury History?” – and perhaps this little piece of activity from Chanel will be utilised as an argument for why it might well be. 

We always take a keen interest in how luxury brands are translating across foreign markets; particularly as we look to explore the idea of “Is Luxury History” later this week. So we were intrigued to read about the new Ferrari credit card being introduced to the Gulf, a territory where extravagance is often as subtle as an Enzo!

The social web was abuzz last week with the news that because of updates to Facebook's data API, fans could now easily be segmented by region.