1. Valued at 14.9 billion euros, Louis Vuitton is the world’s highest-value luxury label, according to Bloomberg News. Founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton, the company is primarily known for its leather goods such as handbags and suitcases. Louis Vuitton merged in 1987 with champagne and wine manufacturer Moët Hennessy, resulting in a new company known as LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), of which Bernard Arnault has been CEO since 1989.

An antique trunk can run you as much as a middle-class car – providing it’s from the right manufacturer. For example, you can easily shell out a five-figure sum for a leather-covered Louis Vuitton portable clothing closet.

The trunk with the hefty fittings is large and unwieldy, and its red-clad interior meticulously divided into a series of shoe box-like compartments.

Condo hotels show that having a luxurious home isn’t just about size, furnishings, and interior design. Because services are supremely important as well. And this is something that luxury hotels are very good at, prompting them to offer in-house condos that enable residents to obtain every imaginable hotel service from breakfast in bed to housekeeping.

We are currently witnessing a rude awakening in newly industrialising countries (particularly those of Eastern Europe), whose citizens have suddenly realised that they were not as affluent as they once thought. And we in the West may also be in for some serious difficulties in the near future.

A sex symbol with an unlimited shelf life, Sean Connery once said in an interview that his greatest wish was to be an old man with a good face. Well, apparently Connery has got his wish. In 1989, People magazine named the then 59-year-old actor the "Sexiest Man alive”. And a decade later, the U.S. magazine New Woman went so far as to dub him "Sexiest Man of the Century”.

The oldest and the richest, the good and the bad: a round tour of the colourful landscape of the family-owned business.