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As luxury becomes increasingly global, the strongest brands are shaped not only by exclusivity, but also by heritage, innovation and cultural relevance.

For Armen Pogossian, Co-Owner of Pogossian Luxury Brand House, this means creating a luxury language that is distinctive, refined and international in outlook. Built on a family business established in 1999, the group is now present in more than 60 countries, with a portfolio that includes Cigaronne and Jardins d’Arménie – Royal Brandy.

In recent years, its international visibility has grown through cultural platforms including Monaco, Paris Fashion Week and the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. In an interview with Khaleej Times, Pogossian discusses modern luxury, strategic expansion, cultural partnerships and the Gulf’s growing role in the company’s next phase of growth.

Excerpts from the interview:

You represent a new generation of Armenian entrepreneurs building luxury brands for an international audience. What does “international luxury” mean to you today, and how is it different from the traditional idea of luxury?

Luxury can mean different things to different people. There is a kind of luxury that people want, and there is another kind that responds to what people need. Our approach is to create luxury that improves the overall experience of the consumer.

Since 1999, through our family business, we have worked on what I would describe as innovative luxury. For us, innovative luxury means offering something novel, something that has not been done in the same way before. It should give people a stronger value proposition, higher quality and greater ease and comfort in their lifestyle.

The traditional idea of luxury was often centred on status or possession. Today, luxury is also about experience, innovation and relevance. It has to offer something meaningful.

Pogossian Luxury Brand House has expanded across global markets, with the company present in more than 60 countries. What were the most important strategic decisions that helped the business move from a family legacy to an international luxury house?

The defining trait of Pogossian Luxury Brand House is what I call the art of non-competition. By that, I do not mean avoiding competition. I mean creating something that stands outside the usual competition.

When you develop something that is completely different from others in the same category, you create something unique, niche and desirable for people who share the same values and are looking for something beyond traditional options. That sense of novelty and innovation has helped us enter many markets.

Today, we are present in more than 60 countries and different regions. In some of these places, people may not know much about Armenia, but they know the work we are building internationally. That is an important part of taking a family legacy and developing it into an international luxury house.

Which markets are currently most important for your next phase of growth?

Asia remains very important for us. We already have a strong presence across Asian markets, and the next step is to strengthen that further by expanding our relationships and networks.

At the same time, the GCC represents a major opportunity. We believe the region is highly compatible with our values and our understanding of luxury. The UAE, in particular, is one of the most important luxury centres in the world, and we see it as a natural part of our wider international journey.

The company has reportedly grown fivefold in recent years under your leadership. What changed in the business after you took over, in terms of positioning, partnerships, distribution or brand experience?

The figure is actually 14-fold over the past five years. One of the biggest changes was embracing a more international structure. Today, we work with more than 1,200 colleagues across our manufacturing operations, offices and wider business network.

A major contributor to this growth has been entering new international networks and positioning the business in more unique ways. When you are growing a brand that was not widely known internationally at the time, you cannot rely on standard methods alone. You have to take non-standard measures.

We worked with people from different countries, communicated with new channels and built stronger networks. Communication is one of the most important parts of building a business, alongside strategy. That combination has played a major role in our growth.

From Monaco to Paris and wider international platforms, your approach seems to connect luxury with culture, fashion, art and heritage. Why are cultural partnerships becoming so important for luxury brands today?

Luxury brands are built on years, and often decades, of culture, heritage and craftsmanship. When you look at these brands closely, they are not only commercial products. They are also connected to art, tradition and identity.

Cultural partnerships allow luxury brands to celebrate that wider meaning. They help create something that goes beyond a single market or a single culture. For us, the idea is to build brands that can be accepted and appreciated by different cultures while still carrying a strong identity.

When a brand can be valued by people in different parts of the world, it becomes more than a business. It becomes a point of connection. That unification of different cultures through luxury is very important to us.

How would you describe your brand in one line?

I would describe it as innovative luxury: something that gives people more than expected, and in a different way.

Jardins d’Arménie – Royal Brandy has become part of this wider story, including its Monaco presence and recent cultural partnerships. Without focusing only on the product itself, how does the brand reflect your broader vision of Armenian craftsmanship on the global stage?

Jardins d’Arménie – Royal Brandy reflects our broader vision of Armenian craftsmanship, heritage and innovation on the global stage. It carries the tradition of Armenian brandy-making while combining that heritage with modern technologies and contemporary presentation.

For us, it is part of a wider effort to show how Armenian craftsmanship can be positioned internationally. Its European presentation in Monaco, with the participation of Prince Albert II of Monaco and other distinguished guests, was an important milestone for the brand. Its Paris Fashion Week collaboration with THE MUSE at Opéra Garnier also showed how Armenian heritage can be expressed through culture, fashion and design.

The brand’s role as a Crystal Partner of the 2026 Monte-Carlo Television Festival further strengthened this direction, placing it within an international cultural setting that brought together leading names from television and entertainment, including Kevin McKidd and David Boreanaz, among others. For Pogossian, such platforms are important because they allow Armenian craftsmanship to be presented not only as a product story, but as part of a wider cultural and luxury conversation.

We describe Jardins d’Arménie as something shaped by patience, tradition and innovation. The brand includes patented design elements, including a hermetically sealed bottle cap, and uses a triple-ageing process that moves from oak barrels to apricot barrels and then back to oak barrels. These details reflect the wider philosophy of Pogossian Luxury Brand House: to create work that is distinctive, carefully developed and different from what already exists in established categories.

Cigaronne, developed by SPS Cigaronne, is also associated with the wider Pogossian Luxury Brand House story. What role does innovation play in the way the brand has developed?

Cigaronne was one of the first brands developed under the wider Pogossian Luxury Brand House story, beginning in 1999. Over the years, it has been continuously developed as part of our approach to innovation and differentiation.

One of the defining features of Cigaronne is its extended filter design. The brand is associated with a patented triple perlite filter, which Pogossian presents as an example of technical development and non-standard product design.

For us, Cigaronne is another example of the same philosophy: building brands that do not simply follow existing market standards, but try to create something distinct through design, technology and positioning.

For readers in the Gulf, luxury is often connected to legacy, exclusivity, family business, hospitality and long-term value. How do you see the Gulf fitting into your international expansion story, and what kind of partnerships or presence would make sense for the region?

The Gulf, and especially the UAE, has become one of the global centres of luxury, alongside places such as Monaco. It is a very compatible market for us because of the region’s appreciation for quality, innovation, family legacy and exclusivity.

People in the GCC are also looking for something different. Many visitors come to the region because it offers experiences they cannot find elsewhere. We believe our approach to innovative luxury fits naturally into that environment.

Dubai, in particular, is a futuristic city. Its architecture, business environment and culture of innovation make it an ideal place for brands that want to offer something new. For us, the Gulf is not only a market opportunity, but a region that shares many of the values we associate with modern luxury.