Latest news with #luxurybrands
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Jewellery
Jewellery From shifting market trends to dazzling red carpet displays, dive into the world of haute joaillerie with the latest news, analysis and expert opinions.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Masterpieces
Masterpieces Masterpieces covers the latest news and trends in luxury jewellery and high horology, providing insights on design, craftsmanship and industry developments.
Top Gear
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Opinion: a cheap, used Fiat Panda is more luxurious than an expensive new 'luxury' car
Opinion "Simplicity and convenience are luxury. Think of it like that and new cars are infuriatingly awful..." Skip 1 photos in the image carousel and continue reading We are obsessed with luxury. We crave luxury hotels with goose down pillows. If we're lucky perhaps we can splash out on a luxury watch. Our face wash is luxury. We can barely survive without quilted and luxurious toilet roll. Car manufacturers are similarly afflicted. Many of them aren't car manufacturers at all, they say, but 'luxury brands'. A loose concept that nobody can really explain without descending into pretentious expressions that string together a load of alluring sounding words but don't actually mean anything. I've lost count of the number of presentations I've sat through telling me about target customers who all wear Gucci loafers and spend their days sipping cocktails while planning their next philanthropic endeavour. Advertisement - Page continues below Yet the sad reality is that car manufacturers are now ill-equipped to provide luxury. No matter how deep the carpet, how rarefied the materials, how silent or powerful or sophisticated. The truly luxurious motoring experience is dead. It took me buying a £1,300 Fiat Panda with cloth trim and wind up rear windows to realise it. No, I'm not going mad. Just think about what real luxury means. Time is luxury. All demands on you melting away is luxury. Simplicity and convenience are luxury. Think of it like that and new cars are infuriatingly awful. In many ways, the Panda is the most luxurious thing I've driven for a long time. The benefits of this humble little car were brought into sharp focus as I was simultaneously getting to know a new test car. A BMW that cost 50 times as much. You might like It starts with something as basic as the key. The Panda's is slender and small and is inserted into an ignition barrel, decluttering the interior. The BMW's is massive but has tiny, fiddly buttons (some on the side, one on the front). It rattles in the cupholder as you drive. Jump into the Panda and within five seconds you can be driving. The BMW requires you to select a profile. You can move off in 'Guest' but then none of your preferred settings are loaded. So, I select 'Driver'. At which point it flashes a warning about this changing settings (the reason I'm doing it), and I have to then hit 'Activate'. There's a long delay while this new profile loads, during which I can't use the screen to turn up the heater, or enter something into the nav, or change the radio. The Panda is already down the road, of course. Advertisement - Page continues below Now I need to deselect the audible speed limit warning. Luckily this is done with the simple press of a button. But to disable the godawful lane departure warning system requires me to hit the main menu button on the touchscreen, scroll to drive settings and select (incredibly, this tile moves at random times), then find and deactivate the system, then confirm when it warns me I'm deactivating it. At which point it's possible that I've crashed but it is certain I will want to pull over and set the thing on fire. This is not luxury. And these systems are the death of what cars represent: freedom and escape. The luxury of being the masters of our own destiny. The Panda treasures all those things and a strange peace washes over you as soon as you drop in and start to drive. No new car can match that feeling, whatever the price. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Vietnam seizes fake Rolex, Prada items in counterfeit crackdown, state media reports
HANOI, May 30 (Reuters) - Vietnamese authorities have seized thousands of fake products, including imitation Rolex watches and Prada handbags, during a raid at a shopping mall in business hub Ho Chi Minh City, state media reported on Friday. The raid at Saigon Square Shopping Mall comes as Vietnam steps up its fight against counterfeits and digital piracy, after the United States accused the country of being a major hub for these illegal activities and threatened crippling tariffs. Earlier in May Reuters reported fake luxury goods were on display in the mall, which is on the list of "notorious markets for counterfeiting" published in January by the U.S. Trade Representative. The items seized also included alleged fake products of other brands, including Longines, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hermes, state radio broadcaster VOV reported. "All of these products show signs of counterfeiting genuine goods, seriously affecting the interests of consumers as well as the reputation of protected brands in Vietnam," the report cited the trade ministry's market surveillance department as saying. An employee of the mall on Friday confirmed the raid. "We lease the space to the sellers and are not aware of the origins and authenticity of the products they sell," the employee, who declined to be named, said by phone.
NHK
7 days ago
- Business
- NHK
LDP lawmakers to propose abolishing tax-free shopping for overseas visitors
A group of lawmakers from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party says it has come up with a proposal that includes abolishing, in principle, the tax-free shopping system for foreign visitors. Under the current system, eligible foreign tourists can purchase items at duty-free shops in Japan without paying consumption tax. But it is pointed out that there have been many cases where visitors are buying a large amount of duty-free items and reselling them to gain illegal profits. An LDP study group initiated by Supreme advisor Aso Taro basically approved the draft plan on Thursday calling for the abolition of the tax exemption system. The draft is raising doubts about whether the government can gain the public's understanding for supporting sales of luxury brand items to foreign tourists through the tax system. But the group also notes that regional development needs to be supported. It calls for preferential measures for duty-free shops at regional airports and ports that sell specialty products such as sake to overseas visitors who have completed their departure procedures. The group says it will submit its proposal to the LDP's Research Commission on the Tax System for discussions on tax reform in fiscal 2026.
