What excites you most about teaching luxury business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art?

I can’t imagine a better place to study the luxury business than at Sotheby’s Institute-New York City.

The city itself is a laboratory for luxury, from the flagship stores on Madison Avenue to the small ateliers spread across town, and the connection between culture and commerce couldn’t be stronger.

Students will experience these places and engage with the business leaders and creative artists who make the industry run—connecting rigorous scholarship with real‑world knowledge.

Luxury is a language, and we have built a program designed to cultivate fluency across all its expressions, from fashion and jewelry to real estate, hospitality, and even dinosaur fossils!

What makes Sotheby’s Institute of Art uniquely positioned to teach about the luxury sector?

Sotheby’s has a long history of delivering academic programs that provide students with a deep dive into specialized subject matter, and the MA in Luxury Business program continues this tradition.

It’s the only MA program in New York devoted exclusively to luxury, with a faculty comprised of leading scholars in the field and executives with extensive experience in the industry.

And, of course, we enjoy a unique relationship with the Sotheby’s Auction House, where luxury has become an increasingly important sector of activity. Among other things, we can offer students work placements there on a competitive basis, creating extraordinary opportunities for on‑the‑ground learning and mentorship.

As the industry becomes increasingly global and digitally driven, how do the MA in Luxury Business formats—both online and in person—prepare students with the agility and skills the luxury sector now demands?

Our curriculum is designed to train the next generation of leaders in luxury, so we have built a program that includes intensive classroom study as well as immersive field studies in Paris and Milan.

New York City is our home laboratory, and we make good use of it in our courses, taking students off‑site to meet with industry executives at their New York headquarters, visiting designers in their ateliers and workshops, and speaking with luxury professionals in their flagship and retail spaces.

We follow a similar approach during our Paris and Milan field studies, focusing specifically on understanding the relationship between business and culture in these global capitals. In the end, we aim to leave students with a three‑pronged understanding of how luxury has evolved and is currently viewed, created, and consumed in these important centers, along with a network of experts and peers across the globe.

For online students, we aim to replicate these experiences and network opportunities in a digital format.

How do you see the relationship between art and luxury evolving, and why is this intersection so essential for students to understand today?

Art and luxury have arguably always been linked through ideals of beauty, craft, and connoisseurship—quite simply, through a transcendence of the ordinary. The business and commerce at the intersection of art and luxury continue to evolve in multiple forms, from the integration of fine art into luxury goods through artist collaborations, to the creation of major art spaces supported by luxury conglomerates (such as the Fondation Louis Vuitton and the Bourse de Commerce), to artists who serve as luxury brand ambassadors.

That is just the start of a very long list, and students must understand luxury’s cultural value and positioning in order to thrive in the business.

What skills do you believe are critical for success in the global luxury landscape, and how does the MA in Luxury Business cultivate those capabilities?

Global luxury is a vast and multifaceted business, covering a wide array of industries, extending from tiny specialty shops to worldwide conglomerates, and encompassing goods as well as services. There’s no simple way to approach it as a single entity, so the toolbox of skills required for success in whichever sector a student chooses to enter is complex.

In the first two semesters of our three‑semester program, we build a deep and broad foundation through academic inquiry into topics including the context for luxury, its relationship to art, current trends in the sector, and marketing approaches specific to luxury. We also offer courses focused on finance, entrepreneurship, copyright, and legal strategies relevant to luxury.

I’m especially proud of our courses on sustainability and ethics in luxury, which allow students to challenge current industry norms. In the third semester, students complete a capstone or thesis—which may take the form of a marketing strategy or business plan, among other projects—allowing them to apply these skills to a substantial piece of work they can include in their professional portfolio.

What excites you most about the next generation of luxury professionals entering the field?

There is so much opportunity for innovation and reinvention of the field! I think the global dimensions of our program create an amazing opportunity for our graduates as they take places in luxury leadership and build collaborations that transform the industry. And the advantages that new technologies bring will certainly bring exciting change.

What’s one piece of advice you would offer someone beginning their journey in the luxury sector today?

Think of luxury as a language, not a product. This will change your perspectives and open new opportunities!