4/15/12 – After the keynote address from Max Azria, I went on to some of the panel sessions. The panel sessions are a little more intimate than the keynotes because you get to hear different perspectives on the same issues that concern retailers today. You’ll see competitors, collaborators, and disruptors in the same room. This year there were four panels and I attended two:

Emerging Markets – The panelists were:

• Anya Ayoung Chee – Designer, Project Runway Winner
• Kai Schoppen – CEO, Brandsclub Group
• Malte Horeyseck – Co-Founder and Managing Director, Dafiti
• Tikka Karpurthala – Chief Representative in Asia for Moet-Hennessy/Group Advisor Louis Vuitton, India

New Business Directions – The panelists were:

• Anthony W. Campbell – EVP of Administration, Vice Chairman’s Office, Perry Ellis International
• Julie Bull – Director of Investor Relations, Dillards
• Mark Bonchek – SVP Communities and Networks, Sears Holdings

I’ll end this post with a picture I took with . Over lunch he spoke with me about his family’s historic involvement with LVMH going back over two generations.

Getting sage advice from Tikka Karpurthala (Chief Rep in Asia for Moet-Hennessy/Group Advisor Louis Vuitton, India)