Participants
Uché Okonkwo
Executive Director & Founder, LUXE CORP and Author of Luxury Online
Uché Okonkwo (MBA, Phd) is recognized world wide as one of the pioneer luxury businesss trategists and opinionleaders in the luxury industry. With insightful vision on the luxury business, a strong creative talent and a rare capacity to pull luxury brands together, she has collaborated closely with luxury companies including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Cartier, Christian Dior, Piaget, Chloé, Boucheron, Karl Lagerfeld, Coty Prestige, Rémy Martin, Oscar de la Renta, Fabergé, Burberry, Tiffany’s, Galeries Lafayette, Barney’s New York, Selfridges and the groups LVMH, Gucci Group and Richemont. Her expertise intaking luxury brands to elevated growth through strategic and insightful business solutions have led to the successful turn-around of several brands and the execution of action-plans that address burning platform issues, leading to market out-performance. Through her steering guidance, Luxe Corp is currently playing a key role in the re-shaping the business practices of luxury brands and the business approaches of the entire luxury industry.
The vision of creating Luxe Corp came from both a deep passion for the luxury business and recognition of a dire need for the development and application of modern business strategies in the luxury industry as it evolves from a traditional to a modern economic sector. With the validation and backing of fellow luxury professionals Uché embarked on a mission to make a concrete contribution to the evolution of the luxury business in the 21st century. The structure of Luxe Corp was created from her experiences garnered as a luxury industry consultant and from senior-level positions in multiple sectors ranging from luxury goods with major international luxury brands, management consultancy and commercial aviation in Europe, North America and Asia.
Uché is also the Founding Editor of the luxury business magazine, Luxe-Mag.Com, which provides in-depth analysis of luxury management issues; and pioneered the creation of The Luxury Centre at ESC Rennes School of Business, France, the first research center established by a business school dedicated to luxury management research. Her 2007 bestseller, Luxury Fashion Banding is the first book that addresses the business of luxury from a strategic viewpoint. The book has been described as an 'indispensable resource for anyone involved in the luxury business’. Her highly-anticipated recent book, Luxury Online(2009), is the first text on luxury in the context of the internet, digital media and new technologies and has been described as ‘what the luxury industry has been awaiting for over a decade’.
Uché speaks regularly at luxury industry events worldwide and constantly gives seminars on the luxury business to MBAs and alumni of several business schools including Harvard Business School Boston, ESSEC Paris and EML Geneva. She sits on the board of several luxury entities including the Global Luxury Forum and is an Honorary Fellow of the American Luxury Marketing Council. She has an MBA from Brunel Business School London and a PhD in Luxury Branding & e-Commerce from ESC Rennes School of Business, France. She is fluent in French, English and Italian. In addition to the business of luxury, Uché is passionate about art, culture, design and aviation.