Luxury Can Never Be Defined

   By: Mayank

Luxury can never be defined, it can only be experienced, they say .This statement can be backed up by variety of examples for instance, a not so fortunate kid unable to go out and play along with the same aged kids in the basketball court. The reason being he suffers from sclerosis. A beggar seeking a meal. considering other examples like a lady looking forward to an exotic vacation, or a gentlemen planning to upgrade his hatchback .

Thanks to Luxury connect business school batch 4, I was fortunate enough to get exposed to another level of lifestyle. A Lifestyle I wouldn't mention but rather say a necessity. Necessity for some people,who believe in standing out of the crowd.We were taken to sectors like automotive, personal goods, Real-estate and hospitality, to broaden our perspective towards the segments.

Allow me to escort you to the journey of electrifying, enchanting and astonishing world of luxury,starting with BMW. We entered the showroom and we were greeted by performance driven people like the brand , divided into groups we were handed over to the sales team,we were explained everything from the product knowledge to the basics of  sales process and we even got to witness the recent update in the all new 5 series THE AUTO PARK ASSIST which was never introduced in the Indian marker in any premium segment before.signing off we moved towards the oldest Barber Shop in the world (Guinness book of world records 2000) 

As soon as we stepped into Truefitt and hill, the Manager was already there to help us out with all the cliche queries of ours, mesmerised by the fragrance and the ambience we got to see all the famous faces from the history, how they were treated and that their legacy is still continued in the current information era as well.we even got to see all the grooming products and fragrances.

when you are all drained from the hustle throughout the day ,all we need is a good nap in our bedroom,and if your bedroom happens to be in grand Hyatt residence, ah!! nothing can stop you from reaching home,Ireo happend to be an ultimate combination of sheer luxury and the modern engineering,where the privacy of client is given the topmost priority and the design reflects the same.

After a quick snack session, we headed towards our final destination The Roseate ,where everything was so huge and luxurious ,from the Chinese themed restaurant to a multi cuisine fine dining. 

In all these sectors, attention to detail and the pride towards their brand made the brand stand out and made us fall in love.Looking forward for the same in future 

Best Part of Luxury World

By: Tushar Sharma
Automobile, real estate, grooming, hospitality. Such heavy words and then visiting the best place, eminent industries working under this category was totally a mind –boggling experience. I was astonished to see how massively these industries are growing and was stunned to see their high budgeted project undertaking. I was feeling immensely privileged on getting to experience the inside of these enormously flourishing industries which plays a vita role in development of the economy of the nation

Visit to the showroom of BMW and roseate was best among all the visits. Having a deep-rooted childhood interest in automobile and then getting to visit the BMW showroom which further motivated me to sharpen and refine my research and intelligence in the field of automobile on the other hand roseate resort which I must say is one of the great example of architectural design. I have visited numerous resorts but the actual meaning of the word “luxury” stationed in my mind and heart after visiting this resort.

Talking about grooming and real estate respectively. The truefitt & hill blew off my mind. I had not never ever heard nor did see such premium salon fully well equipped with all the style and show bizz on the lighter side. I never thought that haircut could also be so high-rated

Realestate ahhh! The most expensive one. The concept of THE GRAND HYATT RESIDENCES will change the living standard of the people and basically the feeling of living in the luxury. I was astonished to see area that the grand hyatt is covering and it has all the things which full fill the human needs and wants.  Like if we talk about services they are providing such as valet parking, maid services , and the different aisle for the maid , living besides the 5* hotel , and a massive park to roam around .

To put it in a nutshell visiting all such sites was truly a mouth-watering, eye-shutting, unimaginable experience what all together gave me a great push to my mental determination to work hard so that one day I can lead such luxurious and lavish lifestyle.

Social Media plays an important role

By: Rahul Dhall

Social Media plays an important role, the motive behind saying this is related to my life journey. whereas doing my Graduation from Amity university in Information technology was great fun, further plans for Post Graduation was blurred.

Those Blurred lines became visible when I was scrolling the news feed of Instagram and came across some Luxury Brands like Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz, Taj Hotels , Ferrari etc. Those big names got stuck in my Brain. The moment I clicked on that link, I was asked to register for LCBS (Luxury Connect Business School). I feel fortunate to get connected with LCBS through Instagram.

People in LCBS know about customer services, they got connected with me in a couple of days and provided each and every information about the course. After a detailed conversation, I was asked to fill the entrance form which is the standard code of conduct of every college or school. 

The First Day of College, the warm and Pleasant morning got turned into hustle and bustle because I had to travel 24 metro stations . The struggle was fruitful as I reached the college on Time. Also, they had a code of Business Formals. The best part of the very first day is meeting new people and making new friends.

The first day was the introduction of the college faculty, subjects and the rules that should be followed in the college. We are thirteen students in this course, and we have students from each part of India. We have a diversity in the class because everyone is from different background of education.

The Second Day was the Industry visit, The Luxury industry is itself an ecosystem likewise the word Luxury had different meaning to each one of us. Luxury Industry has several sectors, the second Day of college was scheduled to visit Four sectors of luxury industry. We visited BMW under automobile sector, True Fitt &Hill under grooming sector, IREO (The Grand Hyatt Residences) under real estate and Roseate hotel under hospitality sector.

The purpose of making us visit the luxury industry was to look around how exactly your workstations might look like. This answers everything why I have chosen LCBS over other colleges. They have a motive of focusing towards the Practical over theory.

Third Day was continued with the induction , we had the best Panel from luxury industry. They had huge experience in the industry. We had interactive session with all the Panel members, they all had different meanings of luxury in their dictionary. The great Day came to the end with a beautiful advice “Work with Passion”. 

Globalised Evolution over the years with prestigious Brands

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. In a business module, working with different establishments on a joint venture has paved way for corporate advancement. Notable luxury brands and business schools have joined hands to elevate the training and knowledge of their employees to tackle the needs of the respective sections of the luxury industry. This remarkable step of fostering a practical approach towards luxury salesmanship is one of a kind, aimed to strengthen the very idea of understanding consumer behaviour and their needs.

A vocational joint venture for luxury expertise such as the collaboration of Elle, the leading fashion media brand with MIT Sloan School of Management (UK) for the course of Fashion & Luxury Management illustrates this emerging phenomenon. The program is designed to provide participants with exclusive insight and a global perspective of the fashion and luxury industry. During the course of the program, participants will have the opportunity to network with key leaders of the industry and apply the frameworks they are learning to real business challenges they face in their work. 

In the recent news, the luxury industry has witnessed the collaboration of renowned brand Gucci with the prestigious Polimoda Fashion School (Italy) for the course of Retail ManagementThe nine-month course, which launches in April 2018, will cover retail management,finance, merchandising and marketing and be taught, in part, by Gucci managers, who will guest lecture. The Italian fashion house, which is owned by the French conglomerate Kering, will also offer select graduates internships or job opportunities within the Kering network.

When we talk about the Indian luxury sector, it has been constantly evolving over the years with globalization. With growing incomes and the shift towards a cosmopolitan lifestyle, luxury brands are belting big to woo the Indian audiences.  Luxury Connect Business School has joined hands with India’s largest and the most premium duty-free retail store, Delhi Duty Free Services (DDFS) to educate and train their employees under a customized six months ‘Certificate Program in Luxury Retail Management’ (CPLRM). As tourism in India is increasing domestically and internationally, this is an ideal program that involves structured learning designed to operate and manage the Indian travel-retail sector. DDFS houses a plethora of luxury brands in its retail outlets, ranging from alcohol, fragrances, watches, jewellery, apparels and accessories. With the company seeing it’s highest sales in the year 2017, DDFS intends to enhance its customer experience with skilled professionals who understand the beauty, the superficiality and the appeasing factor of luxury goods & services as the current manpower is under qualified. With that intention, they fabricated this vocational course with India’s first and only Luxury B-school, that is LCBS, envisioned and founded by India’s very own luxury icon Mr. Abhay Gupta. 

We believe that by working together, we will continue to lay the foundation for a new generation of inclusive economic growth, expand opportunities for the working class and ensure that luxury oriented businesses have the support they need to thrive and grow in the years to come. 

The Induction Sessions: Entering The Luxury World

By: Sunil Rana

Finally after six months of thinking I finally decided to take up the luxury management course. Luxury is a very promising industry to work in. As India is progressing gradually since the last decade or so . So the income of Indian people has gradually risen up and the global exposure has broaden the minds in every segment. Talking about luxury, the people of our country are slowly understanding the different segments of luxury and are willing to experience it. So, to sum up India is becoming a new market place for the luxury industry. That’s one of the reason I have decided to take up this course. And I joined the Luxury connect school, a school which has solely achieved its name as one of the emerging schools who provide courses in retail and luxury management. The faculty is experienced and they have been a part of the luxury industry for a long time . They know this young industry very well inside out. So taking about the topic I that this blog is about “the induction sessions.” LCBS had a three day induction program unlike any other college because usually the induction is for one day only. So ,they have divided the whole induction in 3 days.

The First Day:

1st day is the introductions day. 2nd is the luxury industry visit and third is presentation to be given about the luxury industry visit and guest visit. Sounds interesting? Yes, indeed it was more interesting than said. So in the 1st day there was a general introduction of the students with each other and with Mr. Abhay Gupta and Mr. Rajat Bhattacharya. I found Mr. Abhay and Mr. Rajat very knowledgeable , experienced in their respective field yet humble and down to earth personalities. They welcomed us warmly in the LCBS family. After that an ice breaking session with the senior batch . It was really fruitful because we, juniors learnt a lot of things. 

The Second Day:

The 2nd day was the best day as we had out 1st luxury industry visit. The faculty had carefully chosen four different luxury sectors which are very new to the Indian market and are giving a new definition of luxury. We went to Truefitt and Hill, Audi, Ireo Grand Hyatt residences and the Rosette hotel. All were different from each other in every respect. The purpose of the visit was to make the students understand and break the basic thought of thinking only fashion industry as luxury and make them realize that there’s a lot more sectors which define luxury industry. I really liked Truefitt and Hill and Oreo apartments. Truefitt and Hill is a British luxury men’s exclusive grooming salon. It is really a new thing for the Indian people to experience. 45 minutes shave, 1 hour hair cut , royal suite( suite that can be booked individually for taking personal services ) are their unique services that they offer. I personally see this salon as a big hit in Indian market because even Indian men especially the young have stepped up their grooming game and they surely will be trying this salon of they get come to know of it. My other favourite sector was the ireo apartments. Ireo is an Indian construction company . Together in collaboration with the Grand Hyatt they are building for the 1st time in India one of a kind luxury apartments which would be equal to the world standards. We visited one of their apartment it was world class. I find it really an emerging luxury real estate sector there.

The Final Day. 

On the last day we were to present a report about what we observed and felt while visiting those different sectors. Each and every student shared his/her experience. And we all learnt something more. After that ,there was an industry connect session with some honourable people from the luxury industry. They shared their experiences with us and told us various things about the dos and don’ts of the industry. 

So, I can say that 3 day induction sounds a bit weird . But the purpose of LCBS was very beneficial to its students to make them understand the basics of luxury in those 3 days. And we, students learnt a lot from this induction. I am really glad to be a part of this institution . And I really hope that I would make the most of this and get a successful career in the emerging luxury Industry of India. 

Stepping Into Luxury - Karishma Bansal

Being at home for almost 8 months, I desperately waited for 23^rd of August, 2017, the day that will mark the beginning of my new journey to come. With the zeal to learn and pumped up energy, I went to LCBS on the scheduled day.

The ecstasy of Waking up early in the morning, having a healthy breakfast, taking good time to decide on the clothes to wear and hearing some good music to lift your spirits while getting ready are some of the feelings that are mutually shared by people on their first day of school or college or even their workplace. This is the exact morning routine that I followed as well.

The first day of orientation was a preface of the subjects that we will study, the faculty and the norms and code of conduct of the college. The feeling of awestruck emerged while socializing with my fellow batchmates who have come from different parts of India. The culturally diverse batch makes way for interesting discussions, varied opinions, and a gratifying moment to befriend people from different backgrounds

The opportunity to explore 4 different luxury industries- truefitt and hill under grooming sector, the Roseate hotel under hospitality sector, the BMW showroom under automobile sector and the Grand Hyatt residences under IREO real estate sector on our second day of orientation was amazing. The most intriguing part is the realization that luxury is not just about automobiles, hotel services and fashion but is also about the salon experience and many other sectors.

Learning about the history of Truefitt and hill, I was so fascinated by their rich heritage and their exemplary services that I decided upon the next birthday present for my dad as soon as I left the barber shop.

I had a very poor knowledge about automobiles and had never thought of considering this sector for job placement. But, the amazing interaction with the sales executive, being able to understand about the job role that they pursue and the freedom to ask all the crazy questions that popped into my head, provoked the driving force in me to consider the sector. This transformation of my thought process is a stepping stone in my journey to figure out about my career’s direction.

The field trip was such an interesting and enriching experience that even after sleepless days probably because of the change of place (being away from home), I was still enthusiastic and energetic to learn some more post the completion of our exhausting schedule.

We had an awesome panel discussion with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the industry. So far, the best part about studying in LCBS has been the practical approach towards teaching rather than sticking to the theoretical rule book. Standard definitions and management modules are easy to access via internet but being able to interact with the people with years of experience in the industry, to hear about their struggle and incredible success stories, their observations and values, their personal insights as well as their words of wisdom is what makes a difference in our learning. This practical approach is completely different from the theoretical methodology with which I studied my bachelors.

My desire to get involved with the luxury sector is growing stronger with each new lesson. Looking forward to a great learning experience!