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Cannes 2013 was a busy, productive event all around, with good business reported, an excellent Opening Conference, informative workshops and the traditional, special events – from tastings with top master distillers to elegant fragrance launches and awards events galore. TMI presents its initial report Inside Insider.
World Duty Free Group was the big winner at the 2013 Frontier magazine awards in Cannes this year, bringing home three honors. A very special congratulations goes to Sarah Branquinho, Business Relations and External Affairs Director at WDF – among other positions – who was presented with a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. See page 3.
PEOPLE continue to make news throughout the industry. Trevor Moore departs from Harding; John Karem joins SPI Group to head up its North America duty free operations; Brown-Forman veteran executive Marshall Farrer relocates back to Louisville from Australia to become global director of super successful Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, and Nicolas Ghesquière – the talented designer who so successfully reinvented the fashions at the house of Balenciaga – becomes artistic director at Louis Vuitton.
TFWA announces the appointment of François Jullien as Exhibitions Director replacing a departing Mathieu Vanhalst along with a reorganization of its Exhibitions Department. Details on page 1.
In Company news, onboard concessionaire specialist Harding Brothers rebrands itself and announces major new contracts; Italian leather goods company Furla appoints Actium to handle its growing Americas travel retail business; Coty signs a fragrance partnership with Prada for Miu Miu; and the Inter Parfums US subsidiary acquires the Oscar de la Renta fragrance business.
Reversing the trend of recent years, a fascinating study released by research firm Bain & Company in association with Italian luxury goods association Altagamma at the Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study in Milan last month, forecasts that the Americas region will surpass China as the luxury goods growth leader this year. The results contain a number of caveats, however, not the least of which is the impact of currency exchange. See more information on page 4.
