The acquisition of luxury is both an attempt at transcendence and an act of appropriation, like the picking of the apple in the garden of Eden.
But soon after the Cunard acquisition, the luxury segment of the cruise industry, which includes Cunard, weakened sharply because of the downturn in the economy.
But the economic crisis is likely to produce attractive acquisition opportunities for luxury's three giants LVMH, PPR (another French conglomerate) and Richemont (a Swiss firm)—although they are all likely to stay well clear of Mr Lacroix.
During the Bloomberg era, which it now officially seems appropriate to talk about in the past tense, the term global city came into wide use to describe a New York not where strivers from around the world come to settle, but where the wealthy from London or Moscow or Mumbai merely pass through in a fever of luxury acquisition.
"They're only interested in luxury acquisitions at prices considered to offer good yields in the short to medium term.
Balenciaga, the brand, now belongs to Kering (formerly PPR), which it bought in 2001, after a busy period of luxury acquisitions in the 1990s.
Mr. Bensoussan plans to work with TowerBrook to make further unspecified acquisitions in the luxury goods sector, he said in the statement.
He expelled seven men from the Senate on various charges of immorality and penalized through taxation the acquisition of such luxuries as expensive clothing, jewelry, carriages, and fancy slaves.
Under their watch — and that of Peter Harf, the chief executive of Joh. A. Benckiser — their portfolio companies have aggressively pursued a wide range of acquisitions, poaching both luxury and mainstream brands.
Interestingly, the Luxury Retreats acquisition comes after Airbnb had met with the Canadian ambassador to the U.S. late last year where he pitched Airbnb, on behalf of the Trudeau government, to invest more heavily job-wise in Canada.
