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INTERNATIONAL
EDITIONS: HIGHLIGHTS AND EXCLUSIVES,
MAY
26-JUNE 2, 2008 SPECIAL DOUBLE ISSUE
COVER:
Unsinkable Luxury. (All overseas editions). European Economics Editor Stefan
Theil reports that the superwealthy, and the businesses that serve them seem,
to be above the economic crunch that is impacting the rest of the world.
According to a February survey by Prince & Associates, while average
consumers said they planned to cut back on shopping, 80 percent of the richest
Americans-those worth $10 million or more-actually planned to increase their
luxury spending.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137480
There's Nothing Else Like It in the World.
Special Correspondent Sameer Reddy reports that rather than signal their wealth
with the latest Rolex, Ferrari or Prada bag, top-tier consumers are seeking
custom-made product-sometimes by an up-and-coming designer-that no one else
will ever own.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137481
Bottling You Own Personal Smell. Special
Correspondent Amber Haq reports that luxury fragrance brands-titans like
Guerlain, Cartier and Jean Patou, as well as smaller specialized houses-are
investing in the rapid-growth niche sector of bespoke perfumery. The process
can take up to 10 meetings with specialists, resulting in the creation of a
final perfume over several months. Luxury heavyweights such as Cartier and
Guerlain charge from $45,000 to more than $90,000.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137482
Promoting
Art Along With the Handbags. Special Correspondent Alexandra A. Seno reports
that with budgets and creative energy most museums can only dream of, luxury
brands have become some of the most powerful impresarios of contemporary art on
the international stage. But as new markets grow in importance, these brands
are not only sponsoring other people's shows but also actively creating their
own.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137485
In
Praise of Competitive Urges. Special Correspondent Nick Foulkes reports that
being rich has always been a competitive business. The thing about luxury goods
is that while they may look like boats, cars, wristwatches or works of art,
they are, as often as not, scorecards. As merely rich escalates into
unspeakably wealthy, people use possessions to set themselves apart from those
who wish to be their peers.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137484
Mine's Bigger Than Yours. Senior Editor
David A. Kaplan reports on the battle of egos on the high seas between Tom
Perkins, Jim Clark and Joe Vittoria to see who can build the ultimate sailing
yacht. The three Americans were the Vanderbilts of the new yachting age-each
with a very different boat, each with his own exemplar of conspicuous
construction.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137483
Very French Delights. Paris Bureau Chief
Christopher Dickey profiles Philippe Delerm, French author of "La Première Gorgée de Bière"
("The First Big Swallow of Beer"), a volume of essays on the
experience of luxury. "For Delerm,
the magic of things lies not in their cost or status but in their association
with people, with memories and with the sensation of well-being. And those are
characteristics immune to economic realities," Dickey writes.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137486
Paying
for a Chance To Suffer in Silence. Special Correspondent Mac Margolis reports
on the newest trend in high-end vacations-deprivation. Prices for some of these
vacations start at $300 to $500 a day for experiences that include painful
workouts, a nanoportion of, say, porridge and prunes with plain decaf tea.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137487
Another Pillow for Your Chocolate, Sir?
Special Correspondent Tara Weingarten reports that it's no longer enough to
meet customer demands; purveyors of luxury now need to individualize how they
woo and keep patrons. "At this level of affluence, the consumer's psyche
is very different from the just somewhat rich," says Wes Brown of
Iceology, a Los Angeles-based consumer-research firm.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137489
Asia Raises the Gavel. Special
Correspondent Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop reports that China has passed France to
become the third biggest auction center. Over the past few years, Asian
buyers-often young entrepreneurs-have been flexing their muscles in the
region's art market, helping to push prices for Chinese contemporary works to
unprecedented heights.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137490
The Glamour And the Gloss. Seno reports
that in the flagging media industry, only lifestyle magazines show signs of
life. The success of large-format, highly stylized books that cater to the
wants and desires of the wealthy elite have even lured some unusual punters to
the table, such as The Wall Street Journal which will launch its much
anticipated WSJ. magazine in September.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137491
Waiting for the Boom to End. Special Correspondent
Barrett Sheridan writes that there is no doubt that many New Yorkers are
somewhat optimistic about the current credit crunch. "Manhattan, after
all, is a borough where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,600
a month, and many of the borough's 1.6 million residents pay much, much more
than that," he writes. He adds that much of the city is hoping for a
crash-or at least a minor dust-up-that will send rents and other prices
tumbling back to reasonable levels.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137493
CHINA:
Collapse. Special Correspondent Mary Hennock and Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda
Liu report from China on the recovery efforts from the earthquake that may have
killed as many as 50,000 people. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has toured
the disaster zone and TV newscasts showed him wielding a bullhorn and begging
exhausted rescue teams not give up. China took a beating for its ham-handed response to the Tibetan riots in
March. But this crisis is different. For one thing, it's exactly the kind of
problem at which the Beijing leadership excels: a test of mass mobilization and
logistics.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137480
WORLD
VIEW: Who's the Real Appeaser? Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria
writes that in dealing with Hizbullah, Hamas and the Taliban, the Bush
administration has adopted a macho, exclusively military approach. All three of
these groups "have a political base in their societies that is deep and
enduring. Denouncing them as evil and promising to destroy them will not change
that; in fact, doing so only adds to their mystique of resistance and
struggle," Zakaria writes. "What we
need is a political strategy to combat, contest and weaken the appeal of
these groups or to marginalize their violent factions. Such a policy would
naturally involve some contact with their leaders, but as part of a much
broader effort to engage all groups in these societies politically."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137518
THE
LAST WORD: George Soros, billionaire financier and philanthropist. Soros
discusses how far along we are in the current economic crisis and what is to be
expected. "The worst of the liquidity crisis has receded, but much of the
fallout in the real economy has yet to be felt," he says. "I think
there will still be a significant decline in U.S. housing prices. We probably
aren't yet even half of the way down. Also, consumer spending in the U.S. is
going to decline a lot more. Thirdly, there will be a constraint on credit for
business activity."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/137478
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