What You Missed at the Vogue Business Global Summit: Middle East Edition

It’s a hub of technological innovation, a high-potential region for Western brands and a gateway to the world for labels from the East. So for the second edition of the Vogue Business Global Summit, it made sense to turn our sights to Dubai, for a two-day event unpacking luxury’s new era.

Where are executives investing when it comes to innovation? Which markets hold the highest potential in today’s macroeconomic environment? How is that environment changing habits among Gen Z consumers? And how are brands using luxury and design hubs like Dubai to scale globally? These were just some of the questions addressed during the two-day event, led by leading executives from d3 and Chalhoub Group, alongside Vogue Business editors.

Hosted at the sprawling, Jumeirah beach resort, the Vogue Business Global Summit: Middle East Edition took place across several venues, from the opulent ocean-side gala dinner at Riviera Beach, to the rich program of keynotes and panels, held in Mina Ballroom, and lunch on the deck at Pierchic. Speakers included regional and international executives, from Chalhoub Group CEO Michael Chalhoub and creator Karen Wazen to Marni CEO, Maison Margiela chair and OTB scion Stefano Rosso. Meanwhile, panels unpacked the themes key to both our reporting and the region, from Eastern brands Rahul Mishra and Dima Ayad using Dubai as a vehicle for scale, to the Future of Appearance, with leading doctors and dentists, and digital strategies with Meta, Bureau Beatrice and The Luxury Closet.

Here’s a rundown of what you missed.

An Executive’s Guide to Innovation

To open the event, we cast our eyes to the future with Rosso, Marni CEO, Maison Margiela chair and board member of parent group, OTB, for an Executive’s Guide to Innovation. Rosso broke down his work on the Aura Blockchain Consortium, as well as the adoption of digital product passports (DPPs) across OTBs brand stable. While consumer desire for this kind of technology remains low, Rosso sees true value in DPPs to support and track secondhand luxury shopping, while helping brands understand how their products move after that initial purchase. “Technology is actually opening a big opportunity to have a dialog [with the customer] further down the line,” he said. “Unlike in previous generations, it feels today like we’re talking about a different consumer.”

OTB is in a stage of major transition across its brands, with debuts from Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela and Simone Belotti at Jil Sander, as well as the upcoming show of Meryll Rogge at Marni. Rosso underlined that fashion’s creative transition at large is in response to the challenging economic environment, and at OTB, he explained that outgoing creative directors John Galliano and Francesco Risso spent over a decade at Maison Margiela and Marni, respectively, as their contracts naturally came to an end. When it comes to Rogge, Rosso knew he wanted to hire a woman to helm Marni, because he feels women’s ready-to-wear is a major growth avenue for the brand — and a woman designer is well placed to develop that category. At group level, “there is much to do”, he shared, notably expansion in territories like the Middle East and LatAm, where OTB continues to open stores.

The Future of Appearance

For the second session of the day, we shifted gears to beauty, with a panel inspired by Vogue Business’s Future of Appearance series, published in April 2025. We brought together leading plastic surgeon and founder of the Aeon longevity clinic Dr. Jaffer Khan; wellness expert and Cosmic Doctor founder Dr. Lamees Hamdan; and longevity-focused dentist Dr. Mahsa Nejati, to unpack the innovations that are revolutionizing beauty and wellness. Each of the panelists underlined how wealthy consumers are shifting their spend to longevity and biohacking to reverse or slow aging. In response, surgeons, doctors and dentists are shifting focus to preventative wellness, whether that’s reducing inflammation, or improving skin quality to increase the efficiency of aesthetic treatments.

Dr. Khan’s Aeon, inside Atlantis the Royal, is a longevity-focused clinic that offers stem cell therapy, from blood-cleaning ozone therapy that removes metals and microplastics, to NAD+ IVs, hyperbaric oxygen chambers and infrared beds. It’s in response to scientific innovations. “At the human genome project in 2004, we decided the genome is the thing. Now, it’s the human exposome: the pollution around you, your sleep, your stress, your diet, what light sources you take in,” Dr. Khan said.

Across dentistry, aesthetic medicine and wellness, stem cells and exosomes will be crucial looking ahead, experts agreed. Undetectability is the key goal, with Dr. Hamdan predicting that some of these buzzy ingredients like exosomes will soon be more widely available in skincare, as well as in aesthetic medicine.

The Gulf’s golden gateway

Traditionally, India has been known as a sourcing market for crafts, textiles and production expertise, while the Middle East has been seen as a market that appreciates luxury and enjoys fashion like no other. Today, however, both markets are gaining recognition for their own creativities and their own fashion labels.

Vogue Business contributing editor Sujata Assomull invited Indian independent designer Rahul Mishra and Dubai-based designer Dima Ayad, to unpack why Dubai is a powerful vehicle for brands seeking global scale. Ayad, who recently opened a Dubai showroom in Dubai Design District (d3) explained how the city is full of possibilities for independent talent. Both referenced their collaborations — Ayad with Marina Rinaldi, Mishra with Tod’s — as learning experiences that helped them to build international resonance.

Dubai is the “city of hope”, Mishra said. “When you open a store in Dubai, it’s going to be your best store in the world in terms of numbers.” Couture is growing in parallel with hospitality right now, as consumers are increasingly seeking experiences, which both categories provide.

Gen Z Broke the Marketing Funnel

Following its release the week of the event, Vogue Business head of advisory Anusha Couttigane interviewed senior trends editor Lucy Maguire about Gen Z Broke the Marketing Funnel, What Now? produced in collaboration with youth culture agency Archrival. In this short download of the findings, Lucy unpacked how in the infinite loop of inspiration, exploration, community and loyalty, and in a world of hyper-convenient social commerce, Gen Z now finds shopping mindless. Their constant scrolling, coupled with today’s challenging socioeconomic backdrop, is changing their perceptions of social media, luxury and creators. At the same time, however, Gen Zs are increasingly turning to new platforms like Reddit and ChatGPT, to find personalized, anonymous fashion and beauty advice. And instead of finding inspiration from traditional social media feeds, they’re looking to the comment section, the search bar and more private channels to find information on products and brands.

Luxury’s digital frontiers

Then, Anusha hosted a panel on luxury’s digital frontiers, exploring how AI, social trends and authentication are driving innovation in the market. Anusha was joined by Moon Baz, director of global partnerships for the Middle East, Africa and Türkiye at Meta; Jon S Maloy, co-founder and chief creative officer of Bureau Beatrice; and Nicola Ghin, director of authentication at The Luxury Closet.

Baz spoke about the trust consumers have in different Meta environments, especially across Whatsapp, which is the most widely used instant messaging service in the UAE, making it a key tool for brands to build direct relationships with valuable customers. She also spoke about the innovative solutions Meta continues to add to its platforms, including AI integrations that help brands make more informed decisions and create more accurate engagement strategies.

Maloy echoed the need for seamlessness, emphasizing that, in spite of digital advancements, AI will never be a replacement for human creativity. He described examples from campaigns that Bureau Beatrice had developed for Chaumet, arguing that digital experiences are best used as a partner to — or enhancement of — the physical brand world.

Meanwhile, Ghin explained that reluctance to engage with pre-loved luxury products has now translated to popular appreciation. Authentication practices at The Luxury Closet, he said, are still highly manual, which is part of the proposition that cultivates trust for its shoppers. But, Ghin added, new AI tools are helping them to assess the condition of products faster and more efficiently.

Sitting down with Michael Chalhoub

To round off the day, Sujata sat down with Michael Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group, the leading luxury retailer with over 10 owned brands and 400 international names, including Christofle and Level Shoes, as well as over 300 international brand businesses in the Middle East, from Louis Vuitton to Dior. Michael is just a month away from completing his first year, after succeeding his father Patrick, with this session outlining the key strategies he’s begun to implement during his first year at the helm.

The aim is investing in the future, he shared. This includes Chalhoub’s movement into AI, focused on Layla AI, the region’s first large-scale generative AI beauty coach, which is already doubling conversion rates at the group’s beauty concept stores, Faces, with most users interacting in Arabic. It also includes the group’s investment in new markets, particularly in LatAm, “a high-potential market”, where Chalhoub can co-create opportunities with partners. Then, Chalhoub Group is investing in local and international luxury via its brand incubator, which has raised brand revenues fivefold over the last year. As it casts its eyes beyond the Middle East, Michael reminded us that Chalhoub has had to move headquarters from Damascus, to Beirut, to Kuwait over its 70-year history, and understands the need to be agile.

So far, the CEO is happy that Chalhoub Group — which celebrated its 70th anniversary two weeks ago — reached 8% revenue growth in 2025, an achievement he is “very proud of”, in spite of the global geopolitical landscape. “We were all very happy about that, and we are happy the transition has gone as planned,” the executive said. While Michael understands he has “big shoes to fill”, he is confident in his vision “for the next 70 years”. Titled Vision 2033: Bridging Horizons, the exec’s long-term strategy places partnerships at its core, focusing on shifting the company from leading regional retailer to global brand-builder.