In this episode, Anant Sharma speaks with Hanan Eissa, VP Marketing & PR at Atlantis The Royal, about the industry's blind spot and how it shapes the way hospitality builds brands.

With a background in FMCG and agency strategy, Hanan brings commercial rigour to luxury hospitality, grounded in product, pricing and consumer psychology. Together, they examine how marketing drifts toward surface-level visibility, how sameness creeps in, and how reference points become too narrow.

From launching Atlantis The Royal next door to an established icon, to backing ambitious creative decisions on a global stage, this is a conversation about clarity, conviction and the thinking required to operate at scale.

They also discuss the commoditisation of "luxury", time as a defining currency of modern hospitality, and why the industry needs to widen its field of vision.

In this episode, Philippe Zuber, CEO of Kerzner International, joins Anant Sharma to explore how one of the world's most ambitious hospitality groups approaches growth without dilution.

From Atlantis and One&Only to the launch of SIRO and Rare Finds, Philippe shares how Kerzner thinks about luxury as an ecosystem — where emotion, memory and habit matter more than transactions or points. They discuss why restraint can be a strategic advantage, how loyalty is earned through return rather than reward, and why the future of luxury depends as much on what brands refuse to do as what they pursue.

A conversation about scale, discipline, and the real cost of getting luxury wrong.

Design and taste are often spoken about as if they're the same thing — but Stephen Bayley has spent a lifetime arguing that they're not.

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Anant Sharma sits down with the critic, author and founding director of the Design Museum to explore the uneasy, often misunderstood relationship between design, taste and luxury. From his early encounters with architecture in Liverpool to making design a public conversation through the Boilerhouse project at the V&A, Bayley reflects on how design gained cultural authority — and how it may have lost its nerve.

The conversation ranges across everyday objects, cities, cars and consumer culture, questioning when design became a proxy for preference, how taste was commodified, and why objects are never neutral. Bayley offers a sharp critique of consensus thinking, nostalgia and the dilution of judgement — arguing that caring about the material world is not elitist, but essential.

A wide-ranging, philosophical discussion about meaning, value and why understanding the things we live with still matters.

In this episode of What The Luxe, host Fred Moore speaks with Crispin Somerville, Managing Director of El Pastor, Quo Vadis & The Drop, about a journey that spans MTV, music and television, Mexico City nightlife, and ultimately some of London's most culturally significant restaurants.

Crispin reflects on how time spent immersed in Mexico's food and hospitality culture reshaped his understanding of generosity, conviviality and transportive experience — lessons that continue to inform how he builds restaurants today. Together they explore why authenticity is a slippery concept, why great hospitality resists formula, and how restaurants succeed when they prioritise atmosphere, trust and human connection over scale.

The conversation also touches on independence, regeneration, talent and why neighbourhoods like Soho and King's Cross thrive when restaurants are treated as cultural anchors rather than footfall machines.

A thoughtful look at hospitality as a social act — and why the places we gather still matter.

In this episode of What The Luxe, Anant Sharma sits down with Maz Farrelly, the former television executive behind some of the most-watched formats in the world, to unpack what luxury brands can learn from the mechanics of mass entertainment.

From producing global television hits to advising leaders and brands today via MazSpeaksGlobal.com, Maz argues that attention is never owed — it's earned. Drawing on decades spent building shows that people actively choose to watch, she explores how desire, illusion, and respect for the audience are just as critical in brand-building as they are in television.

Maz brings a truly international perspective to the conversation, drawing on her extensive work across Australia, the U.K., Singapore, and the USA. Together, they discuss why "boring is disrespectful," why hope is not a strategy, and how brands can create moments people actually care about — without shouting, diluting their values, or chasing trends.

This is a sharp, entertaining conversation about attention as currency, popular culture as a teacher, and why luxury can't afford to ignore how people really engage.

For the first time since episode one, What The Luxe brings its two hosts together at the same table. In this end-of-year Christmas episode, Anant Sharma and Fred Moore step away from the usual guest format to reflect on the past year of conversations. They talk candidly about what we've heard throughout 2025, from the patterns to the anomalies, the anecdotes and the insights. Moving easily between the podcast, the studio, and the wider world around us, the two cover topics including experience, taste, leadership, travel, and the shifting signals of value across luxury.

A deliberately unstructured episode to close out the year, before attention turns to what comes next.