Uche Okonkwo-Pézard is recognized worldwide as one of the pioneer business strategists and opinion leaders in the luxury industry. With insightful vision on the luxury business, a strong creative talent and a rare capacity to pull luxury brands together, she has collaborated closely with major ...
Uche Okonkwo-Pézard is recognized worldwide as one of the pioneer business strategists and opinion leaders in the luxury industry. With insightful vision on the luxury business, a strong creative talent and a rare capacity to pull luxury brands together, she has collaborated closely with major established luxury companies as well as emerging luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Cartier, Christian Dior, Hermes, Piaget, Coty, L’Oréal, Chopard, Fabergé, Burberry, Boucheron, Couronne, Woo, Aschobi and a host of others. Her expertise in taking luxury companies to elevated growth through strategic and insightful business and creative solutions have led to the successful growth of several brands and the turnaround of others. Through her guidance, Luxe Corp is currently playing a vital role in the re-shaping the business practices of luxury brands and the business approaches of the luxury industry.
Following the creation of Luxe Corp in 2005, she initiated the creation of Club e-Luxe out of a recognition of the important and pivotal role that technology, digital media and the internet would play in the future of luxury. Club e-Luxe remains the sole credible platform that congregates luxury executives annually in Paris, to provide them with the strategic digital direction through knowledge, strategies, tools, techniques, applications and systems that luxury requires to thrive in the world of digital media, technology and innovation. Each Club e-Luxe event is curated with a unique theme identified from the current digital challenges of the luxury industry and Luxe Corp’s consolidated digital practice. Club e-Luxe has received on-going support from both luxury and technology companies including HP, Microsoft, Cisco and Parrot.
Uche is also the Founding Editor of the luxury business magazine, Luxe-Mag.Com, which provides insightful analysis of luxury business issues. She is the Author of the bestselling book, Luxury Fashion Banding, which is the first book that addresses the business of luxury from a strategic viewpoint and has been described as an ‘indispensable resource for anyone involved in the luxury business’. Her second book, Luxury Online, is the first and remains the only book to address the internet, digital media, innovation and new technologies in the luxury context. It has been described by insiders as ‘what the luxury industry has been awaiting for over a decade’. She has also acted as a Guest Editor of the Journal of Brand Management and her publications have appeared in the Harvard Business Review and the International Herald Tribune among others. Uché is also frequently quoted in the international press and has been featured in the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times , Elle, Vanity Fair, Vogue and others.
A true entrepreneur, her passion for linking the worlds of business, innovation, culture and creativity is unmistakable in her speeches and presentations at key luxury industry events worldwide including the International Herald Tribune’s annual luxury conference, the American Express Luxury Summit, Goldman Sachs Luxury Forum and the China Luxury Summit, among others. She constantly conducts seminars to MBAs and alumni of business schools worldwide including Harvard Business School, ESSEC Paris, London Business School, IE Madrid and EML Geneva, among others. A multilingual, Uche sits on the board of several entities including the I.618 Sustainable Luxury, the London College of Fashion’s Executive Fashion MBA and the International Advisory Board of HP. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the American Luxury Marketing Council. She has an MBA from Brunel Business School, London and is committed to pursuing the advancement of luxury and culture in both business and academics. In addition to the business of luxury Uche is passionate about the arts, design, culture and gastronomy. She is also an aviation enthusiast. She lives in Paris with her family, from where she reaches Luxe Corp’s clientele in over 25 countries.