Luxury Briefing.

The luxury travel market from leading source countries has been growing at 10-20% per annum, and is currently estimated to account for 3% of tourism worldwide, or 25 million people. The ILTM Industry Report 2007 was produced for the International Luxury Travel Market by The Travel Business Partnership (www.t-bp.com), a network of market analysts and business journalists specialising in the business of travel and tourism. The report was based on a survey of ILTM premium travel buyers and operators and interviews with industry professionals conducted between July and October. Here is our distillation of the findings

THOM BROWNE, unusually for a fashion designer, began his career with a business degree. After a brief period as an actor, he worked as a salesman at Giorgio Armani, before moving into design and merchandising at Club Monaco, owned by Polo Ralph Lauren. He arrived in New York in 1997, launched his own label in 2001 and won the CFDA’s Award for Menswear in 2006, a remarkable achievement. Since then, his distinctive look – a tightly fitted jacket and trousers that finish at the ankle – has earned him a major contract with Brooks Brothers and he has also launched a men’s jewellery collection with Harry Winston

Contemporary art has become an established feature of the affluent lifestyle, with rising levels of wealth globally driving prices higher. Reflecting their customers’ interests, luxury brands have started to take this sector very seriously indeed. BETTINA VON HASE, a consultant advising several luxury brands in this area, looks at the intersection of art and retail

MARCIA KILGORE is a tour de force in the beauty and wellbeing sector, having founded the pioneering Bliss Spa empire, which was sold to LVMH in 1999 and subsequently acquired by Starwood Hotels. Her current projects are the Soap & Glory cosmetics line and the recently-launched Fit Flop, a fitness-footwear concept. She gives us her thoughts on the state of one of the oldest arts in the book

DESPITE the fact that so much of the luxury industry is manufactured for and marketed to women, the industry itself...

Since I believe letters are advertisements for yourself, I take them very seriously. Or, at least, no more seriously than...