The Hôtel Ritz in Paris has been home to a number of historic icons, including Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel. The latter – after arriving in the early ‘30s – remained a resident for 34 years. Now, the brand has announced that it will open a day spa in the prestigious hotel.

A global survey on the perception of German luxury arrived at the word “perfection”. But HSBC’s Luxury Goods report lists only one German company, and German’s traditionally prefer to buy designer goods from Italy, UK and France. Is German luxury really driven by function over form?

The global premium and luxury car industry was worth €319 billion in 2013. As Audi, BMW and Mercedes compete for market share, can Mercedes' Predictive User Experience – which accurately predicts the driver’s behaviour and adjusts to their preferences – put it on top?

What is luxury? How does strategy in the luxury sector work? And what can it teach other brands? Marco Bevolo, one of the authors ofPremium by Design: how to understand, design and market high end products, provides a vision of the business of prestige, desire and seduction.