A candid chat with luxury connoisseur James W Phillips

11 Jan A candid chat with luxury connoisseur James W Phillips

By Matthew Martino

James W Phillips is the owner of Luxury News Online and has a passion for luxury destinations, brands and living life well and in turn, bringing the luxury lifestyle to the masses. I had a chat with him to find out more.

1. Lets start off with what do you define as Luxury, James?
For me, luxury is comfort, convenience and living in a stress free way. You don’t have to be super-wealthy to experience luxury; excellent service in a restaurant, a lovely glass of wine, a comfortable seat on the train can all be luxury experiences that everybody can enjoy. Luxury is a feeling of being comfortable and successful, even for a moment. From that first bite of a scrumptious chocolate all the way to driving a Ferrari.

2. What inspired you to start LuxuryNewsOnline?
I always wanted to own and run my own business, to always be busy and successful. It has only been with the advent of social media and the blogging phenomenon that this opportunity presented itself as a real option for me. I met a friend who had started his own successful blog and after 5 years he sold it and two more to an investor. This inspired me. I’ve always liked nice things, appreciated how quality products were manufactured and living a luxury lifestyle gives me the most back. Many people have ideas, but very few see them through, you have to have the guts, determination through adversity and the vision.

3. What one common trend exists amongst the luxurious circles?
The luxury world can be a strange but fascinating one. For the few that are rich and live a luxury lifestyle all day, every day there is a whole industry that surrounds them – those that write about them and the products and services they use, providing them with events to attend and ideas for more of those luxury products and services to spend their money on, at the higher end of the scale. The trend is to out-do the next person with as bigger luxury statement as they can, be it a pimped out Lamborghini or throwing a more lavish party than their neighbours.

4. Did you ever think various celebrities or wealthy people would end up benefiting from your luxury lifestyle tips?
No and it’s such a huge responsibility! I have high net worth individuals asking me for advice on Superyachts, Supercars or luxury destinations so to be consulted on this and to help people make informed decisions about spending thousands or millions of pounds is something I’d never of expected.

5. In your opinion can a luxurious life be for everyone?
Yes, even on a small scale, maybe not to the extent that millionaires live, but it is all about scale, some people may think a box of chocolates from the corner shop that are £10 more than those next to them is choosing luxury, it’s all a matter of perception. This is luxury to them and makes them feel special.

6. What’s the game plan for 2017? What can we expect from you?
2017 is full-on already, with trips planned to gala events in Monte Carlo, a party on Eddie Jordan’s yacht at the Monaco Grand Prix, social media partner for Top Marques Monaco, luxury hotel reviews in eastern Europe, skiing in Austria, collaborations with luxury events in London and Dubai, modelling of high-end watches and a collaboration with a motor-racing team, with more YouTube footage, heightened exposure for my brand and as a luxury lifestyle go-to guru and heading fast for 1/4 millions followers on Facebook! So yeah, I think that it’s going to be a very good year!