What the luxury industry is worried about, and what it should be worried about are not necessarily aligned.

That’s what we leaned at this week’s #FTLuxury summit in Barcelona

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Art dealer and BBC Bargain Hunt expert Oghenochuko Ojiri leaves court after admitting that he failed to report a series of art sales to a man linked to proscribed terror group Hezbollah

He’s one of the subjects of today’s newsletter later today open.substack.com/pub/darkluxury

UK and India trade deal obviously a massive deal for the Scotch industry, and a quite nice perk for luxury car makers in the UK like JLR, Rolls-Royce and Bentley

But overall it's expected to have a teeny tiny impact on GDP by 2040: a £4.8 billion increase in GDP, or 0.1%

www.gov.uk/government/p...

How will Trump's tariffs affect luxury businesses? Let us count the ways

‘There is going to be pain’

Dark Luxury spoke to a dozen Lamborghini dealers in the US about the prospect of Trump's 25% tariffs

Here's what they said they said 🧵

London's raids on fake luxury retailers are missing the target

Luxury brands spend millions to try and prevent the sale of fake luxury goods, and police often raid stores in London to try and stop retailers...

Things went a bit crazy in the mass luxury world in the last week www.darkluxury.news/p/bernard-ar...

How to avoid price drops, why should avoid "faster" handbags, and why not all "newness" is novel

A guide to luxury handbags as an asset class www.darkluxury.news/p/hermes-bir...

In luxury just two per cent of customers are responsible for 40 per cent of sales

Why luxury is in its Marie Antoinette era

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Harassment, abuse, low pay and HR in the pocket of the CEO.

This report by @bectu.bsky.social about what it’s really like working in the UK fashion industry is a must-read.

open.substack.com/pub/darkluxu...

A loaded gun in a shoplifter’s bag

Suspected street gang members and drug dealers spending stacks of cash

Pickpockets collaborating with fraudsters

Dark Luxury can exclusively reveal the rampant criminality operating in Selfridges, one of the world’s most luxurious department stores

Journalists worry about AI taking over their jobs and copying their articles.

Hermès CEO Axel Dumas implied that dupe makers copying his bags is exactly the same.

Our investigation into how Chinese gangs smuggle Louis Vuitton handbags out of Europe, and cash in 21% VAT refunds is now live on Jing Daily

jingdaily.com/posts/china-...

Chinese gangs are tricking Louis Vuitton staff to get cheaper handbags to service the $100 billion grey market.

@darkluxury.news can exclusively reveal the gangs' latest innovation: cashing in extra profit by fraudulently claiming EU VAT refunds on those purchases.

Billionaire LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault announced his company's financial results for 2024 this week, and what he didn’t say was perhaps as important as what he did

He dodged a question about US tariffs, instead criticising French taxes

He also not-so-subtly marked his childrens' homework...

Exclusive: Savile Row's Kilgour is coming back from the dead

Famous for dressing Cary Grant in North by Northwest in its heydey, it's the latest chapter in the messy rise, fall, and now, rise again of this famous menswear brand
www.darkluxury.news/p/savile-row...

Paris Match (owned by Arnault) has been publishing favourable articles about Trump for weeks.

Meanwhile, Arnault’s son, Alexandre, was at Trump’s Madison Square Gardens rally where a comedian made not-very-nice jokes about Puerto Ricans.

And now the family has great seats at the inauguration.

Pitti Uomo is the slightly chaotic, sometimes silly, but ultimately very serious trade show in Florence, Italy for the menswear industry. 🧵

The potential shutdown of TikTok is forcing luxury media agencies to secure refunds or re-route millions of dollars of advertising spending, and that’s all before the ban comes into effect.

Full story on @darkluxury.news

open.substack.com/pub/darkluxu...