POPULUXE

Hosted by Thomaï Serdari

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Latest episode

Jul 2025

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About the show

Populuxe is a podcast, written and hosted by Thomaï Serdari. It explores stories of desire through objects bought, made, found, shared, and cherished. Made in New York City, Populuxe considers the link between desire and luxury based on conversations with a variety of inspired guests.

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43 recent

July 10, 2025Episode 543 min

For All Time and Eternity: ROLEX with Pierre-Yves Donzé

Whether you are a collector, hopeful first-time buyer, or simply curious wishing to crack the mystery of ROLEX's success open, you have an ally. Prolific author and business historian Pierre-Yves Donzé released his latest book titled, The Making of a Status Symbol: A Business History of Rolex, published in June 2025 by Manchester University Press.It is expertly researched, accessibly written, and, easily, the definitive historical account of how ROLEX came to be ROLEX. As the minds behind the iconic watch brand have maintained, "if you have already created perfection, why would you strive to innovate?"Pierre-Yves Donzé is a professor of business history at the University of Osaka, Japan, and a visiting professor at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. His work focuses on the dynamics of creative industries (watchmaking, luxury and fashion) and the business history of multinational enterprises. His last books include The Making of a Status Symbol: business history of Rolex (Manchester University Press, 2025) and Capitalism’s Favorite Child: Global Fashion Business since 1850 (co-authored with Ben Wubs, Bloomsbury, forthcoming in 2026). ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

March 6, 2025Episode 439 min

Made of Dreams with James Ferragamo

Every legacy brand has an ideology, James Ferragamo tells us. He is talking of course about his family business, the legendary luxury brand started by his grandfather, Salvatore Ferragamo, the shoemaker. Or was it dream maker?That ideology keeps the brand in place so that nothing ever changes--and yet, James makes sure that everything changes. As the Chief Transformation Officer, he oversees and executes on the evolution of the brand so that it continues to deliver dreams that are relevant, beautiful, and magical.James Ferragamo is the grandson of Salvatore Ferragamo and a key figure in the family’s luxury brand. With a background in international business and retail, he has played a crucial role in shaping Ferragamo’s product strategy and innovation. As the Chief Transformation Officer, he continues to uphold the brand’s legacy of craftsmanship and elegance. He lives in Florence with his family. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

January 2, 2025Episode 340 min

Rick's Romance with Urban Life and a Colombo V12 with Rick Cook

Founding partner of CookFox, Rick Cook visited Populuxe recently to share his "object of desire" with our listeners. As it happens, Rick's training, practice as well as his own curious and empathic constitution create the perfect backdrop against which a nuanced discussion about luxury unfolded. From a Ferrari V12 engine to a sunlit café in Florence to the new Armani tower in New York City, Rick has a lot to add to the discussion of luxury and desire. Rick Cook is a Founding Partner of COOKFOX Architects. He has built a reputation for innovative, award-winning architectural design. In 2003, Rick joined with Bob Fox to form COOKFOX Architects based on a transformative vision: beautiful design guided by high standards of sustainability, and a commitment to excellence enriched by the collaborative process. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

December 26, 2024Episode 253 min

A Little Bit From Here A Little Bit From There with Monte Packham

Writing in verses comes easily to Monte Packham, author of children's books, who started his career as an art critic. His work evolved into the deliciously playful rhymes that he puts together for young audiences after first having taken a detour into art historical writing. Whether documents of art or illustrated childrens' books, Monte's work is for the committed. His words fall into place as if the story they tell had always existed. Such is the timelessness of his wordsmithing that it inspired an animated conversation about reading and luxury.Monte Packham is the author of books including Rooms for Dessert, The Blueberry Machine, Rhyme Time, ABC Photography, Concentric Circles as well as Living with Matisse, Picasso and Christo: Theodor Ahrenberg and His Collections (2018), Book of the Year at the 2019 Collector's Awards, and Photo Adventures (2019). Born in Sydney in 1981, he holds degrees in art history and law from the University of Sydney. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

February 15, 2024Episode 141 min

From Vogue to Rogue with Negar Mohammadi

Dates, almond oil, persimmon, pomegranate... These recipe ingredients that have given Persian women their legendary beauty from the inside out are also the core pillars of hair brand 14th Night, founded by Negar Mohammadi.Sun-kissed, athletic, and curious, Negar mastered the technical aspects of business as a young professional working for a major consulting firm in Paris--yes, like Emily in Paris but with real work involved. Armed with fluency in French and a sense of true luxury, Negar returned to New York and rose up the corporate ladder in the city's competitive fashion industry. Her last corporate post was with VOGUE.Listen to her story to get all the sensorial details that define Negar's journey in hair beauty and learn how she bottled them all in a series of divine natural formulas that are good for the hair and, mainly, for the soul. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

January 11, 20244 min

Bonus episode with Thomaï Serdari

Get ready for a new year filled with exciting conversations and inspiring guests. Season Four coming soon! ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

December 28, 2023Episode 1230 min

The Right to Roam with Håvard Utheim

A passionate explorer of nature, a committed adventurer, a tech entrepreneur whose mission is to create a sustainable and equitable travel industry for all, Håvard Utheim moves from idea to idea and from start-up to start-up.He is the type who has vision, sets the mission, and culls the right people to populate the new business. In doing so, he is also working on ensuring that the beneficiaries are many as opposed to the usual select few.Listen to this episode to find out what his connection to Succession is.Håvard Utheim is an entrepreneur. He founded several companies, including: The Transparency Company, a database and a practical tool to manage, document and communicate social and environmental responsibility; Travelopment, a company that provides education for those in the travel industry; Re-Treats, a system of mobile high-end hotel rooms built with used materials; and Nanook, a company that matches travelers with more sustainable travel options. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

December 14, 2023Episode 1129 min

Metallic, She Said with Diane D'Amato

Her impeccable foresight and vision of market trends, along with her passion for haute couture and luxury leather goods make Diane D’Amato a true force in the luxury market. She is as sharp in business as she is warm and empathetic in her relationships. In charge of the luxury accessories categories at Heritage Auctions, Diane brings unique pieces to auction and regularly buys and sells entire collections privately. She is the pulse of the luxury world. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

November 30, 2023Episode 1035 min

Twixt the Physical and Otherworldly with Fallou Wadje

Hats, authentic jewelry from Africa, mainly Senegal and Ghana, as well as tie-dye shirts and other accessories are Fallou's Wadje's street hustle in Harlem. Her life's calling is creativity. Her purpose is the creation of objects that give luxury a new definition: 'twixt the physical and the spiritual. A vessel of energy herself, Fallou the artist finds daily inspiration in Central Park where she observes and absorbs all that nature has to offer. Listen to Fallou's radiant voice that resonates with the knowing that creation originates in belief and practice.Fallou is BaayFall Fashion’s CEO, designer, and stylist. After emigrating to the US from Senegal in 2013, she launched Baayfall Fashion with $192 and a single vendor table, selling customized hats, original screen-printed t-shirts, and one-f-a-kind garments and accessories on 125th street in Harlem.Baayfall Fashion quickly grew from one table to six, then to a brick-and-mortar storefront. That led to numerous editorial features, and a 2022 presentation at Harlem Fashion Week. Today, Fallou’s Harlem atelier creates custom clothing, screen printing, hand-painted garmets, and unique accessories for celebrities, activists, and everyday people across New York City and around the world.Baayfall Fashion is fashion that uplifts, reminding those who choose to wear it how powerful they are as human beings. As Fallou herself says: “If you can make the outside look royal, you certainly have it inside you.” ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

November 16, 2023Episode 937 min

The Luxury of Inconvenience with Robert Finger

A century-old Cape Cod wooden house seems to be the point of departure for interiors architect Robert Finger's journeys into desire. At first I thought of it very similar to a juicy and delicious piece of candy that releases a range of magical sensations when you bite into it. But after we spent some time chatting, it became clear that that little house is a marvelous container of unique and intense experiences that have shaped the lives of all those who have spent time in it.It is the house that allows its tenants to open up, release, and practice their singular sense of desire. One with nature, the house is a launchpad for creativity. A founding partner of Fogarty Finger, Robert Finger leads firm interior projects. Graduating from Syracuse University, Robert developed a passion for design at the venerable architecture firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), where he oversaw several international projects. In 2003, he and fellow SOM collaborator, Chris Fogarty, started architecture and interiors firm, Fogarty Finger. Robert brings a unique approach to commercial interiors, a devotion to 20th-century modernism, and a love of historic preservation that emerged from childhood summers on Cape Cod. Through design work, he translates idealism and politics of the modern age into living in contemporary society. He is also passionate about textiles, ranging from historic Persian and Peruvian fabrics to the work of modern designers such as Hella Jongerius. In addition, he takes inspiration from movies and the representation of reality captured in interiors, architecture and landscapes that communicate time, place, and mood.With a breadth of experience in luxury residential design, Robert’s emphasis on scale and materials brings refinement and detail to commercial projects. Robert has designed award-winning, corporate office interiors in New York and the Northeast for major clients including: BXP, Rockefeller Group, Rudin Management, Tishman Speyer, and Vornado Realty Trust. ******************************Did you enjoy this episode? Consider subscribing to this podcast! It offers unique stories driven by our desire for meaningful objects and brings to life individual accounts of personal luxuries. The guests, accomplished creatives from across ages, cultures, and professions, relate to one object of desire at a time.You can find more information about the podcast on its website. You can also follow me, your host, Thomaï Serdari for additional content and insights relating to luxury and the creative industries.If you retain one thing, please remember this: I made this podcast for you and everyone who considers beauty an action word that helps spread kindness. Love, Thomaï

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