What The Luxe

Lew Frankfort joined Coach in 1979 when it was a $6 million leather goods company with a factory, a handful of offices, and a cult following. Over the next three decades, he led its transformation into a $5 billion global brand, coining the term accessible luxury along the way and building one of the most consumer-centric businesses in the history of fashion. In conversation with Anant Sharma, Lew traces the full arc of that journey, from opening the first Coach store on Madison Avenue to taking the brand public, breaking into Japan ahead of every European luxury house, and what it actually means to keep a brand emotionally relevant across generations. A conversation about long-termism, consumer insight, and what it takes to build something that truly lasts.

Long Lane is not a spa, a hotel or a members' club. It's a rethink of how hospitality can operate when health is the starting point. Co-founder Loui Blake joins Fred Moore to unpack the model behind it. From designing environments that support both social and physical wellbeing, to building an audience in public before the doors have even opened. They discuss the changing expectations of younger consumers, the limits of traditional wellness, and why the next wave of hospitality may look very different from what came before.

Bombardier started with a snowmobile. Today, it builds the world's fastest business jet. In this episode, Ève Laurier, VP of Communications & Marketing at Bombardier, joins Fred Moore to unpack the company's transformation into a focused, pure-play business aviation brand—and the work required to reshape how it's understood. Eve shares what it takes to rebrand an institution that an entire country feels emotionally attached to—from months of stakeholder listening before briefing a single agency, to presenting the new identity to the founding family. She challenges common perceptions of business aviation, explains why "esteemed brand" sits more comfortably than "luxury," and reflects on the moment a client takes delivery of an $85 million aircraft on the factory floor. This is a conversation about engineering culture, brand transformation, and what it means to carry a national legacy forward.

Liquid Death didn't grow by following category rules. In this episode, Andy Pearson, VP of Creative at Liquid Death, joins Anant Sharma to unpack the brand's anti-marketing marketing strategy, where the focus is on making things people actually want to watch. From launching with an ad before the product existed to building an in-house creative model, Andy shares how Liquid Death approaches marketing when the product itself doesn't change. The conversation explores how humour, cultural instinct and a clear point of view can create value in a category defined by sameness. This is a look at a different way of building brands, one that prioritises attention, entertainment, and making work that people choose to engage with.

Peace One Day's mission is to institutionalise the International Day of Peace on 21st September and create a more just, inclusive, sustainable and peaceful world. In conversation with Anant Sharma on What The Luxe, Jeremy shares the idea behind the movement and the extraordinary journey of bringing it to life.

In this episode, Fred Moore speaks with Laylah Holmes about applying fashion's discipline of cut, construction and material to handcrafted rug design. With early experience at Vivienne Westwood and Ralph Lauren, Laylah brings a textile sensibility to the floor. Every piece is dyed, woven, tufted and finished entirely by hand, working with long-standing artisan partners across Nepal and India. They discuss longevity, scale and the responsibility of making objects that are built to endure. At a time of accelerated consumption, this is a conversation about patience, precision and designing interiors with the care of couture.

The diamond industry has always traded on mystery — its allure built on scarcity, tradition and the myth of perfection. Tobias Kormind, Co-Founder of 77 Diamonds, saw an opportunity to do things differently. In this episode, Tobias joins James Lees to explore how technology, transparency and a customer-first philosophy helped reshape one of luxury's oldest categories. From the origins of diamond scarcity to the digital transformation that redefined how people buy engagement rings, Tobias reflects on two decades of challenging convention and what it takes to modernise an industry. A conversation about innovation, craftsmanship and the revolution changing what we value — and how we buy it.

Design and taste are often spoken about as if they're the same thing — but Stephen Bayley has spent a lifetime arguing that they're not. In this episode of What The Luxe, host Anant Sharma sits down with the critic, author and founding director of the Design Museum to explore the uneasy, often misunderstood relationship between design, taste and luxury. From his early encounters with architecture in Liverpool to making design a public conversation through the Boilerhouse project at the V&A, Bayley reflects on how design gained cultural authority — and how it may have lost its nerve. The conversation ranges across everyday objects, cities, cars and consumer culture, questioning when design became a proxy for preference, how taste was commodified, and why objects are never neutral. Bayley offers a sharp critique of consensus thinking, nostalgia and the dilution of judgement — arguing that caring about the material world is not elitist, but essential. A wide-ranging, philosophical discussion about meaning, value and why understanding the things we live with still matters.

What if wellness wasn't something we added on — but something we designed into experience itself? In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma is joined by Ramy Elnagar, Founder of White Mirror, to explore how technology, design and the built environment can actively shape how we feel, behave and flourish. Ramy's work sits at the intersection of sensory design, emerging technology and human psychology, challenging the idea that wellness is about optimisation, biohacking or indulgence. Instead, he argues for intentional experiences — spaces that teach us how to sleep better, listen more deeply, regulate our nervous systems and reconnect with nature, ritual and meaning. Together they discuss the tension between innovation and restraint, why the word "wellness" may no longer be enough, and how experiences — when designed with empathy — can become powerful tools for human flourishing. A thoughtful conversation about attention, intention and why the most advanced environments often feel the most human.

For the first time since episode one, What The Luxe brings its two hosts together at the same table. In this end-of-year Christmas episode, Anant Sharma and Fred Moore step away from the usual guest format to reflect on the past year of conversations. They talk candidly about what we've heard throughout 2025, from the patterns to the anomalies, the anecdotes and the insights. Moving easily between the podcast, the studio, and the wider world around us, the two cover topics including experience, taste, leadership, travel, and the shifting signals of value across luxury. A deliberately unstructured episode to close out the year, before attention turns to what comes next.

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Anant Sharma sits down with Oliver Spencer, founder of the eponymous menswear label and formalwear brand Favourbrook, to explore a career built on patience, craft and a quiet resistance to fashion's obsession with scale. From selling hand-painted waistcoats off a wheelbarrow on Portobello Road to building two enduring British brands, Oliver shares why he never followed the traditional Savile Row path — and why he continues to make a significant proportion of his collections in England, even when the economics point elsewhere Together, they discuss: • Why true luxury is rarity, craft and design — not availability • The difference between fashion, styling and genuine garment design • What the industry gets wrong about growth, scale and "success" • Why small is becoming beautiful again in business and culture • The role of shopkeeping, community and the High Street in modern luxury • How Oliver's latest venture, Secret Trips, connects clothing, travel and a more considered way of living A thoughtful, unfiltered conversation about slowing down in a world that moves too fast — and building brands with integrity, longevity and soul.

In this episode, What The Luxe dives into the world of Aqua Expeditions with its Founder & CEO, Francesco Galli Zugaro. Raised across 16 countries and driven by an innate spirit of exploration, Francesco has spent nearly two decades crafting highly intimate, design-led journeys for what he calls the affluent explorer — guests who crave authenticity, comfort and adventure in some of the world's most fragile ecosystems. Host Fred Moore explores how Aqua began with a single 12-cabin ship on the Peruvian Amazon and grew into a fleet spanning Indonesia, the Mekong, the Galápagos and soon East Africa and the Arctic. Francesco shares the realities behind that growth: the logistical improbability of building ships in remote regions, the family dynamics woven into the brand, and why Aqua will never chase scale for its own sake. Together they unpack: • The origins of Aqua's small-ship philosophy and why intimacy beats scale • Designing for high-touch luxury — from world-class dining to near 1:1 staff ratios • Creating moments of wonder for guests who are used to the exceptional • The rising appetite for multi-generational and younger expedition travellers • Conservation partnerships and operating responsibly in fragile ecosystems • Aqua's next chapter, including new routes and new vessels A rich conversation about adventure, restraint, craftsmanship and the discipline required to build a brand that stays true to its values.

For over 60 years, KEF has redefined what it means to listen—turning sound into sculpture and engineering into art. Under the leadership of Grace Lo, the brand continues to push boundaries in both technology and design, shaping the future of high-fidelity audio for a new generation. In this episode, Grace joins Anant Sharma to explore what luxury means when it comes to sound. They discuss the founding spirit of Raymond Cooke, the shift from passive to active systems, and why the ritual of listening—whether that's filling a room with music or the deliberate act of putting a record on—matters more than ever in a headphone-dominated world.