‘BESPOKE’ IN 2025
Simon Woolford Simon Woolford

‘BESPOKE’ IN 2025

The promise of ‘bespoke’ is virtually as old as luxury itself. 

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, something bespoke is specially made for a particular person. The term can originally be traced to the word 'bespeak', which used to mean 'to explain; to indicate' - literally, 'to speak for something'.

For centuries, bespoke has been associated with custom-made or tailor-made items, in particular suits, dresses, and shoes. But we’ve come a long way, and the notion has expanded to cover an increasing diversity of categories, including cars, wealth-management, fine-dining, luxury travel, private jets, haute couture, and healthcare.

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LUXURY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Simon Woolford Simon Woolford

LUXURY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Exploring the fast-evolving Gulf luxury market and how global brands can resonate with local audiences across Saudi, UAE and Kuwait.

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JING SPOKE WITH SIMON WOOLFORD OF SUM ABOUT THE EXPECTED RETURN OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS TO THE WORLD OF FASHION
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JING SPOKE WITH SIMON WOOLFORD OF SUM ABOUT THE EXPECTED RETURN OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS TO THE WORLD OF FASHION

It has now been over a year of global coronavirus-enforced social distancing restrictions, event cancellations, and temporary museum closures, all of which have contributed to a digital-first acceleration. Yet, notably, as fashion weeks have been forced online for the Fall ‘21 season, some leading luxury brands have streamed their virtual runways from within the closed doors of museums, theaters and galleries, allowing cultural institutions to retain their presence in public consciousness.

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RE-AWAKENING THE SENSES THROUGH IMMERSIVE INTERACTIVE BRAND EXPERIENCES
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RE-AWAKENING THE SENSES THROUGH IMMERSIVE INTERACTIVE BRAND EXPERIENCES

Not to put too fine a point on it, we have all been in a kind of solitary confinement for the last year.

In many ways this has led to a feeling of sensory deprivation. And as soon as the pandemic is over, we predict a new consumer mindset that craves immersive interactive experiences.

Let’s face it, we’ve had our fix of digital, and how nice it will be to once again have to have a physical meeting with a friend, a client, and indeed a brand.

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MY NEW LUXURY BRAND IS SUSTAINABLE, ETHICAL, NATURAL, DIGITALLY-NATIVE, AND HAS A STRONG ECOM PLATFORM. SO, WILL IT SUCCEED?
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MY NEW LUXURY BRAND IS SUSTAINABLE, ETHICAL, NATURAL, DIGITALLY-NATIVE, AND HAS A STRONG ECOM PLATFORM. SO, WILL IT SUCCEED?

In BoF’s article ‘How Covid Is Catalysing a New Era of Luxury’, some encouraging projections for the return of the luxury consumer were made, specifically within the booming Ecommerce sector.

More recently the BBC has posed the question here , and Vogue Business has been redefining Sustainability for 2021 here.

These are just three of many thought-provoking pieces that look forward to a future of post-Covid consumerism, and one can conclude from them that your brand will need to own many or all of the traits covered in the title of this post.

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