We live in a world obsessed by luxury. More than ever, ‘luxury’ retains substantial importance in the economic, social and cultural life of the West and increasingly in the ‘emerging economies’ of Asia. Yet, luxury is not just a construct of affluent contemporary societies. Luxury as a concept and practice has a long, complex and well documented role in history as well.

Over the past two years, the Leverhulme-funded International Network ‘Luxury & The Manipulation of Desire’ has explored a series of themes concerning luxury past and present ranging from production to regulation and the globalization of the luxury trade and industry. We wish to bring together a group of scholars who have been actively engaged in historical, sociological, anthropological and business research on luxury and to provide an arena for dialogue between scholars and experts, journalists and business people in the luxury sector.

This three-day conference is co-organised by the Luxury Network, the Warwick Global History and Culture Centre and the Warwick Business School and will take place in London.