ABU DHABI, UAE — From January 27 to 29, at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Shoptalk — the entity behind pivotal events on retail and e-commerce innovation — will launch its inaugural luxury edition: Shoptalk Luxe.
The three-day event — designed to connect the global luxury industry, inspire big ideas and inform strategies for the year ahead — will host luxury retail‘s most senior leaders and decision-makers. Abu Dhabi Retail is the host city partner.
Over 170 speakers represent world-leading luxury and premium heritage retailers and consumer brands, as well as creative visionaries, disruptors, entrepreneurs and investors.
On the line-up, speakers include fashion leaders and retail executives like Vera Wang, Chalhoub Group’s Michael Chalhoub, Kering’s Miral Youssef, Harrods’ Michael Ward, Hugo Boss’ Daniel Grieder, Harvey Nichols’ Julia Goddard, The Lane Crawford Joyce Group’s Jennifer Woo, as well as The Business of Fashion’s Imran Amed.
They will share the stage with beauty mogul Sunday Riley, and hospitality leaders representing Kerzner Group, Mandarin Oriental and Starwood Hotels. Senior executives from the likes of Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Brunello Cucinelli, Fabergé, Montblanc, Mercedes-Benz, Breitling and more will also speak.
Topics on the agenda, explored across keynotes, panels and interviews, will cover pioneering technologies, market approaches and business models that are set to transform how consumers discover, shop and buy — to spark new ideas, inform and shape upcoming strategies, and futureproof business in 2026.
As Krishna Nikhil, CEO of Hunza G and Shoptalk Luxe 2026 speaker, shares with BoF: “We need to get back to the real definition of luxury: a product or experience that is enduring and full of meaning. Moving away from short-term thinking and building for the long-term… Far too much energy has gone into chasing trends and reacting quarter by quarter. […] You don’t build brand equity by reacting every season; you build it by being clear, consistent and disciplined over time.”
Shoptalk Luxe arrives at a pivotal moment for luxury retail. The industry and its leaders must grapple with increasingly unpredictable consumer behaviour, intensifying trade disruption and the rapid rise of digital tools and AI, both optimising and reshaping workflows, supply chains, operations — and the workforce required to execute this new reality.
The Middle East is reshaping luxury because it doesn’t follow the old playbook.
— Julie Bourgeois, global president of Anine Bing
“Now, the advantage really comes from creative leadership, experience in design, data fluency, cultural translators, entrepreneurial operators, and leaders must redesign what top talent means,” Michael Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group, tells BoF. “Allow [for] controlled imperfection and experimentation. Build organisations that sense and that respond, not just execute. The war for relevance today is first a war for people.”
Miral Youssef, president of the Middle East for Kering, shares what is important for luxury leadership today is “becoming comfortable with the paradoxes: it’s growth and restraint; it’s global consistency with the local nuances; it’s speed with craft. And it’s really resisting that ‘either, or’ thinking, and adopting the ‘yes, and’ mindset.”
The global luxury slowdown persists, with the industry’s once reliable hub in Europe lagging in technological innovation and consumer spending; its luxury market is expected to grow a modest 1 to 3 percent in 2026. The US and China’s luxury markets are both expected to grow by an improved but still modest 2 to 4 percent.
Luxury retailers and brands are subsequently turning to more resilient markets and bright spots for growth, with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — consisting of the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman — a core focus. The GCC’s personal luxury segment grew by over 6 percent year-on-year in 2024, reaching USD 12.8 billion, according to Chalhoub Group’s GCC Personal Luxury 2024: Unstoppable report, released in May 2025.
Gulf cities are reshaping their roles as new capitals of innovation, design and culture, with the likes of Abu Dhabi cementing its place as a destination for world-leading luxury retail. The UAE capital’s hosting of Shoptalk Luxe reiterates its role as a global hub in the world of luxury retail, known for its innovative retail formats and strengthened by its strategic location between East and West.
“Cities like Abu Dhabi matter because they are not just retail hubs; they are cultural and strategy platforms. They influence how brands think about experience, hospitality and long-term brand building,” says Julie Bourgeois, global president of Anine Bing. “The Middle East is reshaping luxury because it doesn’t follow the old playbook.”
The confirmed speaker lineup includes:
Malik Abu-Ghazaleh — Head of Digital, Omnichannel & IT (MEA), Tiffany & Co.
Imran Amed — Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Business of Fashion
Anne Azais De Vergeron — CEO, Repossi
Elie Barnes — Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, Bremont Watch Company
Nick Blunden — President, The Business of Fashion
Francesco Bottigliero — Chief of Humanistic Technology, Foro delle Arti & Brunello Cucinelli
Julie Bourgeois — Global President, Anine Bing
Nina Briance — Founder & CEO, Cult Mia
Nicholas Brown — Managing Partner, Imaginary Ventures
Barbara Campos — CEO, Joseph
Luigi Caterino — Founder & CEO, The Longevity Suite
Michael Chalhoub — CEO, Chalhoub Group
Gabby Chen — President, Global Markets, Florasis
Oliver Cooke — Chief Marketing Officer, Stone Island
Gemma D’Auria — Senior Partner, McKinsey & Co.
Candice D’Cruz — VP, APAC, Hilton Luxury Brands
Marie Driscoll — Adjunct Professor, The New School
Ken Feyder — Chief Information Officer (Americas), Hermès
David Gandy — Model & Founder, David Gandy Wellwear
Fahed Ghanim — CEO, Majid Al Futtaim (Lifestyle)
Julia Goddard — CEO, Harvey Nichols
Bettina Goesele — Chief Digital Officer, Victoria Beckham Beauty
Helene Goetzelmann — VP, Client Experience, L’Occitane
Daniel Grieder — CEO, Hugo Boss
Daniel Herrmann — Managing Director, COS
Alexis Hoopes — VP, Global Head of Fashion, eBay
Tiffany James — Global Chief Digital Officer, Miu Miu Beauty (L’Oréal Luxe)
Albin Johansson — CEO, Axel Arigato
Vikki Kavanagh — Chief Commercial Officer, John Lewis & Partners
Amit Keswani Manghnani — Chief Omnichannel Officer, Chalhoub Group
Natalie Lee — VP, Omnichannel & Client Development, Louis Vuitton
Antony Lindsay — CEO, Fabergé
Gareth Locke — Chief Data & Analytics Officer, LuxExperience
Malaveille, Laurent — Chief Digital, IT & Business Support Officer, Clarins
Marie-Theres Mangelsdorf — Chief Client & Digital Officer, Montblanc
Adil Mehboob-Khan — CEO, Liberty
Nicolas Morineaux — CEO China, Galeries Lafayette
Alexis Mourot — CEO, Christian Louboutin
Christophe Nicaise — Chief Strategy Officer, Seddiqi Holding
Sapna Parikh — Chief Digital Officer, Kendo Brands
Marco Parsiegla — CEO, Amouage
Helene Phillips — Chief Client Officer, Jimmy Choo
Alison Rehill Erguven — CEO, Cenomi Centers
Sunday Riley — Founder & CEO, Sunday Riley
Noura Sakkijha — Co-Founder & CEO, Mejuri
Suzanne Santos — Chief Customer Officer, Aesop
Jonathan Saunders — Chief Creative Officer, & Other Stories
Alex Schellenberger — Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, Mandarin Oriental
Jessica Schinazi — CEO, Away
Marc Schmidt — Chief Digital Officer, Casablanca Paris
Adam Sebba — Founder & CEO, The Luminaire
Rajesh Shanmugasundaram — Chief Technology Officer, Breitling
Yehuda Shmidman — Founder, Chairman & CEO, WHP Global
Lina Söderqvist — Managing Director, & Other Stories
Toni Stoeckl — Chief Marketing Officer, Starwood Hotels
Derek Sulger — Chairman, Shanghai Tang
Vera Wang — Founder & Creative Director, Vera Wang
Jessica Warch — Co-Founder & CEO, Kimaï
Marcella Wartenbergh — CEO, AWWG
Michael Ward — Managing Director, Harrods
Axel Winter — Chief Digital Officer, Siam Piwat
Jennifer Woo — Chairman & CEO, The Lane Crawford Joyce Group
Miral Youssef — President, Middle East & Africa, Kering
Carol Zhou — SVP, Business Innovations & Investments (China), Shiseido
Philippe Zuber — CEO, Kerzner International
This is a sponsored feature paid for by Abu Dhabi Investment Office as part of a BoF partnership.
