Vanessa Friedman reports from the FT Business of Luxury summit in Vienna on how the luxury industry has emerged as a key economic player
For the first time, the EU’s executive body has recognised the high-end industry as the pillar of cultural and creative industries, explained Armando Branchini, president of the European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance (ECCIA), Europe’s first united luxury lobby group.
The ECCIA brings together Altagamma, Italy’s luxury goods association, with France’s Comité Colbert, the UK’s luxury body Walpole, Meisterkreis in Germany and Spain’s Circulo Fortuny, according to the Financial Times.
“Buoyed by strong demand from China in particular, Europe’s luxury goods industry has grown by double digits in the last two years, while the eurozone economy has stagnated,” revealed Scheherazade Daneshkhu.
“ Europe’s luxury goods industry has grown by double digits in the last two years, while the eurozone economy has stagnated ”
“Luxury accounted for 3 per cent of Europe’s economic output in 2010 and 10 per cent of its exports. Luxury is one of the sectors in which Europe has a clear competitive advantage since European brands account for 70 per cent of the global market.”
Indeed the European luxury industry alone is said to employ over 1.5 million people directly, accounting for €414 billion in revenues – revenues which are of course taxed, contributing significantly to local economies.
With the recession in Europe showing no sign of abating, fashion editor Vanessa Friedman reports from the FT Business of Luxury summit in Vienna on how the luxury industry has emerged as a key player and how it is uniting to influence its own future.
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