Be it time, health, or a meaningful job: While ‘Luxury’ is inseparable with money, the panelists at the first-ever Forbes Luxury Summit found many other ways to define what luxury means to them. This was important, as part of the idea behind the Summit, that was co-organized for the first time by Forbes and FACES, was to bring together as many perspectives as possible—while still staying true to the overall theme.

And there are many challenges the luxury industry faces. In her opening keynote—which came right after a musical opening from Shkodran Osmanaj (Swiss Orchestra and Stuttgart Philharmony) and Felicia Pasca (Sinfonietta Bern)—, Felicitas Morhart, founder of The Swiss Center For Luxury Research, talked about the five biggest of them: Democratization vs. Elitism; Fluidity vs. Materialism; Sustainability vs. Opulence; Transparency vs. Mystery; and Gender Fluidity vs. Evolution. It was much to discuss, as could be seen in the subsequent panel on the same topic—”Global Megatrends and the Luxury Industry”. Moderated by Carolin Roth, Morhart discussed all five of them with Jana Arden (Capgemini Switzerland) and Huw Jones (Head of Client Solutions, Wavemaker).

After this opening session, the day provided what we had hoped for: We talked about investing in luxury assets with Gzim Hasani (CEO, smzh ag); talked to the first-ever woman in the world to become a Maître Chocolatier, Cecilia Tessieri Rabassi, about her restart and how to create “The Chocolate Of Tomorrow”; and heard from jet broker Steve Varsano (Founder, The Jet Business) about being held at gunpoint during his first sale of a corporate jet and how he managed to amass more than 30 million views on Tiktok (“Trust the young people around you”, said Varsano. “So far, I’ve sold four jets via social media.”).

Gen Z, Web3, Rappers
After a networking lunch, the 300 guests heard from others within the industry: Sarah Schlagenhauf (Founder & CEO, Vivents) talked about luxury and Web3; Tobias Reichmuth (Founding Partner, Maximon) described how health is the new wealth and how he plans to live to be 120 years old; and Yannick Blättler gave a keynote speech on what luxury means for Gen Z.

The finale came after a short break: Justin Fuchs, founder of streetwear brand Peso, discussed his story from Youtuber to designer. “It sounds weird, but I never have a plan for what’s next. So far it has worked out,” says the 26-year-old, whose brand recently celebrated 1 million sales on Shopify. And last but not least came Guè: In an entertaining interview, the Italian rap legend described how he has managed to stay relevant for more than two decades; what he thinks about the connection between rap and luxury; and told the story of how he recently crashed his luxury car with a big grin.

We can proudly say that the first Luxury Summit was a success—and will be back next year. We have to say thank you to all the speakers and attendees, but most importantly our partners: Maserati, smzh ag, Brunello Cuccinelli, Louis Roederer and The Dolder Grand. See you next year!

Photos: Films for Reel (Jonas Scheideegger), Josefine Zürcher, Svitlana Mazina