Daniel Grieder

CEO Hugo Boss

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

He is responsible for Company Strategy, Global Marketing, Creative Direction, Global Product Development, Licenses Management, HR as well as Corporate Communications.

Daniel Grieder was born in Washington, D.C., USA, in 1961. While studying at the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration in Zurich (HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft) he founded Max Trade Service AG in 1985 (later renamed Madison Clothing Ltd.), which, in addition to manufacturing and selling leatherwear to leading department stores throughout Switzerland, also distributed internationally renowned brands such as Pepe Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Stone Island and C.P. Company in Switzerland, Austria and Eastern Europe.

With the launch of the American brand Tommy Hilfiger in the European market in 1997, Grieder was largely responsible for the successful establishment of Tommy Hilfiger there over the following years. In 2004, Daniel Grieder was named Vice President of Commercial Operations at Tommy Hilfiger Europe, and two years later as Chief Operating Officer and President Tommy Hilfiger Europe. This was followed by his appointment as Chief Executive Officer Tommy Hilfiger Europe in 2008. After the integration of the Tommy Hilfiger brand into the Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) Corporation in 2010, Grieder became Chief Executive Officer and President of Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe in 2014.

In June 2021, Daniel Grieder joined the HUGO BOSS AG Managing Board as Chief Executive Officer.

Grieder is married, has two sons and lives in Switzerland.

Miral Youssef

President Middle East & Africa, Kering

Miral Youssef is the President of Kering Middle East & Africa, based in Dubai, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping the Group’s strategic vision, growth trajectory, and brand presence across a diverse and fast-evolving region.

With a deep understanding of the market and a passion for excellence, Miral’s mission is to unlock growth opportunities and forge authentic connections with local communities and strategic partners, accelerating the expansion of Kering’s Houses across eight countries in the Middle East and Africa. Miral is known for amplifying Kering’s collective voice while navigating the dynamic intersection of global luxury leadership and regional cultural depth.

In addition to championing brand authenticity, she fosters a strong sense of community and engagement within the Group both internally and externally in alignment with Kering’s long-term values and purpose-driven vision.

Miral joined Kering in 2019 as the Middle East General Manager at Balenciaga, where she led the brand’s establishment and growth across four countries, successfully overseeing all business operations in the region until 2023.

She brings a distinguished career in the luxury industry, marked by strategic leadership and innovation.

Before joining Kering, she held roles at internationally renowned fashion houses including Vivienne Westwood, Theory, and Ralph Lauren in the UK, where she contributed to brand development and market positioning.

Her journey then led her to Chalhoub Group, a leading luxury retailer in the Middle East, where she played a pivotal role in shaping the regional retail landscape. There, she oversaw commercial and franchise operations for a portfolio of prestigious brands, while also spearheading new retail concepts and driving business development initiatives across the Group.

Miral is deeply committed to mentoring and empowering women in the early stages of their careers, actively supporting initiatives that champion female leadership and foster professional growth within the industry.

Her commitment to nurturing the next generation of talent extends well beyond her executive role.

She also serves on several advisory boards including the Arab Fashion Council and Heriot-Watt University, where she contributes her expertise to advancing education and the future of the luxury and fashion industries.

Born in London, Miral holds a Master’s degree in Fashion Culture and Media from the London College of Fashion.

Michael Chalhoub

CEO Chalhoub Group

Michael Chalhoub is the Chief Executive Officer of Chalhoub Group, the leading luxury partner across the Middle East. Under his leadership, the

Group is committed to delivering Vision 2033 through innovation, growth, and global expansion.

Since joining Chalhoub Group, Michael has transformed the Group’s strategy, driving diversification into new categories, expanding into untapped regions, and revitalizing the investment portfolio. He has also strengthened joint venture partnerships, creating a solid foundation for sustained growth.

Michael’s vision focuses on balancing growth with operational excellence. He is dedicated to expanding the Group's proprietary brands internationally while enhancing its portfolio through strategic acquisitions.

Strengthening existing partnerships remains central to his strategy, solidifying Chalhoub Group’s position as a regional leader with a global presence.

An entrepreneur at heart, Michael has launched several startups, including Sport360, a leading media group in the GCC that grew to a 75-person organization generating over $10M in annual revenues within just four years. He also supported multiple ventures through the Harvard Innovation Lab.

Before becoming CEO, Michael served as President of Joint Ventures and Strategy, Growth, Innovation, and Investment at Chalhoub Group with prior roles at L’Oréal USA, Michael Kors, and in consulting.

Michael is a Harvard Business School MBA Baker Scholar and holds master's degrees in Finance and International Affairs from Paris Dauphine University.

Elie Barnes

Chief Marketing & Digital Officer Bremont Watch Company

Elie Barnes is a creative and strategic leader with a proven track record of integrated marketing excellence and digital innovation in an ever-changing consumer landscape.

With over 17 years of experience, a decade of which within the luxury sector, with LVMH // Bang & Olufsen and Bremont Watch Company, leading Global Marketing // brand strategy development, digital transformation, revolutionary product launches and strategic partnerships, Elie has a dynamic and unique understanding and appreciation for consumer marketing and communication strategies.

Elie is passionate team and people leader, who strives to ignite excitement and possibility among people from all corners of the world then inspire them to contribute their best work. As a lifelong athlete, having competed on the international sporting stage for 15 years, Elie works with a firm belief in the power of a team and a fierce commitment to bring out the best in each player.

Julie Bourgeois

CEO ANINE BING

ANINE BING has announced Julie Bourgeois as the brand’s first Global President who will work alongside the executive team and lead the company through its next stage of growth and focus on its global position.

Bourgeois will drive continued profitable growth for the brand's key revenue channels including Wholesale, Retail and Ecommerce while working closely with the teams on building out innovative brand marketing opportunities and robust omnichannel strategies for the brand. Bourgeois is a distinguished executive with extensive experience in the global fashion and luxury retail sectors. She has previously held high profile roles at prestigious companies such as LVMH, Richemont, Four Seasons, Nespresso, Khaite, and Jacadi. Julie possesses a unique expertise in both luxury hospitality and lifestyle retail brands globally. In her most recent role as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Retail, and Global Head of Experiential Signature, Julie led the transformation of retail and experiential strategies, driving significant profitability and growth. Notably, she enhanced the retail experience across 130 properties worldwide, driving substantial revenue growth and increasing brand visibility both online and on-site. Julie also led the successful launch of the Four Seasons at Home Collection, further solidifying the brand's position as a global luxury leader by reaching guests in innovative ways. Previously, as CEO of Jacadi America, Julie achieved remarkable brand growth and successfully led the acquisitions of Catimini and Absorba

“We are truly excited to welcome Julie to ANINE BING. Julie is a highly accomplished executive with exceptional experience in the luxury sector and I look forward to working with her as we continue to drive the great momentum of our business globally,”– Nico Bing, Co-Founder and CEO “Julie understands the ANINE BING woman and completely embodies the brand; she has impeccable taste and is an incredible business leader with a proven track record of success. We are delighted to have her join the ANINE BING team,”– Anine Bing, Founder and Chief Creative Officer

“I am thrilled to join ANINE BING as Global President. With its innovative spirit and strong culture, I see incredible potential for international growth. I look forward to collaborating with our incredible founders and talented teams to drive our shared vision forward,”– Julie Bourgeois, Global President

Bourgeois will be based in Paris and will also play a significant role in building out the ANINE BING team in Europe. The new ANINE BING office in Paris will open this month. This follows the opening of the Brand’s second office in the US, located in NYC, which officially opened in May 2024.

Bourgeois will start on June 3rd and will report directly to Nico Bing, Co-Founder and CEO.

Jennifer Woo

Chairman & CEO The Lane Crawford Joyce Group

Ms. Jennifer Woo is the Chairman and CEO of The Lane Crawford Joyce Group, Asia’s premier fashion retail, brand management and distribution group.

Jennifer spearheads Group strategy and oversees the operations of iconic, luxury department store Lane Crawford; cutting edge fashion boutique Joyce; and fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brand management and distribution business Imaginex Group.

The Lane Crawford Joyce Group operates more than 500 points of sale across 50 cities in Greater China and Southeast Asia. The Group works with more than 700 international designer brands to mutually build their business in the region through specialty department stores and boutiques, free-standing branded stores, and e-commerce.

Since 1999, Jennifer has held various positions within the Group, working in operations, merchandising, marketing and finance. As President of Lane Crawford from 2003 to 2010, Jennifer and her team implemented some of the most fundamental changes in the company’s history, successfully repositioning the department store model to a specialty business with the largest selection of luxury international designer fashion and lifestyle brands in the region. Lane Crawford has since become a benchmark for innovation in retail concepts and creative programmes.

Fostering a working environment where creativity and collaboration thrives, Jennifer has been responsible for building a Retail Academy to develop talent from buying through to selling, a personal coaching programme for leaders, and a pioneering Wellness platform for staff with facilities and a calendar of fitness, wellness and community service initiatives.

In April 2023, Jennifer was honoured to be inducted into the World Retail Congress Hall of Fame for being a retail innovator.

She currently sits on the board of the Asia Art Archive and is a member of the Court of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Francesco Bottigliero

Chief of Humanistic Technology Foro delle Arti & Brunello Cucinelli

Francesco Bottigliero is the Chief of Humanistic Technology at Brunello Cucinelli and Foro delle Arti, the group’s holding company, whose mission is to discover, nurture, and invest in new technologies, ideas, and projects with a focus on human sustainability. He is also the CEO of Solomei AI, the research company established by the group to explore and develop new AI-driven initiatives.

Francesco has served as iCEO at Brunello Cucinelli for more than a decade. Since joining the fashion house in April 2012, he has led all digital projects, including B2C and B2B e-commerce, cross-channel initiatives, and digital marketing strategy, while also overseeing ICT and innovation.

Before this role, he was Chief Executive Officer of e-Pitti.com, part of the Pitti Immagine Group, where he worked to transform the trade show industry through digital technologies. From 2003 to 2010, Francesco was Managing Director and partner at Kora, an international digital agency with offices in Milan, Paris, and Barcelona. Earlier, he served as Chief Executive Officer at Altoprofilo (2000–2003), as a management consultant at Bossard–Cap Gemini, and as a junior product manager at L'Oréal.

Francesco holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from Bocconi University.

Bettina Goesele

Chief Digital Officer Victoria Beckham Beauty

Bettina Goesele is a seasoned digital and marketing executive with over 15 years of experience driving high-impact brand strategies across luxury, beauty and lifestyle industries. As Chief Digital Officer at Victoria Beckham Beauty, Bettina leads the brand’s digital roadmap, overseeing e-commerce, integrated marketing, creative and customer experience to elevate brand desirability and global growth. Prior to this role, she held senior marketing positions at global players including L’Oréal, LVMH and Sotheby’s Auction House, where she honed her ability to merge storytelling and data-driven activation in high-stakes luxury environments.

Bettina draws on her experience to explore how social and digital signals can serve as strategic levers to stay ahead of evolving consumer expectations. With a global perspective, Bettina helps luxury brands translate heritage and craftsmanship into digital-first experiences that engage, convert and retain the discerning customer.

Alexis Mourot

CEO Christian Louboutin

Alexis Mourot is the embodiment of modern leadership, combining high standard expectations with empathy and a profound desire to pass skills and knowledge on. An impassioned globetrotter, he joined Christian Louboutin in 2007 and is aiming to make the iconic French red-soled brand an essential luxury player on the international stage. Under his governance, the house has undergone spectacular growth and now has 165 stores in 40 countries.

He is also leading the brand’s development, having now extended its universe to adapt to new lifestyles without ever forgetting its artisanal heritage and the exceptional know-how which made its reputation. Christian Louboutin today is an influential luxury accessories brand. It generates 95% of its turnover outside France.

Educated in finance at the University of Paris-Dauphine, Alexis has had an atypical career. During his studies, he explored the working world and became assistant brand manager for Canard Duchêne and Veuve Clicquot champagnes. This experience rooted in him a love of know-how and the finest creations.

It was in the United States that, over five years, he refined his international expertise in the luxury goods sector, first at Yves Saint Laurent then in the LVMH group. He played an active part in integrating iconic brands, such as Christian Lacroix, Kenzo, Loewe 1 into the “LVMH Fashion Group US”, and was actively involved with the integration and restructuring of the Donna Karan International brand. This American interlude is a marker of his career.

He then contributed to developing Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc Jacobs and successfully opened the brand’s European office, which he headed for three years from 2004 to 2007.

An adept and respectful negotiator, his expertise in finance, combined with a passion for commercial development and the conquest of international markets gives him a global perspective and a great openness to the world.

Attentive to others, a low-key personality, an impassioned worker, Alexis Mourot is known for his ability to bring people together, supporting them and adding momentum. “I am particularly proud of my teams. My executive board is made up of talented, strong, loyal and committed teamplayers. Together, we are building an ambitious and sustainable future”. He makes a point of honor of transmitting skills and knowledge and encouraging the growth of the talent around him.

In addition, infused with a deep passion for the entrepreneurial spirit, a business angel at heart, he invests into several ventures and participates as a Board Member of “Moon Venture”, a club of investors whose ambition is to finance and accompany innovative and high-potential startups.

Alexis also sits as a Board Member of French Organization MEDEF Paris. He appreciates meeting with inspirational business leaders who have arisen from a variety of sectors. He is also a member of the Comité Colbert, where he is actively committed to enhancing the international reach of the French luxury-goods sector, and to the preservation and transmission of French know-how, combining heritage and modernity.

Marie-Theres Mangelsdorf

Chief Client & Digital Officer Montblanc

Marie-Theres is a senior international executive with deep experience driving digital, ecommerce and client-centric transformations in global luxury and fashion. As Global Chief Client & Digital Officer at Montblanc, she leads the brand’s worldwide digital, ecommerce and client practice. Her remit spans ecommerce commercial leadership, digital experience and technology (including MarTech), client activations and global client services. In this role, she has strengthened Montblanc’s digital capabilities, elevated customer engagement and anchored data-driven decision making.

Before joining Montblanc, she held several senior leadership positions at PVH Europe, most recently as Vice President Tommy Hilfiger Ecommerce & Omnichannel Transformation. In this capacity, she shaped the digital and omnichannel roadmap for Tommy Hilfiger, advancing initiatives in personalization, customer journey innovation, marketplace development, digital product creation and retail technology. She also led the international rollout of the “Store of the Future” concept and modernized retail operations across multiple markets.

Marie-Theres holds a CEMS Master in International Management from the London School of Economics and ESADE, and a Bachelor in Business Administration.

Recognized for her ability to lead large multicultural teams and navigate complex digital transformations, she is regarded as a thought leader in modern retail, omnichannel strategy and customer-centric innovation.

Nicolas Morineaux

CEO China Galeries Lafayette

With 25 years of international experience in luxury and premium multi-category retail, Nicolas Morineaux is a seasoned leader with profound industry expertise and insight. His comprehensive grasp of the brand, client, and operator ecosystem, combined with a sharp eye for emerging trends, establishes him as an authoritative voice championing the future of retail.

As Chief Executive Officer of Galeries Lafayette China, Nicolas is spearheading the strategic expansion and positioning of France’s most iconic department store from his base in Shanghai, navigating one of the world's most dynamic and competitive markets.

Throughout his career, Nicolas has held senior leadership roles at globally renowned groups, including LVMH and Richemont. He has managed a diverse portfolio of 12 premium and luxury brands—such as Celine, Loewe, and Rimowa—driving growth, brand transformation, and market adaptation across major hubs from Tokyo and New York to Hong Kong. His work is defined by his ability to fuse creative vision with commercial strategy, positioning him as a key figure in shaping how brands connect with evolving consumer expectations.

A graduate of ESSEC Business School, Nicolas is also an active contributor to the wider business and cultural community, having served on the boards of the French Chamber of Commerce and the French International School in Hong Kong.

David Gandy

Model & Founder David Gandy Wellwear

David Gandy is one of the most recognisable faces in fashion. After winning a televised modelling competition at the age of 21 he went on to transform male industry perception and standards with his muscular build to become the world’s first and most successful male supermodel.

Gandy is best known for his Dolce & Gabbana campaigns, the first of which made him a global sensation overnight when the iconic white swim shorts image, shot in Capri by Mario Testino, appeared on a 50ft billboard in Times Square. Following immense commercial success he continued as the face of Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue campaign for a record seventeen years.

Gandy has starred in multiple campaigns for a wide range of brands including Burberry, Hackett, Massimo Dutti, Hugo Boss, Carolina Herrera, 7 For all Mankind, Zara, Vector Martini, Vodaphone and British Airways. Throughout a career that spans over two decades he has graced the cover of over 100 magazines including GQ, Esquire, L’Officiel Hommes, Details, The Rake and Attitude, and has written for many more such as Vanity Fair, the Telegraph, Vogue and British GQ. Gandy was the first male ever nominated for ‘Model of the Year” by the British Fashion Council, and was British GQ’s ‘Man of the Year’ in 2012 as well as GQ Portugal’s ‘Style Icon of the Year’ in 2022.

In 2012 Gandy joined the British Fashion Council’s ‘London Collections Men’ committee, using his position as official ambassador to be a staunch advocate and driving force promoting British fashion. From 2014 to 2020 he designed a successful range with British high street favourite Marks & Spencer – David Gandy for Autograph – featuring lounge and sleepwear, underwear, tailoring and swimwear. The partnership sold multi millions of pounds worth of loungewear per annum over a fouryear period, with 1 pair of swim shorts sold every minute the week of launch. He has also collaborated on projects with prestigious luxury brands including Aspinal of London and Breitling. In 2016 Gandy’s passion for health and well-being led to him being appointed the face and ambassador for Vitabiotics Wellman.

In 2021 Gandy celebrated 20 years in fashion and marked these decades of experience by launching his eponymous fashion and lifestyle brand David Gandy Wellwear, a new clothing category that combines two of his great passions; style and well-being. In four short years his creation of the ultimate everyday wardrobe for men has led to collaborations with global brands such as Hackett London and Jaguar TCS Racing.

Marco Parsiegla

CEO Amouage

Marco Parsiegla is the Chief Executive Officer of Amouage, the independent Omani high perfumery house renowned for crafting some of the most coveted fragrances in the world. Through his deep understanding of brand building and his strategic business acumen, Parsiegla has positioned Amouage as a beacon of craftsmanship, pushing the boundaries of olfactory excellence. With a rich heritage rooted in Oman and its globally celebrated artistry in creating evocative, nuanced fragrances, Amouage, under Parsiegla’s leadership, became one of the fastest growing houses in high perfumery, as it continues to push the bounderies of the industry, blending tradition with modernity.

Before taking the helm at Amouage in 2019, Parsiegla held numerous influential roles in the luxury and consumer goods sectors. Notably, he was the Global Vice President of the Prestige division at Procter & Gamble, where he managed some of the world’s most iconic fragrance and beauty brands including Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Alexander McQueen. The role further strengthened his expertise in the luxury fragrance segment and also allowed him to spearhead innovative strategies that significantly grew Procter & Gamble’s market share and brand equity in the high-end beauty space.

Parsiegla’s leadership journey continued with an impactful tenure as Executive Vice President for Luxury & Consumer Goods at the global communications group Havas, with development of digital marketing strategies, leading global client acquisitions, and facilitating capacity building across the total value chain. His experience in leveraging media to build brand narratives has equipped him with a unique perspective on consumer behavior, digital transformation, and brand communication in a rapidly-evolving marketplace.

In addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer of Amouage, Parsiegla serves as a Board Member at Kampos, an Italian-born luxury sustainable luxury swimwear brand. His involvement with Kampos underscores his commitment to purpose-driven luxury and environmental responsibility. It also reflects his belief in the future of brands that are deeply rooted in sustainability and ethical practices.

At Amouage, Parsiegla continues to build on his legacy of excellence, innovation, and brand stewardship, ensuring that the high perfumery house remains at the forefront of the luxury fragrance industry while contributing to Oman’s international prestige and cultural narrative. Under his leadership, Amouage is not only honoring its Omani roots but also embracing global aspirations.

Parsiegla holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Economics from the University of Germany. He is also a graduate from the Harvard Business School.

Sebastian Picardo

CEO Monica Vinader

Sebastian Picardo is a global luxury leader recognised for shaping the next era of modern retail. Born in Argentina and trained in a rich blend of business management and international finance, Sebastian brings a rare balance of creativity, commercial instinct, and strategic clarity to every role he leads.

His career in the luxury sector began in London, with senior positions at Alexander McQueen and Net-a-Porter. These formative years strengthened his operational expertise and sharpened his understanding of how brands can meaningfully connect with customers across physical stores and online platforms. He later joined Burberry, where he first led the transformation and integration of the Spanish and Portuguese operations into the European region. He subsequently led Burberry’s global digital commerce business, evolving the brand into a worldwide omnichannel leader.

In 2012, Sebastian moved to Asia to join Lane Crawford. There, he pioneered the company’s "connected-commerce" strategy, uniting technology, service, and experience across Greater China and setting a new benchmark for luxury retail innovation. His tenure culminated in the role of Deputy President.

Most recently, as President & CEO of Holt Renfrew, he guided Canada’s leading luxury retailer through unprecedented industry change. He championed a comprehensive digital transformation while honouring the brand’s longstanding heritage and deepening its commitment to sustainability.

Alongside his executive leadership, Sebastian is an active investor in venture and growth funds and serves as a Venture Advisor at Felix Capital.

In 2025, Sebastian was appointed CEO of Monica Vinader, where he now leads the brand’s next phase of global growth. He is recognised for pairing financial discipline with a forward-thinking digital outlook and a contemporary vision for luxury retail.

Sapna Parikh

SVP, Global Marketing & Digital Fenty, Kendo Brands

SVP, Global Marketing & Digital, Kendo Brands, LVMH (Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Hair, Ole Henriksen and Lip Lab)

Sapna is the Chief Digital Officer at Kendo Brands, LVMH (Portfolio of brands include Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Fenty Hair, Ole Henriksen & Lip Lab) bringing over 25 years of Digital & Omni-Channel retail experience.

Sapna’s expertise is in building high-performing digital teams and driving step change growth through digital innovation. Sapna previously built digital organizations at both Avon and Clarins Groupe but has spent most of her career at high-growth e-commerce start-ups.

As a true pioneer in the industry, Sapna has been profiled in countless media outlets including, Forbes.com and on the cover of Beauty Store Business, has won numerous awards, and has been invited to share her experiences on many stages.

Marcella Wartenbergh

CEO AWWG

Marcella Wartenbergh is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AWWG, a role she assumed in 2019. Her arrival at AWWG marked a turning point for the Group. Marcella’s vision is a strategy focused on the consumer and the product. She has enhanced AWWGs’ sales, the performance of the Groups’ brands and their growth in key global markets.

Our CEO has more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry. Prior to joining AWWG, she worked for PVH Corp where she held various senior management positions, such as Chief Merchandising & Global Licensing Officer for Calvin Klein, President of PVH Europe and Country Manager of PVH Mexico.

She holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Luigi Caterino

Founder & CEO The Longevity Suite

Luigi Caterino is a chemical engineer and visionary entrepreneur in the fields of longevity, wellness, and health innovation.

With over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, he founded The Longevity Suite in 2019 — Europe’s most advanced network of anti-aging and biohacking city clinics.

Combining cutting-edge technologies, scientific diagnostics, and personalized protocols, TLS enhances cellular health, metabolic balance, and human performance.

With more than 40 locations across Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, and the Middle East, TLS is at the forefront of the global health optimization movement.

Luigi is also the creator of The Longevity Kitchen and The Longevity Spa, innovative concepts developed in collaboration with leading luxury hotels, bringing the science of longevity into the worlds of nutrition, hospitality, and transformational wellness.

Rajesh Shanmugasundaram

Chief Technology Officer Breitling

As a Global Chief Technology Officer with nearly two decades of experience, Rajesh has led transformative digital, technology, and data initiatives across the world’s most prestigious luxury fashion, retail, and consumer goods brands. Known for driving measurable commercial impact, he has consistently accelerated D2C growth, increased digital revenue share, and enhanced operational performance through end-to-end modernization of ERP, supply chain, and CRM ecosystems.

A recognized leader in digital commerce, omnichannel experience, and AI-driven personalization, Rajesh has built and scaled global technology architectures that fuse innovation with business value. With deep expertise in data strategy and applied AI, he champions the use of advanced analytics to optimize customer engagement and inform smarter, faster decision-making.

Combining strategic vision with commercial acumen, Rajesh ensures technology investments translate into tangible growth, enhanced customer experiences, and EBITDA improvement. Having operated across both mono-brand and multi-brand global groups, He is a trusted partner to C-level executives, driving technology transformation that underpins long-term brand equity and profitability in the luxury landscape.

Tiffany James

Global Chief Digital Officer, Miu Miu Beauty L'Oréal Luxe

Tiffany is an experienced omnichannel leader and innovation strategist in the beauty industry, with expertise spanning digital, beauty tech, and R&D. She currently serves as Chief Digital Officer for Miu Miu Beauty at L'Oréal Luxe. As a founding member of this new brand within the L'Oréal portfolio, she authored its comprehensive digital roadmap and now oversees a global mandate encompassing e-commerce & CRM, omnichannel media and activation, innovation, gaming and retailtainment, digital content, and AI transformation. Her previous roles include Head of CRM & Loyalty at YSL Beauty, where she specialized in customer experience, brand loyalty, and maximizing customer lifetime value. Prior to this, Tiffany spent several years within the L'Oréal Tech incubator, part of the Research & Innovation division, successfully launching various beauty tech projects in partnership with brands across the L'Oréal Group.

Tiffany's diverse career journey has equipped her with a strong foundation in leveraging cross-functional collaboration at global, regional, and operational levels to deliver and scale complex projects. She is passionate about transformational leadership and uniting diverse teams to elevate the omnichannel client experience through disruptive innovation.

Malik Abu-Ghazaleh

Head of Digital, Omnichannel & IT, MEA Region Tiffany & Co.

Malik Abu-Ghazaleh is an accomplished leader in the world of digital transformation and luxury retail. With a passion for optimizing customer experiences, creating engaging content, and addressing global behaviors, Malik has achieved remarkable success in highly competitive industries.

From February 2022 to February 2025, Malik served as Global Chief Digital Officer at Tiffany & Co., where he played a pivotal role in driving the brand's growth through omnichannel experiences. He lead the development and execution of the global strategy for the omnichannel client journey involving a large scale digital and data transformation to ensure seamless and personalized interactions across digital and physical touchpoints. Under his guidance, Tiffany & Co has seen significant enhancements in e-commerce, in-store digital tools, and data driven processes elevating the luxury retail experience for customers.

In March 2025, Malik took on the role of spearheading Tiffany & Co.'s Omnichannel and eCommerce expansion, along with IT responsibilities, into the rapidly growing Middle East & Africa market. Leveraging his regional ties and global experience, he aims to establish the region as a leader in omnichannel retail and a testbed for cutting-edge technologies.

Prior to his current role, Malik served as the Lancôme Global Vice President, Digital at L'Oreal Luxe HQ in Paris, France. During his tenure, he successfully rebuilt the global flagship ecommerce sites with a customer-centric approach, driving brand engagement and record sales. His expertise in digital media, e-commerce, loyalty programs, and online content strategies contributed to the brand's global success.

Throughout his career, Malik has been a collaborative and results-oriented leader, working closely with cross-functional teams to align digital initiatives with overall brand strategies. His strong problem-solving skills and innovative online marketing approaches have earned him a reputation for driving growth and delivering exceptional results always putting the customer at the core of the experience.

Lina Söderqvist

Managing Director & Other Stories

Lina Söderqvist is the Managing Director of & Other Stories, which she joined in 2022. Based in Stockholm, she leads the brand’s global strategy, creative direction, commercial performance, and customer offering. Her leadership centres on combining a distinctive creative identity with deep customer insight to guide the brand’s growth across international markets.

With more than two decades of experience across fashion retail and the advertising sector, Lina brings a rare blend of creative perspective and commercial discipline. She began her career in creative agencies, shaping brand storytelling, marketing strategy, and communication frameworks, expertise she later paired with hands-on leadership roles within Swedish retail. This dual background continues to inform her approach at & Other Stories, a brand built on expressive design and modern femininity.

Before joining & Other Stories, Lina served as CEO of Bare Collective and previously led Brothers as CEO. Her earlier career includes senior roles at Åhléns and Björn Borg, where she worked across brand strategy, customer marketing, digital development, store concept, and communications.

She holds an MBA in Marketing and a BA in International Business Administration from the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. Lina has been recognised as Sweden’s Best Marketing Leader for her ability to unite creativity, insight, and commercial growth.

Jonathan Saunders

Chief Creative Officer & Other Stories

Jonathan Saunders is the Chief Creative Officer at & Other Stories, leading the brand’s

renewed creative direction and shaping how design, expression, and identity translate into

commercial impact. He joined the brand in 2025, and under his creative leadership the

refreshed visual expression reflects the modern, expressive direction he is setting for the

brand and provides the creative framework for its next chapter.

A British designer internationally recognised for his mastery of colour, print, and modern

craftsmanship, Jonathan brings extensive experience from senior creative leadership roles.

Before joining & Other Stories, he served as Chief Creative Officer at Diane von Furstenberg.

He has also consulted for global fashion houses including Calvin Klein, Tiffany & Co., Louis

Vuitton, Chloé, Alexander McQueen, Pucci, and Marc Jacobs, strengthening his reputation as

one of the most distinctive creative voices of his generation. Earlier in his career, he founded

his own label, earning early acclaim for its distinctive use of print and colour.

Jonathan holds a master’s degree in Fashion/Apparel Design from Central Saint Martins, a BA

in Design and Applied Arts from the Glasgow School of Art, and a Doctor of Arts in Fashion

from the University of Glasgow.

Carol Zhou

SVP, Business Innovations & Investments, China Shiseido

Carol leads Shiseido China’s Innovation & Investment Office, driving the group’s expansion into new growth sectors such as inner beauty, wellness, and medical aesthetics. She oversees both new business incubation and strategic investments that shape Shiseido’s future portfolio in China.

She also serves as General Manager of Ziyue, Shiseido’s corporate venture fund in China, identifying and partnering with high-growth companies to accelerate innovation and create cross-brand synergies.

Before joining Shiseido, Carol held senior management roles at Unilever, Burberry, L’Oréal, Amway, and Marriott, leading global strategy, innovation, and brand marketing across multiple regions. She holds a degree from NYU’s Stern School of Business and an MBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Vikki Kavanagh

Chief Commercial Officer John Lewis & Partners

As Chief Commercial Officer at John Lewis, I lead the commercial strategy. I am an established authority in the global retail sector, bringing over two decades of extensive buying and merchandising experience. I am an accomplished e-commerce and omni-channel specialist, consistently driving profitability through strategic commercial planning and operational efficiencies. I have a proven ability to scale businesses, build strategic partnerships, and deliver exceptional commercial performance through rigorous planning and disciplined execution. Known for delivering compelling product propositions that resonate with multifaceted global audiences, I am a strong and respected leader who excels under pressure and cultivates valuable relationships. I am passionate about building high-performing teams and spearheading innovative commercial models that drive sustainable profitability. In addition to this I enjoy leading from an empathetic position, getting hearts and minds aligned along the journey.

Derek Sulger

Chairman Shanghai Tang

Derek Sulger and his co-owner, Jerry Mao, have redefined how the world’s fastest-growing segment of luxury consumers—young, globally minded, and culturally fluent—engage with taste, art, and experiences through their ecosystem of businesses.

Under their ownership and visionary leadership, SHANGHAI TANG, a heritage fashion house, has been reborn as a modern expression of Eastern elegance, cultural authenticity, and global relevance. Their ecosystem also includes the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, China’s leading independent art institution, which they have expanded into a constellation of four museums with growing global influence and importance. Additionally, it encompasses UNMI, a hospitality group creating culturally authentic, ultra-premium restaurants and experiences, initially established in China, Japan, and the UAE, and now expanding beyond through their own brands and collaborations with global luxury houses such as Louis Vuitton and Golden Goose. Recently, they also launched Nocturne, a hotel development group designed to extend their brands and experiences into destinations that blend architecture, cuisine, and curated programming for a generation seeking more than just accommodation.

Jerry and Derek believe that, in an increasingly commoditised and digitised world, the future lies in creating experiences. They do not follow the traditional evolution of luxury brands—from product to brand to cultural positioning. Instead, they have reversed the playbook, beginning with deep investment in culture, then expanding into lifestyle, and later into luxury products. By doing so, they prioritise meaning before merchandise—soft assets before hard products.

Previously, Derek founded Linktone, one of China’s earliest NASDAQ-listed mobile internet businesses; Intrinsic, a telecommunications software company; and SmartPay JIeyin, a mobile payments business. For his role in founding these ventures, he is widely recognised as one of the earliest successful “new wave” internet entrepreneurs in China.

Derek began his career with Goldman Sachs in New York and London after graduating from Harvard University.

Alison Rehill-Erguven

CEO Cenomi Centers

With more than 25 years of global experience, Alison Rehill-Erguven has been at the forefront of creating dynamic shopping experiences for consumers worldwide. Her deep expertise in retail real estate spans Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, where she has led companies, joint ventures, high-profile assets, and diverse international teams. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation as a transformative leader across both developed and emerging markets.

Before serving as CEO of Cenomi Centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Alison held senior roles at Brookfield, Pradera, and Simon Property Group. This extensive global journey has given her unique insight into the evolution of the shopping center—from a purely transactional environment to an experiential destination that resonates across cultures. Beyond her professional accomplishments, she is a steadfast advocate for women’s empowerment, championing initiatives that transcend borders and organizational boundaries.

Fahed Ghanim

CEO, Lifestyle Majid Al Futtaim

Fahed Ghanim is the Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle, where he leads a portfolio of world-renowned brands across home, fashion, beauty, specialty retail, and multi-brand concepts. He oversees omnichannel expansion strategies across high-growth markets and formats, positioning Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle as one of the Middle East’s most trusted retail partners of choice, with multiple regional and global recognitions.

Under his leadership, Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle operates more than 100 brands across physical retail, online platforms, distribution, and multi-brand concepts in six regional markets. The business holds exclusive licensing rights for lululemon, LEGO, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, AllSaints, Psycho Bunny, Eleventy, Corneliani, Shiseido, Poltrona Frau, Ceccotti, Alessi, Crate & Barrel, CB2, THAT Concept Store, Pacsun, Tartine et Chocolat, and BonTon.

Since taking the helm at Majid Al Futtaim Lifestyle in 2018, Fahed has led a hypergrowth transformation, expanding the business more than sixfold and surpassing the 1 billion revenue milestone, with growth continuing at pace. He has delivered consecutive double-digit growth, scaling operations across multiple retail categories and driving successful market entries, brand launches, and scale-ups for some of the world’s most recognisable names including Bvlgari, Boucheron, Pomellato, Harvey Nichols Dubai, L’azurde, LEGO, lululemon, Crate & Barrel, and Poltrona Frau.

Recognised as a leading authority in the Middle East retail landscape, Fahed is a sought-after speaker at international and regional conferences around the world, including in Dubai, Riyadh, Paris, and London, where he shares his leadership expertise and insights on growth acceleration, business transformation, and customer-centric retail innovation. His career highlights include the successful turnaround and IPO of L’azurde, a leading Saudi-based jewellery company, marking his third major business transformation, as well as leading negotiations for a landmark USD 1.5 billion luxury real estate development partnership with The Trump Organization.

Fahed holds an MBA with distinction from ESCP Europe Business School and serves on several boards, including the Arab Fashion Council.

Emma McFerran

CEO Lyst

Emma McFerran is the Chief Executive Officer of Lyst, the leading premium and luxury fashion shopping platform revolutionizing how 160 million shoppers a year find and shop fashion online. Under her leadership, Lyst leverages advanced data science, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge technology to deliver personalized fashion discovery experiences.

McFerran joined Lyst a decade ago, after beginning her career in law. She has worked across all areas of the company, developing deep expertise in both fashion technology and the industry it serves.

Since becoming CEO in 2022, she has successfully driven the company's pivot to profitability while advancing its AI capabilities, transforming Lyst into an app-first business powered by machine learning algorithms that understand fashion trends, consumer preferences, and shopping behaviors.

In April 2025, McFerran led the sale of Lyst to ZOZO Group, operators of ZOZOTOWN, the leading fashion e-commerce platform in Japan. Together, ZOZO and Lyst share a vision to transform the online fashion shopping experience by bringing joy back to fashion discovery.

Key to her role is ensuring that Lyst is always guided by its culture and values, so that the business and its people grow together.

Amit Keswani Manghnani

Chief Omnichannel & AI Officer Chalhoub Group

Amit serves as Chief Omnichannel and AI Officer at Chalhoub Group and is a member of the Executive Committee, where he leads the organisation’s omnichannel strategy and artificial intelligence initiatives. In this role, he oversees the complete customer journey, spanning analytics and digital marketing to product technology and loyalty programmes, while driving the Group’s AI transformation across all touchpoints. 

With over 15 years of experience in digital and omnichannel retail, Amit joined Chalhoub Group in February 2023. Prior to this appointment, he spent more than a decade with two of Southeast Asia’s largest retailers, where he spearheaded digital transformation by launching innovative online initiatives and loyalty programmes. His work enabled these organisations to evolve and adapt in the digital space, delivering customer-focused solutions for prestigious global brands including Zara, Sephora, Converse, Foot Locker, and Starbucks.

Born and raised in Spain to Indian parents, Amit has cultivated a truly global perspective through his experiences living in 12 cities across multiple continents, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India, the United States, Europe, and now the Middle East. This international exposure provides him with unique insights into diverse consumer behaviours and luxury retail markets, enabling him to approach innovation through a distinctive multicultural lens.

Amit holds Executive MBAs from ESADE Business School in Barcelona and Aalto University in Helsinki. Beyond his professional pursuits, he is an avid tennis player and maintains a keen interest in technology trends, sports, and men’s fashion, which further inform his approach to retail innovation and customer experience.

Gabby Chen

President, Global Markets Florasis

Gabby is a highly accomplished executive with over 18 years of experience in the Asia Pacific region. She has recently been appointed as the Global Markets President of Florasis 花西子, a leading Chinese beauty brand, where she is responsible for bringing the brand to the international market.

With her deep understanding of consumer insights, strategic acumen, and ability to forge key partnerships, Gabby is well-positioned to drive Florasis 花西子's growth in the highly competitive global beauty market.

Prior to joining Florasis 花西子, Gabby held the position of Head of Beauty in China for the Lane Crawford Group, where she was responsible for the company's China Beauty Department. During her tenure, Gabby led the charge in expanding the brand's footprint across China, driving significant growth and profitability.

Before her role at Lane Crawford, Gabby founded Mood Editing Cosmetics, a joint venture with NetEase, one of China's leading internet technology companies. She successfully introduced the trendy fashion brand KENDALL+KYLIE to the Asia- Pacific region, becoming the sole distributor for the Kardashian family's brand.

Aside from her corporate career, Gabby is also a passionate entrepreneur and investor. She is the founder of Janes & Hooch, a renowned speakeasy bar in Beijing that has been recognized as one of the world's top 50 bars. Gabby is also involved in the Mercedes ME Beijing F&B management project and is an angel investor in Alesca Life, an agricultural technology company that builds indoor, vertical farms and farm management software to make food production more efficient and environmentally friendly.

With her track record of building successful brands, forging key partnerships, and driving growth, Gabby is poised to lead Florasis 花西子 into its next phase of expansion, establishing the brand as a global leader in the beauty industry.

Toni Stoeckl

Chief Marketing Officer Starwood Hotels

Toni Stoeckl is Chief Marketing Officer at SH Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group and brand management firm that operates 1 Hotels, Baccarat Hotels, and Treehouse Hotels. The company currently manages 14 properties with 24 in development.

Toni is responsible for each brand’s larger marketing strategy with a focus on the consumer brand experience and creating a 360° marketing approach. Toni also plays an important role as the organization enhances its commitment to and execution of its mission to provide a preference-driven, forward-thinking, and memorable customer journey that starts at the moment of booking.

Hospitality is in Toni’s DNA. Born into a family of Austrian and German hôteliers and restaurateurs, he has been helping guests discover new experiences since he could walk and talk. Armed with that pedigree and an entrepreneurial spirit, Toni led the creation and growth of game-changing luxury and lifestyle brands. Central to each charge has been forging connections with consumers (both internal and external) that are not only purpose-driven, but immersive and enduring, as well.

His journey started at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where he helped shape W Hotels during its early, formative years, creating much of the brand’s unique experiences, signature programming and innovative partnerships. At Marriott International, he pioneered the creation of the first-ever lifestyle brand portfolio within the company. This undertaking included the transformation of Renaissance Hotels and partnering with the team at EDITION Hotels to establish the belief system, cultural framework and experience proof points as the brand made its highly anticipated debut. He led the worldwide launch of AC Hotels, growing the brand from a forward-thinking family company in Spain into an experiential lifestyle brand with record-breaking growth. Toni disrupted the industry even more with the debut of Moxy, by creating an unapologetically playful experience, through hyper-relevant audience engagement – and while breaking a few rules along the way.

Jessica Schinazi

CEO Away

Jessica Schinazi is the CEO of Away, the award-winning brand shaping the future of travel. With deep expertise across luxury goods, consumer retail, e-commerce, and business development, she brings 15+ years of global experience and leadership to the role, having held senior positions at Richemont, Amazon, LVMH, and Dyson. At Away, Jessica oversees the company’s strategic vision, operations, and continued expansion, leveraging her international perspective, luxury expertise, and proven leadership to guide the brand into its next chapter of innovation and growth.

A Brazil born French-US citizen, Jessica began her career in New York at Richemont, followed by leadership roles at Amazon and LVMH. She joined Dyson in 2021, spearheading transformative initiatives and operational expansion, and was promoted to President of the Americas in 2022 to oversee the full P&L. In 2024, Jessica joined Away as President and was soon appointed CEO.

She holds a degree in Economics and Hispanic Studies from Columbia University and lives in New York City with her family.

Natalie Lee

VP, Omnichannel & Client Development Louis Vuitton

Vice President, Omnichannel & Client Development, Louis Vuitton South Asia Pacific

Natalie Lee is a senior luxury executive with over two decades of experience leading growth, innovation, and digital transformation across Asia Pacific. As Vice President of Omnichannel & Client Development at Louis Vuitton South Asia Pacific, she drives strategies that connect data, creativity, and human insight to elevate the client experience. Her work spans the full client journey — from in-store excellence to digital engagement — shaping how Louis Vuitton delivers seamless, high-touch experiences across some of the region’s most dynamic markets.

Before joining Louis Vuitton, Natalie held senior leadership roles at Yoox Net-A-Porter, Vestiaire Collective, and Coupang, where she built and scaled high-growth fashion businesses across e-commerce and retail. She has led diverse teams across markets and disciplines, redefining how global brands engage clients through technology, storytelling, and personalization.

Recognized for bridging luxury heritage with digital innovation, Natalie is a frequent speaker on omnichannel leadership and the future of retail in Asia. She is passionate about cultivating the next generation of leaders and reimagining how luxury connects with the next generation of clients — where emotion, data, and design converge to create the future of client experience.

Candice D'Cruz

VP, APAC Hilton Luxury Brands

Candice D’Cruz is the Vice President of Luxury Brands at Hilton, Asia Pacific. With more than 20 years of experience in brand marketing and hospitality management, Candice leads Hilton’s luxury brand portfolio in the region, spearheading brand initiatives to further solidify Hilton’s esteemed luxury positioning.

Overseeing more than 60 trading and pipeline properties in Asia Pacific across the company’s three luxury brands: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts and Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Candice is responsible for delivering on Hilton’s robust luxury growth momentum in the region, driving strategic brand development, and elevating service quality, brand value and performance.

Most recently, Candice served as Vice President of Luxury Brand Management & Marketing for Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Marriott International, overseeing luxury brand management, innovative brand marketing and strategic growth for its eight luxury brands across the region. Prior to that, she held key positions at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and Emaar, overseeing various aspects of branding, marketing and communications in diverse markets.

An astute hotelier with a keen understanding of the exclusivity, quality and prestige that draw discerning travelers, Candice has built a strong reputation in driving brand distinctiveness and elevated guest experiences. Honed over two decades of international experience in the hospitality and luxury space, she excels in the localization of global strategies for luxury hotel openings and unique brand activations. Her success in this vast and multifaceted sector has been reflected through many prestigious awards, most notably being named #1 in "The Power of 25", Hotelier Middle East’s 2019 list of 25 influential women in hospitality and ranked among the top 50 storytellers of the region by Forbes Middle East.

A passionate advocate for developing female leaders and cultivating young talent, Candice empowers her teams to reach their full potential. Originally from India, she has built her career in the UAE and now resides in Singapore with her husband and two children, whom she often looks to for inspiration on how to further attract and engage an up-and-coming generation of travelers.

Sean Seah

SVP, Strategy, Technology & Innovation Langham Hospitality Group

From launching my first business in my parents’ garage to leading transformative innovation at global industry giants, my journey is defined by a relentless passion for bridging business vision with cutting-edge technology. I specialize in empowering organizations to unlock new markets, ignite customer engagement, and drive exponential growth through innovation-led strategies.

Key highlights

Pioneered Microsoft’s entry into the AI metaverse by launching a co-innovation accelerator, collaborating with 25+ global customers to shape the future of intelligent experiences.

Transformed Air New Zealand’s digital presence, spearheading the creation and scaling of www.airnewzealand.com, enabling the airline’s first online ticket sales and revolutionizing customer engagement.

Drove a 10x surge in Burger King’s food delivery sales by architecting a competitive digital platform that rivaled Uber Eats, reshaping the fast-food delivery landscape.

Revolutionized HSBC’s digital program, accelerating their app to #1 in the app store by enabling instant reward redemptions and elevating customer satisfaction.

Built Toyota’s comprehensive digital marketing stack, integrating websites and CRM systems to enhance brand reach and customer insight.

Elevated Langham Hotels to #1 on Tripadvisor through strategic social media leadership and customer experience excellence.

As a seasoned executive and visionary leader, I excel at uniting cross-functional teams—business, technology, and customer experience—to ideate, incubate, and industrialize breakthrough business models that redefine industries. My entrepreneurial roots instilled a deep customer-centric mindset and an agile approach to leveraging emerging technologies to create lasting competitive advantage for start ups and multinational companies.

Marc Schmidt

Chief Digital Officer Casablanca Paris

I am Marc, the head of operation and direct-to-consumer business at Casablanca Paris. I am a conscious and confident leader with a strong track record of driving growth. My experience spans from building businesses from the ground up to scaling multibillion-dollar brands like adidas, Reebok and Crocs, across global markets.

I’ve had the privilege of working hands-on in various disciplines while also leading on a regional and global scale, crafting both short- and long-term strategies that deliver results. My experience has allowed me to drive top-line revenue growth in mature markets and brands, all while improving profitability through a blend of wholesale, Marketplace, and DTC models.

Over the past decade, I’ve built top-tier organizations, recruiting over 150 people across various global, regional, and market-facing functions. My passion for growth is matched by my commitment to performance, and I believe in fostering a high-performance team culture with an entrepreneurial, ‘day one’ mindset.

Jessica Warch

Co-Founder & CEO Kimaï

Jessica Warch is the co-founder of Kimai, an innovative fine jewellery brand re-defining modern luxury by exclusively using lab-grown diamonds and recycled gold. Jessica grew up in Antwerp, surrounded by diamond traders in her family, and from a young age was drawn to the emotional value behind jewellery. But it was her frustration with an outdated industry and opaque, often unethical supply chains, which drew Jessica to partner with childhood friend and gemologist Sidney Neuhaus to build their own brand to provide transparency to the fine jewellery world, without compromising on design or luxury. Since launching Kimai in 2018, the brand has been worn by Meghan Markle, Emma Watson and Jessica Alba, is the first lab-grown diamond brand to be stocked by Net-a-Porter and a proud B-corp. Jessica Warch is featured in Forbes 30 under 30 and Kimai was named by Fast Company as one of the 10 most innovative companies in the world.

Alfredo Bandini

Co-Founder & CEO Born Outside

Alfredo Bandini is an Italian entrepreneur based in Dubai and the co-founder of Born Outside, the first luxury sneaker brand founded in the GCC and fully made in Italy. His career began in management consulting, where he advised global companies on strategy and growth before deciding to build something of his own—combining his love for product excellence, design, and entrepreneurship.

Growing up in Italy, Alfredo was shaped by two powerful influences: the heritage of Italian craftsmanship and his experience as an outsider challenging norms. His journey took him from playing American football at a national level in Italy and training with the University of Maryland Terps, to navigating the corporate world, and ultimately to starting a brand in one of the most competitive industries—luxury fashion.

As a founder, Alfredo has led Born Outside from concept to international recognition in under a year, securing distribution in tier-one retailers across the GCC and Europe. Alongside building the brand, he is deeply engaged in raisinf his two twin daughters as well as pursuing his endurance endeavors.

Alfredo’s perspective combines strategy, creativity, and resilience. He speaks openly about the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of timing and persistence, and the value of rethinking tradition while staying true to one’s identity.

Alice Wong

President Imaginex

Alice is recognised as one of Greater China’s leading fashion retailers and brand builders. With 30 years of experience in the fashion and beauty retail industry, she combines merchandising and operational prowess, with an unrivalled knowledge of and network in Greater China, to identify, launch and build businesses in the region. As President, she leads brand acquisition and partnership strategy, working closely with brand owners and principals, sharing latest news and insight from the market and guiding them through every step of their business development. Alice began her career in merchandising at Lane Crawford, and was a member of the Pedder Group’s launch team as Vice President – Merchandising before becoming Executive Director of Imaginex in 2009 and President in 2015.

Josh Pullan

EVP, Global Head of Luxury Division Sotheby's

Josh Pullan is Head of the Global Luxury Division at Sotheby’s. He leads strategy, innovation and management of the luxury business internationally, as well spearheading the expansion of Sotheby’s online marketplace business. Based out of Geneva, Josh has been instrumental in transforming the client experience across luxury and also launching new high growth categories such as Handbags, Sneakers and Streetwear. 

Before his current appointment, Josh spent 10 years in New York, where he was Sotheby’s Global Head of Ecommerce responsible for launching online auctions and leading overall digital strategy and execution. Prior to this, Josh held roles as a Business Director in Contemporary Art and as a Strategy Analyst in the Executive offices in London where he joined Sotheby’s in 2006. 

Josh is a qualified barrister and solicitor from Australia and holds a Masters in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London.

Gianluca Borghi

CEO 10 Corso Como

Gianluca Borghi is Exor Group’s Chief Executive Officer since May 2023, to lead the 10 Corso Como Brand. The executive comes from Richemont Group after spending many years in New York as Head of Retail for North America with the title of Vice President for the Montblanc Brand.

Gianluca Borghi, born in Genoa, is an expert connoisseur of the Luxury Industry and he has held solid experiences in executive roles in Retail, Digital Business and Wholesale by working for leaders as Gucci, Pomellato, Boucheron and la Rinascente in Paris, Milan, and New York. He also holds an MBA from SDA Bocconi and a degree in Clinical Psychology. He was most recently Member of the Executive Committee North America at Richemont, a role that enabled him to develop additional talents in strategic planning.

Jamie De Cesare

Chief Technology Officer Orlebar Brown

Jamie De Cesare is Chief Technology Officer at Orlebar Brown, a global luxury resortwear brand within the Chanel Group. With over a decade at the company, Jamie leads technology across e-commerce, retail, wholesale, CRM, data, ERP and digital operations, partnering closely with commercial, creative and operational teams to support the brand’s international growth.

Jamie’s approach to technology is grounded in clarity and restraint, with the customer firmly at the centre. He believes technology should back the customer experience and not dictate it, favouring simple, scalable architectures that quietly enable the business while respecting the codes of a luxury brand. His work has focused on strengthening unified commerce, modernising core platforms and improving decision-making across the organisation, without losing sight of craft, service and brand nuance.

Prior to Orlebar Brown, Jamie held senior technology and digital roles across fashion and retail, giving him a broad perspective on how systems, people and customer experience intersect. He is particularly interested in how luxury brands can evolve their operating models without compromising identity or integrity.

His perspective on technology in luxury is pragmatic and brand-led, centred on progress that is measured, purposeful and aligned with long-term value.

Kerry Byrne

CEO Belstaff

Kerry Byrne is the Chief Executive Officer at Belstaff, bringing over two decades of experience in global merchandising, trading, and commercial strategy to the role. Kerry was appointed as CEO in April 2025 and since joining the brand in 2021 has played a pivotal role in shaping its commercial direction, driving growth and enhancing operational efficiency.

Prior to working at Belstaff, Kerry held a variety of leadership positions within the premium and lifestyle fashion sector, including at Cath Kidston, where she spent nearly nine years leading global and international merchandising strategies, and Arcadia Group, where she gained extensive experience in international markets. Her expertise spans wholesale, retail, and direct-to-consumer channels, with a strong focus on brand elevation and commercial performance.

As CEO, Kerry continues to lead Belstaff’s strategic expansion, optimising business operations while ensuring the brand stays true to its heritage of craftsmanship and innovation.

Irina Kulikova

VP of Strategic Development and Integration Europe & Emerging Markets The Estée Lauder Companies

Irina Kulikova is the Vice President of Strategic Development and Integration and Chief of Staff to the President of the EUKEM region (Europe, UK & Ireland, and Emerging Markets) at The Estée Lauder Companies. As a member of the regional management team, she shapes the strategic direction of more than 85 markets and over 20 iconic brands.

In her role, Irina leads regional strategy development and execution, market intelligence, consumer insights, strategic pricing, and large-scale transformation initiatives. She also drives key corporate development priorities, including operating model evolution, new market and channel entry, brand integration, and expansion into emerging geographies.

Before joining The Estée Lauder Companies, Irina spent more than a decade at Bain & Company across the UK, Middle East, and Russia, advising leading global players in luxury, beauty, jewelry, fashion, and retail. Her experience at the intersection of strategy, brand building, and transformation has given her a deep understanding of how to unlock growth and resilience in the luxury and beauty industries both in developed and emerging markets.

Irina holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Tawny Brown

SVP, Omnichannel Paige Denim

Tawny Brown is the Senior Vice President of Omnichannel at PAIGE, where she leads the brand’s end-to-end global retail and digital strategy. In her role, she oversees all Brick & Mortar PAIGE stores, ECommerce, retail operations, clienteling, product assortment across channels, omnichannel logistics, and the design and construction of new stores. She also drives PAIGE’s brick-and-mortar expansion efforts, including global site selection and lease negotiations, while creating a seamless, elevated customer journey that connects digital innovation with meaningful in-store experiences.

Before joining PAIGE, she spent 15 years at Nordstrom, where she held a wide range of roles spanning omnichannel buying, planning, merchandising, store management, and sales. This deep 360-degree foundation across the retail ecosystem shaped her holistic approach to leadership and her belief that the future of premium, luxury and fashion lies in blending data-driven strategy with timeless customer service.

With a degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising, she brings both creative and commercial fluency to her work—pairing brand expression with operational excellence and technology-enabled growth. Known for her ability to build high-performing teams and lead complex transformations, she is focused on creating unified experiences that serve the modern customer wherever they choose to engage.

She is based in Los Angeles and is passionate about developing and mentoring the next generation of female leaders in retail.

Yehuda Shmidman

Founder, Chairman & CEO WHP Global

Yehuda Shmidman is a veteran of the brand management industry, having successfully deployed more than USD $4 billion of capital over two decades into acquiring, growing and monetizing global consumer brands.

 

His experience expanded over time to multiple consumer segments including fashion, media, celebrity, sports and hardgoods, with direct leadership over dozens of world-famous brands during his career, including MARTHA STEWART and SNOOPY.
Yehuda currently serves as Founder, Chairman & CEO of WHP Global, a leading New York based brand management and acquisition firm that he started in 2019 together with Oaktree Capital.  WHP Global is also now backed by Ares, Solus, and BlackRock. WHP Global’s brand portfolio generates over USD $7 billion in annual retail sales, and includes VERA WANG, RAG & BONE, JOE’S JEANS, ANNE KLEIN, EXPRESS, BONOBOS, G-STAR, LOTTO, BABIES“R”US and TOYS“R”US.

Yehuda currently sits – and has previously served on – multiple public and private boards, both commercial and nonprofit.  He also angel invests from time to time.

Over the years, Fortune Magazine and Crain’s New York both included Yehuda in their prestigious “40 Under 40” lists, and multiple universities – including Columbia University, NYU Stern School of Business and Fordham Law School – featured Yehuda as a guest lecturer to deliver insights into the future of consumer brands and the retail industry.

Nicholas Brown

Managing Partner Imaginary Ventures

Nick Brown is Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Imaginary Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on the consumer, product, and retail enablement sectors. Founded in partnership with Natalie Massenet, founder and former CEO of Net-A-Porter. Imaginary invests in best-in-class brands, platforms and entrepreneurs that are changing how a new generation of consumers live, eat, and shop. Stage and geography agnostic, key consumer investments include SKIMS, The Row, FarFetch (IPO), Reformation (Permira), Glossier, Westman Atelier, Point of View, Kosas, Sundays Pet, The Feed, Mila, and others. Their enablement portfolio includes NuOrder (Lightspeed), Gloss Genius, Pepper, Builder, and others. He is a member of the Business of Fashion 500 and is a frequent contributor to various publications on the topics of retail and the consumer.

Imaginary was launched in 2018 in New York and currently has assets under management of nearly $2Billion.

Prior to starting Imaginary Ventures, Nick was a Partner at 14W Venture Partners, where he led the firm’s investments in the initial financing rounds for some of today’s most exciting brands including Warby Parker and The Real Real. Previously, he was an Analyst at JPMorgan on their Consumer and Retail team.

Nick received his BA from Harvard University in 2008. He was born in and still resides in New York City with his twin children and Partner.

Sujata Assomull

Contributing Editor Vogue Business

London-born Sujata Assomull is a Dubai-based journalist and author of 100 Iconic Bollywood Costumes. A mindful fashion and pro-age advocate, she was the launch Editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar India and previously worked with Khaleej Times as their Group Fashion Editor. An international chronicler of fashion trends, she is a go-to resource in the industry for commentary on India and the Middle East’s evolving and dynamic markets. Today she is a contributing editor for Vogue Business. A columnist with India’s leading business daily, Mint, she looks at fashion through a cultural and economic lens. Her bylines have appeared in Vogue India, Vogue Arabia Business of Fashion, South China Morning Post , Khaleej Times and Arab News. A moderator at events such as Emirates Literature Festival, Retail Leader Circle, Cop 28 and other retail and culture led events.

Marie Driscoll

Adjunct Professor The New School

Marie Driscoll is a noted subject matter expert on beauty, fashion, luxury goods, retail, and sustainability. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert 2021-2025, a RETHINK Retail Advisor and an NRF 2025 Voice of Retail. Marie is founder of Driscoll Advisors, providing advisory services to retailers, brands and retailtech firms, an adjunct professor at Parsons The New School, FIT and CUNY Baruch College and a frequent contributor to The Robin Report, Inside Retail and media. She has served in key analytical and business development roles in leading financial research firms and was recognized three times in The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” analyst survey, including first place ranking in the Clothing & Accessories industry. Marie is X-Coresight and X-S&P/CapIQ.

Marie started Driscoll Advisors to provide consulting services to academia, industry, investors and non-profits. She works with retailers and brands on various growth and operational strategies, from international expansion to entering new categories, new markets and new consumer cohorts. She contributes content to The Robin Report and Inside Retail. As a thought leader, her contributions include research publications at Coresight, white papers for CohnReznick, Luxury Daily and Deloitte’s Global Powers of Luxury Goods 2014, and content development at LIM College and Parsons, The New School. Marie joined New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in 2016 where she is part of the Entrepreneurship Program at the Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology. She is an adjunct instructor teaching Equity Analysis and Private Equity at CUNY’s Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College and teaches Funding Beauty & Fashion and Fashion Retailing and Buying at Parsons. Marie is the President of the Retail Marketing Society and sits on the board of the NRF’s (National Retail Federation) Industry Partnership Council (IPC) and an advisor to startups.

Nick Blunden

President The Business of Fashion

Nick Blunden is the President of The Business of Fashion, the leading provider of news, analysis, insight and advice to the global fashion, beauty and luxury industries. In this role he is responsible for the overall growth of the business including providing leadership to all of the commercial functions within the business including the sales, marketing, product, technology, strategy and finance functions.

Before joining The Business of Fashion Nick held a variety of senior positions at The Economist Group including Global Managing Director and Global Digital Publisher of The Economist. He was also Global Publisher of The Economist’s luxury lifestyle titles Intelligent Life and 1843 and the award-winning annual publication The World In.

Prior to The Economist Group Nick spent seven years as European CEO of Profero, at that time the world’s largest independent digital marketing agency, where he worked with clients such as Apple, BMW, Channel 4, HSBC and Pepsi.

Nick has a law degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management in Sydney.

Amal Benichou

Managing Director - Global Luxury Lead Accenture

Amal is Senior Managing Director at Accenture, where she leads the Global Luxury Practice and manages the relationship with one of the world’s leading luxury Group.

Since joining Accenture in 2009, she has worked with major clients across the insurance, retail and luxury sectors, supporting clients drive growth and creating value, at the intersection of business and technology.

Deeply committed to sustainability, innovation, learning, and people development, Amal helps global clients navigate transformation, translate emerging technologies into concrete value and stay ahead in an era of constant digital disruption.

Based in Paris, Amal lives with her husband and children. Outside of work, she loves traveling, discovering new places, and enjoying great wine. And has a well-known passion for shoes!

Ira Kalish

Chief Global Economist Deloitte

Dr. Ira Kalish is the Chief Global and US Economist of Deloitte. He is a specialist in global economic issues as well as the effects of economic, demographic, and social trends on the global business environment. He has written about the economies of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Mexico and South America, and has also written extensively on global consumer markets. He is the principal author and editor of Deloitte’s Weekly Global Economic Update.

Dr. Kalish provides thought leadership and perspectives on economic issues, including their expected impact on business operations and trends, to Deloitte clients as well as Deloitte leadership. He has given numerous presentations to corporations and trade organizations on topics related to the global economy. Dr. Kalish also serves on the Business at OECD Economic Policy Committee which advises the OECD on macroeconomic policy issues. In addition, he serves on the World Economic Forum’s Community of Chief Economists. He is widely traveled and has given presentations in 47 countries on six continents.

Dr. Kalish has been widely quoted in the news media; his remarks have been published by the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Financial Times, Reuters, and The Washington Post. He has appeared on CNN, CBS News, CNBC, PBS and BBC World Service.

Prior to his work at Deloitte, Dr. Kalish was chief economist at Retail Forward, a director at PwC, vice president at Bankers Trust, corporate economist at the Eastman Kodak Company, and researcher at the Institute for International Economics.

Dr. Kalish holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College and a PhD in international economics from Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and has two adult children.

Gemma D'Auria

Senior Partner, Global Leader of Apparel, Fashion & Luxury McKinsey & Company

Gemma is the global leader of McKinsey’s Apparel, Fashion & Luxury sector. She partners with companies and their executives on holistic transformations to accelerate sustainable growth and create lasting change on performance and health. Bringing two decades of consulting expertise across the United States, the Middle East and Europe, she helps clients with growth strategies, customer experience and commercial topics, advanced analytics and digital transformations, as well as capability building at scale.

As one of the leaders in our CEO Excellence practice, Gemma works closely with CEOs on their leadership journey, as well as with family-owned businesses to ensure they are ‘fit for purpose’ in terms of operating model, capabilities and leadership skills.

Gemma regularly publishes knowledge and insights relevant to the retail and fashion/luxury sectors, and co-authors McKinsey’s annual State of Fashion and State of Luxury report published in collaboration with Business of Fashion, as well as the annual Sporting Goods Industry report.

John Imah

Founder & CEO SpreeAI

As Co-Founder and CEO of SpreeAI, John Imah leads an innovative venture that uses AI to transform how people shop, discover, and connect with brands. Under his leadership, SpreeAI raised nearly $100 million and achieved a $1.5 billion valuation, establishing itself as a pioneering force in AI-driven retail. Imah’s work seamlessly merges creativity with technology, reflecting his dual passion for style and innovation.

As a Nigerian American, Imah infuses his career with a blend of innovation, resilience, and cultural perspective. Before founding SpreeAI, he held leadership roles at Samsung, Amazon’s Twitch, Meta, Take-Two Interactive, and Snap Inc. These experiences in big tech gave him a front-row seat to innovation and storytelling, which now fuel his vision at SpreeAI.

Imah’s entrepreneurial drive began early: by his mid-teens, he had already built and sold two companies. This early success, combined with a passion for technology and fashion, set the stage for his unique career at the nexus of business and creativity. Drawing on this dual love, he envisioned SpreeAI as a way to make e-commerce more personal, inclusive, and emotionally resonant for consumers. That vision, born from a self-taught coder who also harbored a love of design, guides SpreeAI’s mission to humanize online retail through style and AI.

Beyond his corporate endeavors, Imah channels his influence into both philanthropy and the arts. Through mentorship, scholarships, and community initiatives, he champions creativity and education for gifted and underserved youth, embodying a commitment to lift up the next generation of innovators. At the same time, Imah stands out as a multidisciplinary voice across design, music, and innovation, reflecting his belief that creativity knows no boundaries.

Carolin Wais

Partner Plug & Play

Carolin is a Partner at Plug and Play Ventures. She has been in the Venture industry for over 8 years. Since joining Plug and Play in 2019, she has led over 50 investments for the firm and oversaw 150+ investments since establishing PnP’s EMEA IC. She has a strong thesis on companies that deliver direct business impact in terms of efficiency, cost cutting or driving revenue. Being an advocate for diversity in the ecosystem, she is supporting multiple female-focused initiatives as a mentor and has backed 10+ female founders in 2022 alone.

She has always been passionate about entrepreneurship and supporting founders with a bold vision and willingness to challenge the status quo. During her studies at ESCP Europe, where she graduated as Valedictorian of the MiM class, she specialized in venture capital, mentoring multiple startups and founding a student-led tech conference. Prior to Plug and Play Carolin spent 3 years at Next47 and 2 years as an operator at Siemens.

Georgina Nelson

Founder & CEO TruRating

Georgina Nelson, CEO and founder of TruRating, studied psychology at university, where she became fascinated with how to measure, understand, and predict human behavior. She quickly realized that the key to everything was data you could trust, which required sample sizes not usually seen in traditional market research.

After graduating, Georgina took a turn into law, working first in finance with Clifford Chance LLP before joining Europe’s largest consumer association, Which?, representing consumer privacy and data issues at an EU and UK Government level.

It was here that she identified a market need for representative consumer feedback. Putting two and two together, Georgina created TruRating, a consumer feedback and analytics platform that captures feedback from the silent majority of the customer base.

TruRating integrates the feedback process into the purchase experience by asking one question at the point of sale. This achieves what traditional survey tools fail to do—mass, genuine customer data samples at speed. Understanding how customers feel about the experience and why they buy certain products has never been more important. With TruRating, retailers and their retail media teams can get to the heart of what’s driving customer loyalty and build on excellent service.

It doesn’t stop there. The ratings are shared with consumers via store profile pages to ensure that the data exchange is fair for both parties. With a billion ratings and counting, TruRating is now the world’s largest platform for validated consumer ratings. TruRating works with globally renowned retailers, including Aldi, JD Sports, Cracker Barrel, Five Below, Canada Post, NAPA Auto Parts, Nike RPG, lululemon, Tim Hortons, Longo's and more.

Anne-Laure Colcy

EVP, Head of Global Luxury Capgemini Invent

With over 20 years of experience in luxury and wealth management, Anne-Laure Colcy is an accomplished executive, currently leading the Global Luxury platform at Capgemini Invent.

She brings deep expertise in the intersection of business development, marketing, culture and technology for the luxury industry, with a focus on the emotional connections with craft and heritage that drive customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Anne-Laure's approach is centered around understanding how technology can enhance the luxury experience and business model while maintaining the emotional essence of the sector, the feeling of affection, which is essential in navigating the evolving needs of today’s high-end consumers.

She is passionate about leveraging innovation to meet luxury’s unique challenges in a new era of transformations. She explores the new expectations of wealthy consumers through studies and data analysis to support major market players and luxury brands in their necessary transformation.

She defined a new approach around the concept of Sanctuary which allows for a better understanding of the new frontiers of luxury.

Balancing a demanding career with family life, Anne-Laure is the mother of three children, which fuels her passion for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Living in the center of Paris, she is also a keen sports enthusiast with a competitive spirit and thrives on tackling business challenges with determination and optimimism.

Stacy Lilien

President LoveShackFancy

As President of LoveShackFancy, Stacy Lilien has helped shape the global fashion, beauty, home, and lifestyle brand celebrated for its romantic aesthetic, immersive retail experiences, and deeply loyal community. LoveShackFancy has flourished under her leadership. Lilien joined the company in 2017 as Vice President of Sales, was promoted to Vice President of the brand in 2019, and named President in 2020.

Since then, she has guided the brand’s expansion into an award-winning, category-defining business with 25 stores worldwide, hundreds of retail partners and numerous, highly coveted sold-out collaborations with brands including Stanley 1913, Victoria Secret’s Pink, Gap, Pottery Barn, Kendra Scott, Roller Rabbit, Havianas, Bogner, Supergoop!, Hurley, American Girl, and Bandier. In celebration of LoveShackFancy’s 10th anniversary, Lilien helped launch LoveShackFancy Beauty with a collection of more than 20 SKUs ranging from Eau de Parfum, hair & body perfume mists and gift sets. Beauty is the brand’s fastest-growing category, sold in more than 650 Sephora stores across the U.S. and Canada.

A respected industry leader, Lilien began her career at Saks Fifth Avenue before holding senior sales roles at Theory and Rebecca Taylor, where she rose to Vice President of Sales. She has spoken at the Vogue Business“Future of Fashion” panel, Women in Retail Leadership Summit, and Summit Speech School Benefit, and has been featured in WWD, Vogue, The Business of Fashion, and The New York Times.

Committed to giving back, Lilien supports the Summit Speech School, Scope Foundation, and Every Mother Counts. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

Christophe Cais

Founder & CEO CXG

Christophe Caїs is the founder and CEO of CXG, the leading customer experience consulting and transformation agency for premium and luxury brands. Founded in 2006, CXG is a global firm with 12 offices from Shanghai to Paris, operating across 85 countries and home to over 260 professionals from around the world.

Truly international in his perspective, Christophe has lived and worked in France, China, the UK, Spain, and the United States. Today, he is in the UAE, partnering with and advising some of the most recognized luxury brand names globally.

Christophe believes that the premium and luxury business model is at a turning point: circular economy, sustainability, market decoupling, digitalization and artificial intelligence are some of the forces rapidly reshaping the consumer landscape, making it critical for brands to transform and elevate their experiences.

As a recognized industry thought leader, Christophe is frequently invited by leading media outlets to share his insights on luxury and customer experience. His expert opinions have been featured in publications such as Forbes, Journal du Luxe, Arabian Business, Dubai Eye and more. He is also a sought-after keynote speaker, having led sessions at events hosted by global brands such as Dior, Nissan, General Motors, Grant Thornton, and Forvis Mazars.

An alumnus of the “Institut Supérieur de Gestion” and Harvard Business School, Christophe is a member of the APM (“Association Progrès du Management”), the VAB (Virtual Advisory Board) and he actively contributes as a mentor at Endeavor. He is also a member of the Forbes Agency Council and has been nominated twice for the CEO Middle East Awards.

Christophe is currently based in Dubai with his family.

Olof Darpö

Managing Director & Partner BCG

As a core member of the Consumer practice, Olof Darpö leads Boston Consulting Group’s work in ecommerce and marketing in retail for Europe. Olof has significant expertise in many retail industries, with a focus on fashion and luxury and speciality retail. Olof has led several of BCG's largest marketing transformations, spanning the full CMO spectrum including brand positioning, content creation, and excellence in execution across touchpoints.

Olof’s main areas of expertise are data-driven marketing and building high-performing marketing organizations; ecommerce acceleration and building ecommerce organizations that deliver above-market growth through better demand generation, conversion, product offering and pricing, and enabled by world class tech and operations; and data-driven and dynamic pricing including building in-house pricing engines and integrating and tuning existing pricing engines to better reach (often conflicting) core business objectives.

Martin Barthel

Managing Director & Partner BCG

Martin Barthel is a member of BCG X, Boston Consulting Group’s tech build and design business unit. He leads the growth, ventures, and design teams in Paris with a mission to invent, build, and scale digital-centric businesses, products, and services.

Martin is also a core member of CX for Growth, a BCG X domain dedicated to creating world-class end-to-end customer journeys to boost top-line growth. In addition, he is a core member of BCG's Consumer, and Marketing, Sales & Pricing practices and leads the fashion and luxury team within BCG X in Europe.

Martin brings more than 20 years of experience in building and scaling consumer-centric business models, both in Tech (Meta, eBay) and luxury goods companies (Chanel, Gucci). He has worked across Europe (Germany, UK, France) and in the US (Silicon Valley).

Simone Oloman

Founder & CEO NIFT

Simone Oloman is the co-founder and CEO of Need It For Tonight (NIFT), an innovative 90 minute and same day fashion delivery app designed for ultimate convenience. NIFT bridges the gap between the instant gratification of online shopping and the tactile excitement of in-store retail - making fashion feel as immediate as food delivery. Think Deliveroo, but for quality fashion.

Most recently, Simone launched DAVE, NIFT’s B2B embedded checkout solution, which enables retailers to offer instant delivery directly from their own websites. This technology empowers brands of all sizes with same-speed logistics capabilities once reserved for e-commerce giants - driving higher conversion, customer loyalty and measurable sales uplift.

Before founding NIFT, Simone honed her expertise at a technology AI startup, where she led the retail function and advised some of the UK’s leading retailers on digital transformation, omnichannel strategy and customer experience innovation.

Recognised by Forbes, The Independent, Vogue Business, Harper’s Bazaar, 10 Magazine, and Drapers Simone was also named one of Retail Week’s Top 50 Retail Leaders for her impact at the intersection of fashion, technology, and logistics.

A passionate advocate for retail innovation, Simone frequently speaks on the evolution of rapid delivery, technology and the shifting expectations of modern consumers. Her mission is to redefine convenience - building the infrastructure that makes fashion shopping as instant, intelligent and inspiring as the next generation of consumers demands.

Kate Hardcastle MBE

Global Broadcaster & The Customer Whisperer Hardcastle Collective

Kate Hardcastle MBE is the global authority on consumer behaviour, trust, and retail futures, relied on by world-leading brands to understand what customers value next. A multi-award-winning international business consultant, broadcaster, and author, she has worked everywhere from factory floors in Asia to boardrooms in New York advising organisations including Disney, Marks & Spencer, and EVRi on growth, technology, and customer strategy .A trusted voice across BBC, Sky, CNBC, Netflix and NHK Japan, Hardcastle has led prime-time business coverage, fronted documentaries, and delivered analysis followed by millions. Her career spans three decades across global supply chains, sustainability leadership, and the commercial realities reshaping modern retail. She is founder of Buy Smarter, Buy Greener.A pioneering advocate for responsible, tech-enabled, consumer-centric business, Hardcastle creates strategies that increase profit, strengthen operational resilience, build trust, and accelerate meaningful green progress. A sought-after keynote speaker, she delivers standout sessions at Cannes Lions, SXSW, and major industry summits across the US, UK, Europe, KSA, and the UAE. Her best-selling book The Science of Shopping is out now.

Simon Mitchell

Co-Founder Sybarite

Simon co-founded Sybarite with Torquil McIntosh in 2002, their steely focus has always been retail architecture and design and more recently hospitality and lifestyle. Simon has a collaborative working style and is instrumental in the fostering of the culture of Sybarite where work-life balance remains at the core.

Sybarite has delivered 2,800 projects to date, amongst those, retail and experiential concepts and designs for notable brands and retail operators of varying scales from monobrands through to master planning. Recognisable clients include LVMH, Marni, Ferrari, SKP & SKP-S.
The successful repositioning from Shin Kong Place to SKP in China has resulted in a No1 global department store ranking. Project locations include Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and Wuhan with more to be announced. In addition to SKP, Sybarite creatively directed and conceived SKP-S, an ongoing next generation retail concept. The pipeline continues throughout China.

Simon maintains a close relationship with Sybarite’s clients in Asia and Saudi Arabia, namely CR Land, Swire and Hongkong Land, The Public Investment Fund (PIF) and KAFD.

Simon is a regular contributor and opinion leader for a host of conferences, discussions, and futures as well as being an active business mentor.

Melissa Gonzalez

Principal and Founder MG2 and MG2 Advisory

Award winning retail strategist Melissa Gonzalez is a Principal at the global design and architecture firm MG2 and Founder of MG2 Advisory, now part of Colliers Engineering and Design. Drawing from her success as a Wall Street executive and a seasoned entrepreneur who has worked side-by-side with some of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer companies, she advises brands and retailers on how to leverage forward-thinking consumer insights with innovative strategy from concept through implementation and has advanced the industry through her work in experiential design.

Continually pushing the boundaries of experiential retail, she has pioneered the integration of physical environments and cutting-edge technologies, helping companies including established brands such as Nordstrom and Victoria's Secret, and digital-first natives such as Good American and Kizik.

Gonzalez authored the Pop-up Paradigm: How Brands Build Human Connections in a Digital Age, heralding a wave of pop-ups for luxury and specialty, long-lease and weekend drops. New York Business Journal named her one of “10 New York Executives to Watch in 2023,” Path to Purchase Institute included her among their 2023 Women of Excellence Winners, and Women's Wear Daily (WWD) called her one of "25 Most Influential Women Leaders of 2022.”

A sought-after speaker, Gonzalez has presented at SXSW, Shoptalk, Shoptalk Europe, Future Forward, World Retail Congress, NRF’s Retail’s Big Show, Retail Innovation Conference and Expo, and Vogue Business Summit. In 2024 she was the keynote speaker for the 21st Annual Retail Congress in Peru. Because of her broad scope and deep expertise, she is frequently tapped to be the moderator for prestigious brand panels or one-on-one conversations, such as her conversation with Birdies CEO Bianca Gates for the Women in Retail Leadership Circle.

Gonzalez is also the creator and host of the podcast Retail Refined, which explores the future of retail and in-store technology. She has interviewed some of the most prominent leaders in retail, including the CEO of Toys R Us, the Chief Digital Officer of Ikea, and the CMO of American Eagle. Her first-to-market research is published in quarterly consumer reports that are anticipated by retail leaders and offer insights into a variety of markets such as footwear, beauty, and outdoor gear among others.

Gonzalez served as a resource for The World’s Best Shops, Courier Media’s latest tome, which celebrates modern retail in all its forms. She has been quoted in WWD, Business of Fashion, Retail Brew, Glossy, VMSD, Chain Store Age, Retail TouchPoints, Forbes, Frame, and The New York Times.

Gonzalez sees it as her responsibility to grow the next generation of industry leaders and invests time and effort to teach her staff and celebrate their successes. Many of the designers under her tutelage have gone on to win retail industry awards including VMSD’s Designer Dozen and Retail TouchPoints’ 40 Under 40 Awards.

Gonzalez and her team have produced more than 200 brick-and-mortar experiences in cities across the United States, dedicated to creating immersive brand moments in a way that drives ROI and helps clients convey compelling stories. Gonzalez has not only advanced the industry through her client work, but also by sharing best practices with colleagues, contributing to industry publications and conferences, and growing the next generation of retail leaders.

Sam Atkinson

CEO Swap Commerce

Sam spent four years in M&A at Irish law firm Arthur Cox before joining McKinsey & Company. At McKinsey, Sam worked primarily with large retailers on their operations, including projects for LVMH and Dr Martens. After McKinsey, Sam joined Neo-Bank for e-commerce, and Juni as Head of Strategy. His time at Juni sparked the idea for Swap, where he realized the many challenges facing retailers, especially in ecommerce. Since launching Swap in November of 2022, Sam has worked tirelessly to make commerce more open and merchant-controlled for 600+ brands worldwide.

Sam was born and raised in the U.K. all his life, growing up a few hours outside London. His career started with four years working in M&A law at Arthur Cox. After Arthur Cox, Sam did his MBA at HEC Paris –– in that time, he started his first business venture, SloGoods. A luxury hand-made home goods retailer, SloGoods sourced from all over the world and sold globally, too. This gave Sam first hand experience in what it takes to import from and sell to the world –– needless to say, it was a challenging business model. Despite reaching critical acclaim in the U.K. with features in Harper’s Bazaar and British Vogue, Sam decided to sunset the business to join McKinsey after his MBA.

Sam furthered his interest in ecommerce at McKinsey, working on projects for LVMH and Dr. Martens. He then put his SloGoods and McKinsey experience to practice with ecommerce businesses at Juni as Head of Strategy. There, Sam learned all the interworkings of how ecommerce businesses truly operate at Juni, a Neo-bank start-up for ecommerce businesses. It’s there where he built rapport with the co-founder of Juni, Jonathan Sanders, who has been a mentor to Sam and later introduced him to Dinika at Cherry Ventures, leading to Swap’s Series A. While he did not start Swap until near the end of his tenure at Juni, the idea was sparked by his time there, where he realized the many challenges facing retailers, especially in ecommerce. Since founding Swap in 2022, Sam has worked tirelessly to improve operations for retailers in the U.K. and hundreds of brands worldwide.

Stephanie Crespin

Founder & CEO Reflaunt

Entrepreneur Stephanie Crespin is passionate about fashion sustainability and providing impactful solutions to brands and consumers. In 2013, she launched online luxury destination StyleTribute.com, in Singapore after identifying an opportunity to offer highend fashion lovers a curated digital platform to sell and buy pre-loved luxury designer items, combined with a free premium concierge service. Unique in this market, StyleTribute.com generated great excitement among Singapore’s fashion scene and national press. Motivated by this experience and realising some immediate opportunities in the pre-loved luxury market, Stephanie’s launched Reflaunt in 2017 providing brands with the technology to build and have a strong presence in the secondary market and for consumers to sell their luxury items back on the brands digital platform where they originally made the purchase. Unlike other resale platforms, Reflaunt allows a product for sale to be listed across multiple marketplaces globally giving maximum exposure to the consumer, while generating revenue, customer retention and data capture back to the brand. Brands have been quick to realise the opportunity with the Reflaunt technology, notably Yoox Net-a-Porter, Harvey Nichols, Balenciaga, Ba&sh, Cos and H&M to name a few. Reflaunt has received significant support from a leading recycling solutions company and from CEOs of major luxury and second-hand brands. Born in Japan, Stephanie is a Belgo-French entrepreneur spending time between Tokyo, Bangkok, Paris and Brussels, where she shaped her love for designer fashion. Owner of a double Master’s in Business Engineering and Creation of SME’s, she honed her sense of business and luxury products at Procter & Gamble leading marketing and operational strategies for the Fine Fragrances division of the FMCG giant, including brands such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Hugo Boss. In August 2012, she flew to Singapore with a one-way ticket and a solid vision, which came to life a couple months later.

Rebecca Griffiths

CEO & Founder Primis CX

Rebecca Griffiths is a visionary entrepreneur and customer experience expert with over 15 years of experience in e-commerce, business development, and CX innovation.

As the Founder and CEO of Primis CX since March 2020, Rebecca has pioneered next-generation customer experience solutions, empowering businesses to reduce churn, increase revenue, and create lasting brand loyalty. Operating across key global hubs such as London, Cape Town, and Dubai, Primis CX has quickly gained recognition as a “ones to watch” tech startup for 2024 by Sifted, reflecting its innovative approach and rapid growth in the competitive tech landscape .

Rebecca’s career journey is marked by senior leadership roles at industry giants like Amazon Prime, Narvar, and InPost, where she honed her expertise in driving operational excellence and spearheading customer-centric initiatives across diverse global markets. Her time at Amazon, in particular, instilled a deep-rooted focus on customer obsession, which became a cornerstone of her entrepreneurial vision at Primis CX. She has successfully leveraged her extensive background to transform how businesses connect with their audiences, particularly in the retail and e-commerce sectors across the GCC Middle East Region .

Beyond her corporate achievements, Rebecca is a passionate advocate for sustainability and empowering women in tech. Through initiatives like The Female Founders Collective in New York, she actively mentors and supports aspiring female entrepreneurs, fostering a more inclusive tech ecosystem. Her ability to blend strategic vision with actionable insights has positioned her as a thought leader in transforming customer experiences across industries, earning her invitations to speak at prestigious events like WORLDEF in Dubai and Retail CIO Connect .

Rebecca Griffiths has been recognized by Trending 2025 for her transformative contributions to CX innovation, her success in driving sustainable growth for global brands, and her unwavering dedication to reshaping the future of e-commerce through technology-driven solutions.

Her work continues to inspire a new wave of customer-focused innovation, setting benchmarks for excellence in the industry. As a leader based in dynamic cities like Dubai and London, she remains at the forefront of global trends, ensuring that Primis CX stays ahead in delivering impactful, scalable solutions for modern businesses.

Max Sinclair

Founder & CEO Azoma AI

Max Sinclair is the founder of www.azoma.ai. Azoma’s mission is to help brands increase their share of voice in AI-powered conversational search, e.g. ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Amazon RUFUS. Azoma has received the backing of eBay Ventures and other top-tier VCs, and is the trusted partner of the likes of L’Occitane, David Protein and Zappos.com.

Prior to founding Azoma, Max spent 6 years at Amazon in various global leadership roles, including being responsible for Customer’s browsing experience for the launch of Amazon in Singapore; and leading the scale-up of Amazon Third Party Grocery across the EU.

Max was educated at Mila, a leading global Artificial Intelligence Institute. Max is also the host of the New Frontier, the AI for Ecommerce podcast. He speaks globally at Conferences on Generative Engine Optimization (or Answer Engine Optimization), and the impact of AI on ecommerce, society and the future of work. He has also been featured in top-tier publications such as Vogue Business.

Angela Farrugia MBE

Founder Brand x Society

Angela founded TLC (The Licensing Company Ltd) in 1996, which grew to become a global powerhouse in brand licensing. TLC operated 24 offices across 16 countries, ran over 600 free standing stores and managed an impressive roster of top-tier brands across multiple sectors, generating over $12.4 billion in annual retail sales for its clients.

In 2015 TLC was acquired by CAA artist management -cementing this legacy.

She founded Brand x Society Ltd, continuing her commitment to education, excellence and now lectures on “asset-light” business strategies and mentors emerging designers, where she guest lecturers Central Saint Martins MA Fashion program.

In 2024, Angela was honoured with an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for her outstanding contributions to global business development and licensing.

Angela is an Advisor to the British Fashion Council and serves as Chair of the Fashion Trust Arabia Mentorship Program.

She sits on the board of INSPECS PLC where she is a NED and Chair of the ESG committee.

Sara Al-Rashed

Founder Asteri Beauty

Sara Alrashed is the founder of Asteri Beauty, the first female-founded Saudi beauty brand built on the philosophy of high-performance, desert-proof makeup. Born in Saudi Arabia, Asteri was created to serve women living in extreme climates, combining long-lasting, heat-resilient formulas with clean, vegan, cruelty-free innovation developed in leading global laboratories.

With a background in design and architecture, Sara approaches beauty as a holistic brand-building exercise—where product performance, storytelling, and retail strategy work together to create relevance and loyalty. Under her leadership, Asteri has scaled rapidly across the GCC, opening 13 retail locations in under two years, alongside pop-ups and new formats, establishing the brand as one of the region’s fastest-growing beauty businesses.

Sara is recognized for building a purpose-led, culturally rooted beauty brand that celebrates modern Arab women while competing on a global stage. She is frequently invited to speak on entrepreneurship, retail expansion, and the future of beauty in emerging markets, and continues to lead Asteri’s growth through innovation, community, and a clear point of view on modern luxury.

Adam Sebba

Founder & CEO The Luminaire

Adam Sebba launched UK-based luxury travel business, The Luminaire in 2021, for a new archetype of traveller with a mission to reinvent purpose driven travel, and create customer experiences for brands and hotels.

Sebba brings 25 years of experience, the last ten years of which has been gained in luxury, company turnaround and investment. With an MBA from Imperial College London, he started his business career at the consulting firm AlixPartners. Prior to founding The Luminaire, Sebba worked in corporate VC for Diageo, was the CEO of Cookson Adventures and ran the luxury fashion brand, Antonio Berardi. Adam was recently named one of the 50 most influential people in British luxury in the Walpole Power List.

Alessandro Pescara

CEO ASPESI

Alessandro Pescara is a senior executive with more than two decades of international experience in turnaround management, strategic transformation, and complex change environments within the fashion and consumer industries. He is currently leading a comprehensive transformation program focused on long-term value creation, brand clarity, and sustainable, performance-driven growth.

Throughout his career, Alessandro has specialized in restoring organizations operating under pressure, combining strategic vision with hands-on execution. He has led multiple business restructurings, re-implementing operating models and redesigning end-to-end operational processes across product development, supply chain, logistics, finance, and go-to-market functions. A core element of his approach is the alignment between strategy, operations, and organizational culture.

In recent years, he has been deeply involved in the integration of artificial intelligence across business processes, developing AI-driven tools to support buying and merchandising decisions, demand forecasting, operational planning, and management control. He has also overseen the implementation of advanced digital ecosystems, including ERP, CRM, and data-driven performance management systems, with the objective of improving decision quality, speed, and accountability at all organizational levels.

Alessandro is known for his strong people-centric leadership style, his ability to build high-performing teams, and his focus on value-driven management. He believes that operational excellence, technology, and human capital must evolve together to generate resilient and competitive organizations.

He holds an Engineering degree and an MBA, has a background in corporate finance and M&A, and regularly speaks at conferences and academic programs on turnaround strategy, operational excellence, financial planning, and the role of technology and AI in modern business transformation.

Alison Melville

Chief Innovation Officer Reformation

Alison Melville serves as Chief Innovation Officer at sustainable fashion brand Reformation. In this role, Alison oversees category development, with a focus on breakthrough sustainability propositions. She is also responsible for overseeing the company’s fleet of 60+ stores across the United States, Canada, UK and France. Since joining the organization in 2020, Alison has overseen a total of four new category launches (jewelry in Fall 2025, swimwear in Spring 2024, handbags in Spring 2023 and relaunching footwear in Spring 2021).

Previously, Alison was the General Manager of Footwear and Accessories at Everlane and has worked in various facets of the sustainable fashion system, ranging from low-impact materials to transparent sourcing at brands like Loeffler Randall and Coach. Alison received her MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business with a specialization in Product Management from Social Impact, and received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two kids.

Andrew Xeni

Founder & Chairman Nobody's Child

Andrew Xeni is a visionary technology and retail entrepreneur; founder of award-winning businesses that are reshaping their industries. After building a successful family manufacturing business supplying the UK high street, Xeni went on to establish responsible fashion brand, Nobody’s Child, named 2023 & 2024 Drapers Retailer of the Year (<£100m), as well as building technology ventures; Fabacus, where he serves as CEO, and Soreto, where he acts as Chairman. Operating globally, his businesses are servicing some of the world’s largest organisations in licensing and retail, including Tesco, NBCUniversal and Samsung. Xeni also welcomed Marks & Spencer as a strategic investor and minority shareholder in Nobody’s Child.

Passionate about shaping the future of sustainable retail, in 2023, Fabacus and Nobody’s Child collaborated to launch a Digital Product Passport solution driven by compliant product catalogues, in preparation for incoming legislation around the world, set to redefine and evolve the retail landscape. Xeni is backed by a number of leading financial institutions and prominent individuals and in addition to managing a diverse portfolio of businesses, he is an active angel investor and mentor.

Anna Germanos

Group Director FMCG, Luxury, Retail & E-commerce, MENA Meta

Anna Germanos is a recognized thought leader in digital transformation across the Consumer Goods Retail & Luxury sectors, with over 20 years of experience in these industries in the Middle East & Africa. Her extensive background includes leadership roles at major global technology companies and a solid foundation in management consulting. Currently Anna serves as Group Director at Meta, overseeing multiple industries covering Consumer Goods, Luxury, Retail & Ecommerce for the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Meta, she led the Consumer Goods practice at Google for MENA. Earlier, Anna spent many years in the Consumer & Retail practice at Booz & company (currently Strategy&) where she led assignments for leading private & public clients in the Middle East & Africa. Anna holds an MBA from INSEAD and a bachelor of Engineering from the American University of Beirut with distinction. A dual French-Lebanese citizen, she resides in Dubai with her husband, two children, and their beloved cat and dog.

Charles Awad

Chief Brand Officer Majid Al Futtaim

He works closely with the Group’s different operating companies to shape the overarching brand agenda and drive customer lifetime value. Charles leads brand-building efforts across strategy, communications, innovation, loyalty, customer engagement, and experience, while overseeing marketing investment strategies. He also manages the Majid Al Futtaim corporate brand, leading group-wide media initiatives and company-wide marketing partnerships.

Charles has over 25 years’ experience in building and growing profitable B2C and B2B brands, and has held leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, Estee Lauder and Allergan. He has a proven track record of leading marketing, R&D, and commercial teams to drive game-changing, customer-centric strategies and disruptive innovation.

Before joining Majid Al Futtaim, Charles was the Growth Strategy Adviser for Allergan in Zurich, where he developed strategies to triple the medical aesthetics business by 2025. Prior to that, as Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Oettinger Davidoff AG, he doubled the global Davidoff net sales and profit in five years through brand repositioning and breakthrough marketing strategies.

He also spent 17 years with Procter & Gamble in senior roles in the Middle East and Europe, driving strategy development, portfolio growth, and brand turnarounds in the FMCG business.

Charles holds an MBA from INSEAD, as well as a Master’s and bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University.

Chloé Reuter

Founder Reuter Ventures

Based in Abu Dhabi, Chloé Reuter is a Luxemburgish entrepreneur, strategic advisor, and investor with over 20 years of international experience in the luxury, lifestyle, and consumer sectors.

She began her career in Tokyo, producing for Bloomberg TV and Reuters TV, before moving to Shanghai, where she spent two decades building Reuter Communications: a strategic consultancy for luxury and premium brands. As founder and CEO, she scaled the company into one of China’s leading agencies in the sector, partnering with many of the world’s most iconic luxury houses. In 2024, she successfully exited the business through a sale to Gusto Collective, a Hong Kong-based tech and media group.

Multilingual in English, French, Mandarin Chinese, and Italian, Chloé holds a degree in Chinese and History from Durham University and also studied at the People’s University of China (Renmin University) in Beijing.

Now based in the UAE, she advises and invests in founder-led brands seeking to grow in the Middle East and internationally, leveraging her deep expertise in brand strategy, cross-cultural storytelling, and global market expansion.

Faruk Aysoy

Chief Financial Officer, Eastern Europe Lacoste & GANT

Faruk Aysoy is a Chief Financial Officer and strategic business leader shaping the future of premium fashion retail across Eastern Europe. As CFO of Eastern Europe at Lacoste and GANT, he partners closely with executive leadership to drive sustainable growth, financial resilience, and transformation across multi-market operations in an increasingly complex and digital-first retail landscape.

With more than 15 years of experience across global organizations including Lacoste, GANT, and Siemens, Faruk brings a distinctive combination of strategic finance, operational excellence, and transformation leadership. Since 2015, he has played a pivotal role in scaling the brands’ presence in Eastern Europe, leading successful market entries, organizational build-outs, and the acceleration of e-commerce platforms—turning emerging markets into long-term value engines.

Faruk’s leadership philosophy positions the CFO as a catalyst for innovation rather than a guardian of the past. He focuses on translating data into foresight, aligning capital allocation with brand ambition, and enabling agile decision-making across omnichannel ecosystems. His work sits at the intersection of finance, technology, and consumer experience—where premium brands must continuously evolve to remain relevant and profitable.

A strong advocate of people-led transformation, Faruk believes that sustainable performance is built through empowered teams, clarity of purpose, and disciplined execution. He is deeply engaged in shaping finance organizations that are future-ready, insight-driven, and closely integrated with commercial strategy.

Faruk is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Industrial & Operations Engineering and Economics from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, as well as a Master of Science in Business Administration from Marmara University.

Ingie Chalhoub

Founder & CEO Etoile Group

Ingie Chalhoub is a Middle East style icon, business leader and philanthropist. An innovator in luxury fashion retail, Ingie has been instrumental in the growth of the sector in the Middle East over the last four decades, since creating the Etoile Group in 1983. Under Ingie’s vision and leadership, Etoile Group has become one of the highest profile names in Middle East fashion retail, bringing some of the world’s most respected luxury brands to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Lebanon. Today, Etoile Group operates in partnership with Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Valentino, Tod’s, Etro, and Aquazzura, as well as running its own omni-channel multi-brand store, Etoile La Boutique.

Ingie has received numerous accolades recognising both her business and style acumen. These include France’s prestigious ‘Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur’, given in recognition of her achievements, dedication and commitment to the diffusion of French luxury in Europe and the Middle East. Ingie has also been consistently recognised and awarded by leading media titles in Europe and the Middle East throughout her career, including Forbes Middle East, CEO Magazine, Arabian Business, Emirates Woman, ELLE, as well as receiving the title of Icon of the Middle East by Images Retail ME and Woman of the Year by L’Officielle Arabia.

Building on this legacy, Ingie was recently recognized with the Emirates Woman Visionary Issue Award 2024 and crowned the Emirates Woman of the Year. Additionally, she was awarded the Business Woman of the Year Award at the Arab Business Woman Awards by Arabian Business, further cementing her status as a trailblazing leader in the industry. Most recently, in January she was named one of the Top 50 Over 50 on Forbes Global List for 2025.

Ingie was also awarded the “Ethical Fashion Award” for ethical and social engagement by the Monte Carlo Fashion Week. She has also received the prestigious Murex D’or Award in honour of her accomplishments as a Lebanese pioneer in the fashion business, both regionally and internationally. A committed philanthropist, Ingie is a founding member of the UNICEF Leadership Circle, Gulf Region and supporter of Dubai Cares, actively contributing to their charitable programmes. She is also an ambassador for Pink Caravan as well as the 10KSA project in support of breast cancer research and awareness.

Julie de Moyer

Chief Data Officer LVMH Beauty

Julie De Moyer has recently joined French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH as Chief Data & AI Officer for the Beauty Division. Julie is responsible for driving data, analytics, and AI innovation for over 15 beauty brands, enhancing desirability, cultivating consumer relationships, and augmenting human intelligence across geographical regions and the product value chain. De Moyer is a proven business strategy executive and has honed her skills through diverse leadership roles focused on data, CX, and digital transformation strategies. Her professional journey includes engagements with start-ups, major public corporations, and global FTSE 100 consumer brands, both in advisory capacities and within in-house teams. Prior to joining LVMH, De Moyer served as Director of Strategy and Innovation for EMEA at Nike. In this role, she provided strategic guidance for Nike's marketplace operations throughout the EMEA region, emphasizing speed, convenience, profitability, and sustainability for consumers, partners, and Nike's business. Besides being a graduate of Ghent University with a master's degree in Business Economics, Julie also holds an Executive MBA from the London Business School and is a member of the Harvard Business Review (HBR) Advisory Council. And most importantly she is a proud mother of 2 boys.

Kirsty Keoghan

General Manager, Fashion & Luxury, Europe eBay

Kirsty Keoghan is eBay’s GM of European Fashion, where she is responsible for the company’s fashion business across the UK, Germany, France and Italy.

Since joining eBay in 2011, Kirsty has led a number of initiatives, including the launch of free fashion selling, the pivotal pre-loved fashion partnership with Love Island and the successful launch of Authenticity Guarantee in the UK. In 2024, Kirsty stepped in to cover GM of eBay UK whilst Eve Williams was on maternity leave.

She has been leading the charge in repositioning eBay as a destination for buying and selling authentic high-end items. All of which has culminated in Kirsty being recognised in Retail Week’s Future Leaders 2023 list and The Tech List 2024.

Kirsty is also an eBay seller herself, having joined the platform in 2007.

Prior to joining eBay, Kirsty had a decade-long career working at some of the UK’s biggest fashion brands, including Arcadia Group, M&S, TK Maxx and Brand Alley.

Kirsty is mother to two fashion-obsessed kids, and loves to shop herself, investing in a mix of new and pre-loved classic pieces.

Kirsty McGregor

Journalist & Fashion Industry Advisor

Kirsty McGregor is an independent fashion editor and strategist with over a decade of experience covering the business, cultural and technological forces shaping the global industry. She advises brands and organisations on strategy, innovation and market dynamics, helping them navigate complex challenges and opportunities. Her reporting explores themes such as material provenance, ethical production, and the factors that underpin desirability and trust in luxury fashion.

Kirsty was formerly Executive European Editor at Vogue Business, overseeing coverage on global luxury markets, sustainability, circular business models, digital transformation and consumer trends. Previously, she was Editor of Drapers, the UK’s leading fashion trade publication, and she began her career in social policy journalism.

Known for combining analytical insight with practical expertise, Kirsty regularly speaks at industry forums and consults on editorial, research and brand strategy projects. She has a deep understanding of fashion supply chains, helping brands and suppliers to communicate more effectively and align their creative, financial and ethical priorities.

Through her independent work, Kirsty continues to translate nuanced industry trends into actionable insight, supporting businesses, investors, and audiences in understanding the evolving dynamics and opportunities within luxury fashion.

Melissa McDermott

Founder & CEO Reclaim World

Melissa McDermott is the founder and CEO of Reclaim, a circular fashion platform built on one belief: fashion does more than dress the world—it shapes it.

With over 20 years leading product strategy, design, and buying at global brands like Gap Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, and Mango, Melissa later helped companies like Kering, Zadig & Voltaire, and Decathlon navigate digital transformation, traceability, and circular innovation.

At Reclaim, she’s now building the intelligence layer that makes circularity scalable and profitable, an agentic AI-driven operating system that routes products to resale, repair, or recycling while keeping customers in the loop- literally- turning every product into a connected asset

Her work connects data and decisions to turn every garment into a connected asset with lasting value and every brand into a driver of systemic change.

Morin Oluwole

Member, Board of Directors Breitling, Rituals & Biologique Recherche

Morin Oluwole is a luxury industry executive specializing in digital transformation, business development, and innovation. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Breitling, Rituals Cosmetics, and Biologique Recherche. Morin spent nearly 18 years at Meta as one of its early employees (#150), including a decade as Director & Global Head of Luxury.

Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the CMO, shaping global business strategies for top-tier brand partners. She has also led Product Marketing and Public Content Partnerships for the fashion and luxury sectors, following earlier experience in management consulting at Sachs Consulting in New York.

Morin’s thought leadership has been featured in leading publications including WWD twice, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Vogue Business, Business of Fashion, Forbes Afrique, Fashion Network, Journal du Luxe, CB News, L'Opinion, Stratégies, Luxus Plus, Luxury Daily, Luxury Society, France 24, Luxe Digital, The New York Times and Black Enterprise.

Recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice, Morin is known for her expert perspectives on business, emerging markets, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, innovation, and mentorship, and she has built a highly engaged global audience.

She was born and raised in Nigeria, speaks four languages (English, French, Spanish and Yoruba) and has lived in the US, UK, and Nigeria.

Born and raised in Nigeria, she speaks four languages—English, French, Spanish, and Yoruba—and has lived in the US, UK, and Nigeria. Morin holds both a BA and MA in Human Biology and Sociology from Stanford University, as well as an MA in Business Management from Columbia University. She is a former Bill Gates Millennium Scholar and a five-time recipient of the Stanford Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.

She currently splits her time between Paris and Dubai.

Pauline Coquet

Partner Bain & Company

Pauline Coquet is a Partner in Bain & Company’s Middle East offices and a senior member of Bain’s Retail and Consumer practice in the region, with a strong focus on luxury and premium consumer segments.

Pauline brings close to 15 years of management consulting experience across Europe and the Middle East, advising senior executives and leadership teams of both regional and international organizations. Her work centers on strategic planning and large-scale transformation, including digital transformation and brand-led growth for high-end and aspirational consumer businesses.

She has led engagements with leading luxury and premium players across the GCC, including fashion and luxury brands, high-end retail concepts, and premium real estate and mixed-use developers.

Pauline holds a master’s degree in engineering and engineering management.

Renaud Salmon

Chief Creative Officer Amouage

Renaud Salmon was appointed as Chief Creative Officer in 2019. Debuting a new role in Amouage’s leadership team, he is charged with leading the “Amouage Creative Collective” and steering the company’s re- imagined journey. In his role, Salmon is responsible for the design and execution of all consumer touchpoints including product development with a special focus is on digital and social elements. With extensive experience in international beauty creative direction and luxury brand management, Salmon started his career working on luxury leather goods at Delvaux and Louis Vuitton. He spent over a decade working alongside world class fashion designers creating highly desirable fragrance and beauty universes. Throughout his career, Salmon worked and lived in Brussels, Geneva, Milano, London, Paris and New York, where he was Vice President of Marc Jacobs fragrances. Over the years, Salmon has built solid relationships with perfumers, art directors, product designers, photographers, stylists, influencers and has been at the forefront of the digital revolution, fully embracing the rise of social media, mobile and eretail. He holds a Master’s degree in Business and Engineering from HEC Liege.

Sarah Engel

President January Digital

Sarah Engel is the President of January Digital, the marketing leadership company and agency of record for clients like Carhartt, Kendra Scott, Interstate Batteries, and Steve Madden. She also serves as a Strategic Advisor to Shoptalk and Groceryshop, and was recently named to Adweek 50, honoring changemakers and growth drivers in marketing and technology.

With more than two decades of multifaceted experience, Sarah has guided teams, served on boards, and held key leadership roles, including President, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief HR Officer for leading consumer and B2B brands. Notable positions include Vice President of Marketing and Creative Communications at lifestyle brand Lilly Pulitzer and CMO of retail data leader DynamicAction (now Edited). Throughout her career, she has connected consumers and driven growth for the world’s most impactful brands including Travelocity, Match, and Chevrolet.

She serves on the advisory board of Rebel Nell, a jewelry company empowering marginalized women, and as Chairperson of the Board of LSH, a nonprofit supporting vulnerable communities in Philadelphia. Her contributions to the industry have earned her recognition as a Top Woman in Media and Ad Tech, one of Women’s Wear Daily’s Top 20 Women Leaders in Business, and one of Footwear News’ Six Women in Power Creating Corporate Change.

Shahad Geoffrey

Co-Founder & CEO Taffi

Shahad Geoffrey is a Forbes 30 Under 30 and was named one of the 50 most impactful women in Saudi Arabia by Arabian Business. She is the Founder and CEO of TAFFI, the region’s first VC-backed fashion-tech startup, providing global brands with a generative AI-powered SaaS platform for chat, search, and content discovery. TAFFI delivers hyper-personalized shopping recommendations, helping to redefine the future of retail.

Shahad holds a bachelor's degree in International Business with a minor in Finance from INSEEC University in Paris. Before founding TAFFI, she held roles across startups and corporates as an intrapreneur, leading innovation and growth initiatives. In 2019, she worked with Tim Draper at Draper Associates, creating deal memos for companies now valued at over $8 billion.

She is also a globally recognized speaker, having presented at Harvard Business School, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, and other leading institutions.

Stacia Carr

Chief Technology & Product Officer Vestiaire Collective

With over 25 years of experience, Stacia Carr has led large teams in the technology sector at major tech companies. Carr has held key leadership roles at Zalando and SoundCloud, as well as at several US tech companies.

Carr brings extensive expertise in product development, leveraging AI technologies including machine learning, computer vision, and generative AI. Carr launched her career in the US, where she honed her skills in software development, digital media distribution, mobile application development and e-commerce. Carr has excelled in product innovation, consistently driving growth and transformation across various industries.

As founding leader of the Size and Fit Team at Zalando, Stacia Carr was promoted from Head of Engineering - Sizing in March 2016 to Vice-President Size and Fit; a role she held from January 2021 to March 2023, creating unique value generating customer experiences by leveraging machine learning for accurate size predictions, enabling millions of customers to use 3D virtual fitting rooms. As Vice President of Fashion Customer Experience at Zalando from March 2023 to July 2024, Carr delivered cutting-edge data-driven solutions which enhanced the online shopping experience.

As the Chief Technology and Product Officer of Vestiaire Collective, enhancing end-to-end ownership from product design to delivery, Stacia Carr will will assume this combined role to oversee our technology strategy, focusing on AI, machine learning, and data analytics, while implementing best practices to improve visibility into customer behaviour and business performance. Supported by passionate teams of developers, engineers, and other professionals, she will collaborate closely with various departments to develop and launch new services, reinforcing the B Corp company’s position as the first destination for authenticated, desirable pre-loved items. Based in Berlin, Carr will report directly to Bernard Osta, Global CEO of Vestiaire Collective.

As the only French unicorn company founded by two women, Vestiaire Collective proudly announces that Stacia Carr's nomination has raised the representation of women leaders within the executive committee to 50%. This achievement significantly exceeds the average percentage in the tech industry, where only 11% of leadership positions are held by women according to the World Bank. By amplifying women’s voices within the company, in technology, and beyond, Vestiaire Collective continues to champion diversity.

Vinay Mony

SVP Merkle

Vinay Mony is SVP Analytics at Merkle. Merkle is an integrated experience consultancy focused on digital transformation, data science, and customer loyalty.

Vinay has 24+ years experience in the Analytics and Data Science industry. He has worked across companies like GE, HP, Mu Sigma solving problems across Retail, Financial services and Media running multi disciplinary teams. His particular focus areas have been in the areas of Marketing attribution, Digital experience, Pricing, CRM and Loyalty. He has deep expertise in defining business problems (especially fuzzy problems) and choosing the right analytics solution in the context of business maturity. He loves storyboarding analyses that help drive insights and decisions for the business

In his current role, Vinay leads development of data and Analytics based Products and Solutions for Commerce and Market research. He also leads the AI capability and is currently excited about the growing capabilities in Generative AI and how that can create business value.

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