Beyond Luxury

Carlota Rodben
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Business
  • Weekly

Whether you’re a leader in luxury, aspiring to become one, or simply curious about where the industry is heading, this is for you. Luxury is a €1.5 trillion industry built on mystery, discretion, and access. It’s also undergoing one of its biggest transformations. Each week, we sit down with the people shaping its future to have the conversations that rarely happen in public. Beyond PR talking points, we explore the talent crisis, AI, culture, business, and the elephants in the room. Hosted by Carlota Rodben, founder of Beyond Luxury Group, 2x author, and former Head of Innovation at Chanel.

  1. Oct 16

    #53 He Left Luxury Fashion for Coffee: Now He 4X'd illy’s Digital Business & Is Building Wellness Communities | Cristian Arcangeli

    Cristian Arcangeli is the Vice President of Marketing, Commercial Strategy and Digital at illycaffè America. He came to coffee from the world of luxury fashion, having spent years at Gucci and Diesel before making the leap to illy. Under his leadership in the US, illy has quadrupled its digital business, while Cristian has spearheaded the development of wellness experiences and communities across America. In this episode Carlota and Cristian go deep on what happens when you apply the Hermès playbook to your morning cup, why luxury brands are arriving late to a strategy illy has been running for years, and what it actually takes to turn a commodity into a world people want to belong to. What you will hear in this episode: • From Gucci and Diesel to illy: what made Cristian cross over from luxury fashion to coffee. • Turning coffee from a commodity into a conscious experience. • The three pillars of quality, sustainability, and art and how they work together in practice. • Creating your own platforms instead of sponsoring other people's events. • The wellness platform with Megan Roup & Mellissa Wood Tepperberg and how a workout class sells coffee. • The slow-down café in New York and the aroma bar experience. • The fine dining programme with Michelin-star chefs building menus around espresso aromas. • What luxury brands can learn from illy about desirability versus exclusivity. • Spitfire questions on luxury, 2030, three words, and advice. Follow the Beyond Luxury Podcast and subscribe wherever you listen. FIND US YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@beyondluxurypodcast Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/beyondluxury Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/beyondluxury Substack → https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Beyond Luxury Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxurymedia/ Carlota's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/ Carlota's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/ Website → https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree → https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group ShopMy → https://shopmy.us/carlotarodben/my-latest-finds Get Your Books Beauty As It Is → https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/164137313X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 Beyond Luxury: The Promise of Emotion → https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Luxury-Promise-Carlota-Rodben-ebook/dp/B0CJ2WBMWP Beyond Luxury Group is a strategic advisory and new media group, guiding leaders towards the future of luxury and beyond. We work with fashion, beauty, wellness, travel, and hospitality groups and brands to accelerate meaningful, future-proof growth. Get in touch to find out how we can support your business. Carlota Rodben is CEO and Founder of Beyond Luxury Group, bestselling author, former Head of Innovation at Chanel, and host of the Beyond Luxury Podcast, ranked top 2 globally in its category.

    #53 He Left Luxury Fashion for Coffee: Now He 4X'd illy’s Digital Business & Is Building Wellness Communities | Cristian Arcangeli

  2. Sep 29

    #52 She Has Been Placing the Top Executives in Hospitality and Leisure for 20 Years. Now She Is Rebuilding How Luxury Chooses Its Leaders | Hoda Tahoun, Founder of Maram Global

    Hoda Tahoun is the Founder and CEO of Maram Global and former Chief Talent Officer at Kempinski Hotels, Europe's oldest luxury hotel group. Before that she spent nearly a decade at Russell Reynolds Associates as Global Leader of their Leisure and Hospitality Practice and Chief Wellbeing Officer, advising Fortune 100 CEOs and boards on the human capital decisions that define industries. In this episode Carlota and Hoda go deep on the talent crisis the luxury industry has not yet named, what good leadership actually looks like today, the four dimensions every high performer needs to regulate, why the client is not always right, and what it takes to find and place the top one percent in luxury hospitality when intuition matters more than a CV. What you will hear in this episode. • The reshuffling of luxury hospitality leadership and why it is happening. • Why wellbeing is a business strategy, not an HR initiative. • How the Chief Wellbeing Officer role was born during Covid. • What top leaders are actually going through behind closed doors. • The four dimensions of a high performing leader: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. • Recruiting the top one percent: what the CV never shows. • Women in leadership and the queen bee syndrome. • Maram Global: a new platform and a new chapter. • Spitfire questions on luxury, misconceptions, skills, and the future. Follow the Beyond Luxury Podcast and subscribe wherever you listen. FIND US YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@beyondluxurypodcast Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/beyondluxury Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/beyondluxury Substack → https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/ Carlota's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/ Carlota's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/ Website → https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree → https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group ShopMy → https://shopmy.us/carlotarodben/my-latest-finds Get Your Books Beauty As It Is → https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/164137313X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 Beyond Luxury: The Promise of Emotion → https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Luxury-Promise-Carlota-Rodben-ebook/dp/B0CJ2WBMWP Beyond Luxury Group is a strategic advisory and new media group, guiding leaders towards the future of luxury and beyond. We work with top fashion/accessories, beauty/wellness, and hospitality/longevity brands to accelerate meaningful, future-proof growth. Get in touch to find out how we can support your business.

    #52 She Has Been Placing the Top Executives in Hospitality and Leisure for 20 Years. Now She Is Rebuilding How Luxury Chooses Its Leaders | Hoda Tahoun, Founder of Maram Global

  3. Sep 15

    #51 She Built Assouline From a Paris Basement Into a Global Luxury Icon | Martine Assouline, Co-Founder of Assouline

    A luxury publishing co-founder on why a physical book beats fast information every time. Martine Assouline co-founded Assouline in 1994 with her husband Prosper, starting the house from the basement of their Paris apartment with a first book on La Colombe d'Or, the hotel in the South of France they treated as a second home. Thirty years later, Assouline publishes across seven countries, holds the only trunk partnership Goyard has ever created with an outside brand, and counts Roger Federer among the subjects who trusted the house with his visual biography. Their son Alexandre now runs the company as president. In this episode, Martine walks through how an Assouline book actually gets made, from a title on surrealism she had to kill over copyright costs to the discipline she calls "eating culture." She talks taste, AI, succession, craftsmanship, and what luxury will mean by the time water becomes the real currency. Beyond Luxury brings together the founders, executives and cultural voices shaping the future of luxury, exploring brand innovation, consumer behavior, craftsmanship and where the luxury industry is headed next. 00:03:48 How images, not text, built Assouline's entire style 00:06:22 The book that started in a basement: La Colombe d'Or 00:14:56 Making the Roger Federer book 00:19:23 The surrealism book she had to kill over copyright costs 00:21:07 Why she calls ChatGPT and Google easy fast food 00:25:48 Why she tells her team to eat culture 00:32:28 Bergdorf Goodman's gift floor and Goyard's first-ever partnership 00:48:52 What is luxury? Her answer from a Rochas interview forty years ago 00:55:28 Three words for the luxury industry today Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week.  Follow us on : Substack → https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/ Carlota's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast Tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/ Carlota's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/ Website → https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree → https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group

    #51 She Built Assouline From a Paris Basement Into a Global Luxury Icon | Martine Assouline, Co-Founder of Assouline

  4. Sep 1

    #50 From 10 years at Nike to Le Coq Sportif: How He Reads Culture Before It Goes Mainstream|Pascal Monfort, Founder of REC and Chief Creative Officer of Le Coq Sportif

    The culture strategist who reads what consumers want before it goes mainstream. Pascal Monfort explains why good taste, not follower counts, is becoming one of luxury’s greatest competitive advantages. Pascal Monfort is the founder of REC, the Paris-based cultural foresight and strategy agency built around its Research, Experts, Consumers methodology, with work spanning luxury, fashion and sport for brands including Lacoste and GANT. He spent nearly 10 years at Nike working across consumer culture and innovation, was Art Director at Issey Miyake, founded Ephemera, the Paris bookshop dedicated to rare fashion documents, and teaches the history and sociology of fashion. In 2026, Pascal was named Chief Creative Officer of Le Coq Sportif, where he is helping lead the next chapter of the historic French sportswear brand founded in 1882. In this episode of Beyond Luxury, Pascal breaks down the REC method and his consumer pyramid, from “seeker heads” to early adopters, and explains why he needs only 24 of the right people to crack a strategic question. We discuss: • How to identify cultural shifts before they go mainstream• Why 24 carefully selected people can reveal more than thousands of data points • The difference between creating culture and buying visibility• Why follower counts are a poor proxy for cultural influence• What Lacoste, Prada and GANT understand about cultural relevance • How Nike taught Pascal to read consumers and subcultures• Why human taste still matters in an algorithmic world• Why good taste is expertise, not decoration • What it takes to rebuild an iconic heritage brand like Le Coq Sportif Beyond Luxury explores the forces reshaping the global luxury industry through conversations with the people building what comes next. Hosted by Carlota Rodben, the podcast brings together leaders across luxury, fashion, hospitality, technology, culture and innovation to understand changing consumer behaviour, brand strategy and the future of luxury. Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week.  Follow us on : Substack → https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/ Carlota's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast Tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/ Carlota's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/ Website → https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree → https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week.

    #50 From 10 years at Nike to Le Coq Sportif: How He Reads Culture Before It Goes Mainstream|Pascal Monfort, Founder of REC and Chief Creative Officer of Le Coq Sportif

  5. Aug 18

    #49 Miami Is the Fastest-Growing Luxury City in America. She's Building the Infrastructure to Save It | Anya Freeman, Founder & CEO of Kind Designs

    A former litigator is 3D printing living seawalls that protect billions in Miami luxury real estate and rebuild marine life at the same time. Anya Freeman, founder and CEO of Kind Designs, has raised 22 million dollars, works with the Ritz-Carlton, the Mandarin Oriental and the Fontainebleau, and signed a contract with the US Navy, all from a factory on the Miami River. Beyond Luxury is a podcast delivering luxury industry insights across fashion, beauty and hospitality, with expert perspectives on brand innovation, consumer behavior and the future of luxury. This episode covers luxury real estate, sustainability without the green premium, product-led growth, craftsmanship, coastal infrastructure and what it takes to build a category-defining brand as a first-time founder. New episodes of Beyond Luxury drop weekly. Follow for more conversations with the founders and experts shaping the luxury industry. Read the deeper analysis on our Substack, Top Voices, linked in the show notes. Timestamps 00:00  Why Miami's luxury boom has a coastline problem 04:32  From litigator to seawall founder 05:50  Ukraine to Maine to Miami, the immigrant path 07:09  The flooding that started Kind Designs 11:46  How a lawyer rewrites the building code 17:38  Raising 22 million dollars and why Florida investors said yes 20:35  Being the only woman in seawall construction 27:54  What luxury developers actually want in a seawall 29:20  Turning the seawall into public art 34:11  The US Navy contract and a printer that ships anywhere 39:56  2030: the first female unicorn in Miami 48:02  What luxury means to her 57:42  The one thing you need to make it: grit Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week. Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week. Follow us on : Substack → https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/ Carlota's Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast Tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/ Carlota's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/ Website → https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree → ⁠https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group⁠

    #49 Miami Is the Fastest-Growing Luxury City in America. She's Building the Infrastructure to Save It | Anya Freeman, Founder & CEO of Kind Designs

  6. Aug 4

    #48 How Luxury Brands Win the Creator Economy with YouTube's Creator Lead and Meta's Former Head of Luxury | Ina Fuchs & Morin Oluwole

    Eighty percent of luxury discovery now starts on digital, so how do luxury brands stay desirable on platforms they cannot control? YouTube's Creator Community Partnerships Lead, Ina Fuchs, and former Meta Global Head of Luxury and Board Member of Biologique Recherche, Breitling, and Rituals, Morin Oluwole, break down the creator economy reshaping luxury, fashion, beauty and hospitality marketing. Recorded LIVE at Cannes Lions, this episode of Beyond Luxury covers creator communities, influencer strategy, brand storytelling, generative AI in luxury content, and the measurement gap in the creator economy. Expect specifics on Coach, Hermès, Dior and Jacquemus, on why community beats follower count, and on how brands protect brand DNA while giving creators real creative freedom. Beyond Luxury delivers luxury industry insights across fashion, beauty and hospitality, with expert perspectives on brand innovation, consumer behavior, craftsmanship and product-led growth. New episodes of Beyond Luxury drop weekly. Follow for more conversations with the founders and experts shaping the luxury industry. Read the deeper analysis on our Substack, Top Voices, linked in the show notes. Timestamps: 00:00 Meet Ina Fuchs and Morin Oluwole 04:46 Why 80% of luxury discovery now starts on digital 10:10 The fear of losing brand DNA to creators 13:19 Why followers are the wrong metric, and the Coach book charm campaign 16:28 Playing with brand codes: Hermès and Dior x Jisoo 18:58 The problem with the word “control” 21:10 Jacquemus and the bags rolling down the street 26:03 Brands as creators, and the hero-hub-hygiene framework 28:41 The measurement gap and the reality inside the boardroom 37:30 Heritage, desirability and generative AI 42:25 The twelve-month playbook for brands Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week! Follow us on :⁠⁠⁠ Substack →⁠ https://beyondluxury.substack.com/ Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/ Carlota's Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/ Podcast Tiktok →⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn →⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/⁠ Carlota's LinkedIn → ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/⁠ Website →⁠ https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree →⁠ https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group

    #48 How Luxury Brands Win the Creator Economy with YouTube's Creator Lead and Meta's Former Head of Luxury | Ina Fuchs & Morin Oluwole

  7. Jul 21

    #47 From Developing the Aman Beverly Hills to Defining Taste in Luxury Hospitality | Nadine Choe, Founder of The Stanza

    Luxury hospitality is being reshaped by an $80 trillion wealth transfer, and Nadine Choe explains exactly who wins. Founder of the Milan-based media platform The Stanza, Nadine structured over $7b in development capital for hotel projects, including One Beverly Hills, a project flagged by Aman Hotel & Residences. She reads the industry through both the capital stack and the craftsmanship, a combination almost no one else brings. The Beyond Luxury Podcast covers the future of luxury across fashion, beauty and hospitality, with expert conversations on brand innovation, consumer behavior and where the industry is headed next. This episode gets into product-led growth in hospitality, luxury branding, craftsmanship, patient capital, members clubs, and why flawless service is becoming the real luxury as AI reshapes travel. New episodes of Beyond Luxury drop weekly. Follow for more conversations with the founders and experts shaping the luxury industry. Read the deeper analysis on our Substack, Top Voices, linked in the show notes. Timestamps- 00:00 Why luxury clients now collect experiences over objects 04:30 From underwriting billion-dollar hotels to building The Stanza 07:47 The $80 trillion wealth transfer and why luxury groups moved into hotels 14:20 Why a $300 room and a $10,000 room both call themselves luxury 17:00 Her real definition of luxury: removing every decision 18:19 Passalacqua, patient capital and the Dyson detail that gives it away 22:39 Why so many new hotels look exactly the same 27:00 How capital structure decides which hotels have taste 41:48 What makes a members club last instead of fade 50:30 How AI will split lifestyle and ultra-luxury hospitality 55:07 The one skill anyone entering hospitality has to have Subscribe for new conversations with the people shaping the future of luxury, every week! Follow us on :⁠⁠⁠ Substack →⁠ https://beyondluxury.substack.com/Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/Carlota's Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/Podcast Tiktok →⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn →⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/⁠Carlota's LinkedIn → ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/⁠Website →⁠ https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree →⁠ https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group

    #47 From Developing the Aman Beverly Hills to Defining Taste in Luxury Hospitality | Nadine Choe, Founder of The Stanza

  8. Jul 8

    #46 He Had $12,000 and a Lucky Pineapple. Now Royalty Wears His Shoes | Edgardo Osorio, Founder & Creative Director of Aquazzura

    An independent luxury brand founder on why comfort, craftsmanship and staying private beat every conglomerate playbook. Edgardo Osorio is the founder and creative director of Aquazzura, a Florence-based luxury footwear and lifestyle brand recognized for its gold pineapple detail. In this episode of Beyond Luxury, a podcast covering luxury industry insights, brand innovation and consumer trends across fashion, beauty and hospitality, Edgardo shares how he built Aquazzura into a globally recognized independent luxury brand, sold in 58 countries, without ever taking on a conglomerate or outside investor. He talks about product-led growth, luxury branding strategy, staying close to craftsmanship, and what real luxury means to him today. New episodes of Beyond Luxury drop weekly. Follow for more conversations with the founders and experts shaping the luxury industry. Read the deeper analysis on our Substack, Top Voices, linked in the show notes. Timestamps: • 0:00 Intro • 4:18 How thirteen weddings led to a shoe brand • 13:19 Starting out at fifteen in Bogotá • 20:39 The story behind the gold pineapple • 31:27 Why independence means saying no to shareholders• 42:54 The copycat crisis that forced Aquazzura to diversify • 53:48 What luxury actually means to him • 57:16 Where the industry is headed next Follow us on :⁠⁠⁠ Substack →⁠ https://beyondluxury.substack.com/Editorial Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.media/ Podcast Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/beyondluxury.podcast/Carlota's Instagram →⁠ https://www.instagram.com/carlotarodben/Podcast Tiktok →⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondluxury.podcast Beyond Luxury LinkedIn →⁠⁠⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/beyondluxurygroup/⁠Carlota's LinkedIn → ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlotarodben/⁠Website →⁠ https://beyondluxury.group/ LinkTree →⁠ https://linktr.ee/beyondluxury.group

    #46 He Had $12,000 and a Lucky Pineapple. Now Royalty Wears His Shoes | Edgardo Osorio, Founder & Creative Director of Aquazzura
See All (52)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Whether you’re a leader in luxury, aspiring to become one, or simply curious about where the industry is heading, this is for you. Luxury is a €1.5 trillion industry built on mystery, discretion, and access. It’s also undergoing one of its biggest transformations. Each week, we sit down with the people shaping its future to have the conversations that rarely happen in public. Beyond PR talking points, we explore the talent crisis, AI, culture, business, and the elephants in the room. Hosted by Carlota Rodben, founder of Beyond Luxury Group, 2x author, and former Head of Innovation at Chanel.

Information

  • Creator
    Carlota Rodben
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Carlota Rodben
  • Show Website
    Beyond Luxury

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