Halls of decadent splendor

Although close to $2 billion worth of luxury items have been sold in the United Arab Emirates this year, looking in the windows of shopping malls today will show that luxury retailers in the UAE have redirected their energy to a more minimalist approach, away from the total opulence that dominated their showrooms in the past. “Since the onslaught of the recession, wary consumers in the UAE have become more price-conscious and, in turn, many have changed their outlook toward luxury products and have taken on a more Westernized attitude to purchasing habits and started to down trade,” Fflur Roberts, head of luxury goods, at market research firm Euromonitor International, tells Executive.   That means that luxury is being tested for its compatibility with new economic realities in the Gulf region. However, this does not mean that luxury sales are faltering in either the UAE or other emerging markets. According