Buy the Book — Meta-luxury: Brands and the Culture of Excellence

"I believe excellence has a lot to do with being able to really anticipate customers' needs, and to then transform that deep understanding into the basis for an impeccable execution in terms of service.This, along with quality and distinctiveness, is what luxury should ultimately be about.

Now more than ever before, luxury means self-indulgence and self-reward. And this can be embodied by a made-to-order item or by an absolutely exclusive service or treatment. Luxury has gained a more individual significance, ideally allowing us to choose his, or her, own meaning and way of experiencing it: and that can be interpreted as a desirable item as well as a state of extreme comfort."

— Francesco Trapani, CEO Bulgari, from an interview by Manfredi Ricca and Rebecca Robins featured in their new book, Meta-luxury: Brands and the Culture of Excellence, now available in the U.S. from Palgrave Macmillan