European Luxury Industry Study Tour

La Cuisine Francaise

We had a great time visiting Guerlain on the Champs Elysees in Paris, and afterwards participated in a fantastic cooking class just down the street at the Pavillon Elysee Le Notre. Here's the finished product, along with descriptions. Bon appetit!

Marinated sole fillets with baby market garden vegetables

 

Roasted scallops, Asian-style baby vegetables

 

Apple tart, caramel sauce made from lightly salted butter

 

To top it all off, coffee with an adorable cube of chocolate

 

Here's the group right before eating the fruits of our labor:

And here are some of us with the lovely chefs who guided us through the cooking:

In my opinion, one of the best extracurricular activities of the trip! 

Anglomania!

We figured you wanted some more details on the trip, and after some back and forth (let’s face it, surprises are fun too!) settled on a brief teaser. Enjoy!

After an overnight flight from Logan, and a quick stopover in Paris, we’ll hit the ground running in London, with only a couple of hours between landing in Heathrow and our first company visit. First destination? LVMH House, where we’ll take part in a Brand DNA Seminar and later on tour the Thomas Pink and Louis Vuitton stores on Bond Street.  What better way to kick the trip off than to visit the iconic house and learn the behind the scenes from those who make the magic happen?

The afternoon will be free, so once we check into our hotel (The Sherlock Holmes Park Plaza on Baker St, how cool is that?) and change into more comfortable clothes, I expect a lot of us to head out to see the city. After all the excitement of the first day, some may choose to have an early night, but I am looking forward to catching up with friends and exploring some of London’s amazing nightlife. Any recommendations?

The countdown is on!

This year, a group of 1^st and 2^nd year MBA’s will be traveling to some of the world’s most glamorous cities as part of the second edition of MIT Sloan European Luxury Study Tour. 18 students will have 10 days to explore London, Paris and Milan while learning about the industry from LVMH, Burberry, Guerlain, Gucci, Prada and many other leading companies.

To prepare for it, we’ve taken a deep dive into the world of luxury, led by Prof. Renee Gosline and by amazing guest speakers who shared their experiences and thoughts on the industry’s trends and challenges. Joe Domenick, VP of Merchandising at TJX introduced us to the behind the scenes in discount retailers, and to how their relationship with luxury brands evolved since the mid-70’s. Prof. Khaire, an Assistant Professor at HBS, helped us understand why luxury brands are focused on China, and why the Indian market, albeit appealing at first sight, could prove much tougher to break into.

Our last class is coming up, and we will wrap-up in style! Students will present their research on one of the companies we’ll be visiting, followed by dinner, Renee’s treat. Curious about what all those companies are? Stay tuned!