What The Luxe Matter Of Form

In 2005, Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes founded Fromental, establishing their reputation with hand-painted, hand-embroidered silk wall coverings. Twenty years later, they've carved out a singular space in the interiors market. Sitting down with What The Luxe, Lizzie and Tim illuminate listeners on the innate fun of creation, the nuances of taste in designing for designers and how crafting beautiful things is a compulsive and human act. 

Always armed with a pen and something sharp to say, James was the perfect victim for What The Luxe’s first video episode. He and Anant begin by debunking innovation myths and misconceptions surrounding the U/HNW cohort before moving through the subjects of status, digital assets, healthy friction in the customer experience, the importance of rewarding behaviours, creating ritual and the industry’s tendency to conflate observation with insight – punctuated with subtle innovation anecdotes and valuable case studies. 

For nearly two decades, Black Tomato has been lighting the way for curious travellers, providing bespoke experiences designed to inspire, challenge and connect. Sitting down with What The Luxe, co-founder Tom Marchant taps into the brand’s driving forces as well as the need for a symbiotic relationship between traveller and place.

All-round streetwear icon, founder of STAPLE and creator of the Pigeon SB Dunk, Jeff Staple, joins the podcast to kick off What The Luxe’s coolest series yet – talking everything from 1980s/90s NYC to self-expression, individuality and why streetwear has become synonymous with the world of luxury. Plus we get the story behind the legendary “NYC Pigeon”, its five-figure value and more.

Wrapping up What The Luxe’s second series, Fred is joined by Geordie Mackay-Lewis; a former soldier turned co-founder of bespoke experience group Pelorus, who design and lead transformative travel experiences for those who desire something different. Covering the big subjects like sustainability, diversifying luxury audiences and market gaps, Fred and Geordie also touch on the question of AI, whether it’s a threat or benefit to Pelorus’ premise and why
experiences should be designed destination-last, not first.

Our first team host and Head of Marketing Juliet Watkin-Rees sits down with Perla Bloom, Global Strategy Lead at Electronic Arts, to enlighten forward-thinking luxury brands on the gaming opportunity, clarify widespread misconceptions and demystify the space for those who have yet to get to grips with it – underpinned by a call for brands to value players just as much as they value traditional media audiences.