Shaping the Future of Luxury

Founded in 2004, the Luxury Education Foundation is a dynamic community of established leaders and emerging talent. LEF nurtures future leaders through mentorship and continuous learning opportunities and provides leading luxury brands with access to expertise and actionable solutions.

Learn more about the Luxury Education Foundation for:

2024 Participating Brands

The Luxury Education Foundation

Established in 2004, LEF is a public not-for-profit organization that nurtures future leaders in the luxury industry and fosters meaningful exchanges between like-minded CEOs, leading executives, and high-potential, emerging talent.

Friends of LEF

Not a brand or an LEF alum? Become a Friend of LEF and get access to exclusive events where leaders in the luxury industry share their views on current trends and challenges facing the industry with an enthusiastic group of business and design students.

What people are saying

  • “As Chairman of the Board of LEF, I was always amazed by the energy of our organization which allowed us to continuously reinvent ourselves in the ever-changing landscape of the luxury experience."

    - Robert Chavez

    Chairman, Hermès Americas

    LEF Director Emeritus

  • "LEF has built a wonderful community of students and alumni in the luxury space and is a wonderful partner to Columbia Business School. They always do more for our students than we can expect. LEF is always coming to us with new program ideas and opportunities for both MBA and PhD students, supporting industry opportunities as well as basic research. It’s always a pleasure to work with LEF."

    -Kinshuk Jerath

    Chair of the Marketing Division, Columbia Business School

  • “LEF has always been instrumental in the growth of my career. From the Alumni Council, to countless informative panels, LEF has allowed me to stay connected to peers across the industry for over 15 years.”

    - Maloni Goss

    Head of Insights, CHANEL

    LEF Alumna, CBS Class of ‘08

  • "If you are a key decision-maker at a luxury brand, you would often find yourself wondering if you're operating the right way. You wish there were others who understood you and could chime in with trusted and qualified advice. You will find those others in the Emerging Luxury Council."

    - Gourav Soni

    LEF Alumus, CBS Class of ‘16

    Emerging Luxury Council Founding Member and Co-Chair

LEF President Ketty Maisonrouge was joined by Damien Vernet, President Fashion Group Asia at @lvmh, for a Fireside Chat in Shanghai with a lovely group of LEF Alumni.
Alumni Spotlight - Estephanía Holsteinson Heinsen is an LEF Alumna and the Founder of @hols.e, a luxury ready-to-wear brand based in the Dominican Republic. Read her testimonial about LEF.
LEF hosted an Executive Leadership Exchange in collaboration with @christofle on the topic of experiential luxury in the US, with speakers Pierre-Antoine Bollet, GM of @christofle, and Melanie Rehbein, Manager of @baccarathotels New York. Thank you t
LEF hosted a wonderful panel discussion on sustainability at the 18th annual RLG conference. A big thank you to our speakers, Carl Poulter from @chanelofficial, Vanessa Clemendot from @lorealusa, and Fred Martel from @mycoworks, for sharing their tho
We’re looking forward to hosting the LEF panel on Sustainability at the 18th Annual Retail and Luxury Goods Conference on the topic of Heritage Reimagined. We will be joined by Vanessa Clémendot, Chief Supply Chain Officer at @lorealusa;
We are delighted to celebrate the achievements of the Spring 2024 Luxury Approach Block Week Class. After an intensive, immersive week, the students shared their final presentations for Louis XIII. Thank you to the Rémy Cointreau team and to o