Luxury brands are leaning into immersive experiences that explore and expand on their heritage, finding new ways to build meaningful connections with wealthy clients. These experiences reach far beyond typical luxury offerings and deeper into hospitality and high-end travel, offering ultra-rich clients exclusive opportunities that they can’t find anywhere else.
While consumer spending is being affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis, the top-tier luxury market remains strong. Saks’ Luxury Pulse, published in 2022, found that 76% of consumers with an income of over $200,000 planned to spend the same or more on luxury in the months ahead. A 2022 Kantar study of women and men aged 18-60 in the top 5% of earners found 65% intend to increase spending on luxury products and services in 2023, with the highest proportion looking to do so in hotels and restaurants. An uptick in VIP rooms and appointment-only stores by luxury brands in recent months also underscores the confidence at the upper end of the market.
For these elite customers, high-end immersive experiences offer an unparalleled way to escape, relax and find adventure in a way that physical goods simply can’t. Luxury brands are responding to this desire for more than just physical goods with experiences that reflect the level of exclusivity their top customers expect.
Each one of these experiences is tailored around the brand’s own heritage, engaging with its history and giving the most loyal customers access to a new perspective. Brands operating in this space should consider how to bring to life a unique aspect of their DNA, and offer a sophisticated and immersive take on their story.
DIOR SPA ROYAL SCOTSMAN
Dior comes aboard the Royal Scotsman with two dedicated wellness carriages.
The Royal Scotsman train is operated by luxury hospitality provider Belmond and offers guests round-trip sightseeing journeys of the Highlands in its beautifully designed carriages.
Dior’s on-board spa spaces will be open for booking in summer 2023 as the train travels throughout the picturesque Scottish Highlands. The space, described as a ‘luxurious cocoon of serenity on the rails’, was inspired by Christian Dior’s love for Scotland. With walls of burgundy iconic Toile de Jouy and heather-carpeted floors, the rooms themselves look the extravagant part.
The spa experience offers a relaxing counterpoint to the outdoor activities offered during the trip, and provides a space to relax and refresh whilst taking in Scotland’s natural splendour. Offerings in the carriages include three tailor-made treatments that are customisable for each guest: D-Travel body massage, D-Elements full body treatment, and D-Highlands facial.
After a pop-up spa experience in Portofino, Dior sought to make a permanent and unique space. The train carriages come at the same time that Dior has opened a spa in Antibes, France, at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.
VEUVE CLICQUOT’S CELLAR IN THE SEA
Veuve Clicquot will host guests for a three-day experiential voyage based on champagne that survived a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.
In 2010, a dive team discovered almost 50 bottles of perfectly preserved champagne, inspiring Veuve Clicquot’s adventure. During summer 2023, guests can partake in a three day excursion, including a drive to the underwater cellar.
The original ship sank in 1840 but 170 years later, the bottles of champagne remain in perfect condition due to the pressure and darkness under the sea. The story inspired the creation of an ‘ambitious oenological experiment’ by the maison.
On the first day, guests will meet in Reims, near Champagne, for a private tour and tasting in the brand’s vineyard. The group will be housed in Hotel du Marc before flying to the Åland Islands, near Finland, the next day. In Åland, visitors will have a day of sailing on board the historic Albanus schooner. Extravagant meals prepared by Michelin-starred chef Filip Gemzell will be served during the embarkation.
The final day of the voyage will begin with sunrise fishing and breakfast before travelling to Klobben and Champagne Island. Here, guests can taste the champagne retrieved from the shipwreck with Veuve Clicquot’s cellarmaster. For those with prior diving experience, a trip will be made to the underwater cellar where the bottles were discovered in 2010.
AUDEMARS PIGUET’S WATCHMAKING HOTEL
Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet opens a boutique 50-room hotel to cater to high-end horologists.
Named Hôtel de Horologers, meaning ‘the watchmakers hotel’, the project is a nod to generations of history of Swiss watchmaking. Without being overly braggadocious, high-end design is embedded into the fabric of the hotel. From walls made of locally sourced stone to Literie Bonnet beds, luxury is infused in every aspect of guests’ stay.
The hotel compliments the connected Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet just next door. The museum has over 300 watches on display and the highlight of the trip is a watchmaking masterclass. Described as ‘a total immersion experience’ guests can ‘play the role of a watchmaker’ whilst practising their watch decoration skills by assembling Manufacture Audemars Piguet movements. Even visitors aged 6-10 can participate, thanks to an interactive workshop for youngsters offering a first taste in luxury timepieces.
The attention to detail continues through to the menu, with three Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Renaut creating a handcrafted a menu in a luxury restaurant within the hotel.
From lodgings to experiences, the Hôtel de Horologers is the epitome of a luxury stay, centred around the exclusive and niche interest of Audemars Piguet’s high-end customers.
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