Nouveau Reach. Past, Present, and Future of Luxury brings together leading thinkers in luxury studies and industry to explore the future of luxury in the Canadian and global contexts. Taking place in Toronto, Canada from 11 to 14 May 2017, we invite scholars of anthropology, business, fashion, fine art, history, modern languages, museum studies, material art & design, and social sciences to share findings on historical and contemporary developments in luxury studies. We also invite established professionals currently working in luxury market—via fashion, curatorship, fine arts, auctioneering, design, commerce, and travel—to contribute their expertise and insight on the future of luxury in the global context.

The three-day conference is co-organized by Brock University and The School of Fashion at Ryerson University. It features both traditional panels of 20-minute papers and interactive workshops led by leading industry experts. Please submit 4-member panel proposals that include 300-word (max) abstracts per presenter and a 200-word rationale for the panel, as well as a brief curriculum vitae for all presenters by 15 March 2016. Proposals for individual papers will also be considered. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. Participants will be asked to submit completed papers in January 2017 for consideration for a special issue of Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption, by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Topics can include, but are not limited to:

  • The history of and new frontiers in luxury
  • Trajectories in Canadian luxury
  • Luxury and global markets
  • Luxury and the public
  • Luxury as business model
  • Curating luxury
  • Luxury and nation, race, and/or sex
  • Cultural/literary/artistic representations of luxury
  • Luxury consumption and/or production
  • Luxury and space
  • Scandals, ruptures, and slippages in the pursuit of luxury

Please submit proposals, in Word format, to: NouveauReachCAN[at]gmail.com

Organizing Committee

  • Jessica Clark, History, Brock University
  • Nigel Lezama, Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Brock University
  • Alison Matthews David, The School of Fashion, Ryerson University
  • Robert Ott, The School of Fashion, Ryerson University

Plenary Speakers

  • Dr. Jonathan Faiers, University of Southampton, Editor, Luxury: History, Culture, Consumption
  • Dr. Giorgio Riello, University of Warwick, The Luxury Network
  • Dr. Jana Scholze, Victoria & Albert Museum, Co-curator of “What is Luxury?”