Luxury seen by Christophe Laure, Managing Director of the InterContinental Paris le Grand Hotel
“Luxury is the search for perfection, consistency and maintenance of this constancy,” says Christophe Laure, Paris Regional Director for IHG Hotels & Resorts, Managing Director of InterContinental Paris — Le Grand Hôtel and sponsor of the 2010 promotion of the Luxury Hotelschool hotel school. “The quest for excellence is based on tiny details. As in high-level sport, where success is judged at a fraction of a second or a tenth of a millimeter. Similarly, if at 211°F the water is hot, at 212 it boils. It is this additional degree that makes all the difference and separates good from the great. Luxury is the culmination of sustained work and the search for that little plus (excellence) that makes the difference.”
Students of the hotel school LH received at InterContinental Paris
“French luxury does exist. He was born under Jean-Baptiste Colbert (*), then Louis XIV's Minister of Economy. Since the state finances were not good, he developed the royal factories. Thus, the world luxury industry was born in France. Today, 60 -70% of the world's luxury industry still comes from France. Regarding the hotel industry, luxury codes were created in 1862 for the Grand Hotel.”
InterContinental Paris - Le Grand
“French luxury differentiates itself and is characterized by its know-how and know-how. Some international customers, for example, who could purchase luxury brand products in their country, will prefer a trip to Paris to buy these same products in shops in France. This decision is dictated by the appreciation of a specific environment and culture. French luxury is cultural. It is a journey from creation to realization in a culturally rooted art of living and know-how. A Hermes bag or a lighter S.T. Dupont, I will buy it in Paris because the shopping experience is unique.”
InterContinental Paris - Le Grand
"Parmi les évolutions récentes dans l’industrie du luxe, il faut souligner l’extension du marché en Asie et en Orient. Des marques en veille ont ainsi été redynamisées et nous avons assisté à la renaissance de marques qui avaient disparu ou qui ont intégré le marché spécifique du luxe. A l’image des montres Panerai, de Rossignol ou de Salomon. Dans la joaillerie très haut-de-gamme, par exemple, Richard Mille a créé au début des années 2000 une marque qui est rapidement devenue l’une des plus reconnues. Cette extension de l’industrie du luxe a également favorisé le retour en force du savoir-faire de la manufacture française, de la cosmétique, de la parfumerie ou des arts de la table qui ont un temps été en retrait."
(*) Its name was given to the Comité Colbert, an association founded in 1954 which is dedicated to promoting the French luxury industry in France and abroad. It brings together up to 130 different trades and brings together 83 French luxury houses and 16 major cultural institutions.
