The Silent Crisis in Luxury Retail: A Call for Reinvention

Co-Founder and CEO of award winning Fine Jewellery brand FARAONE MENNELLA. Recipient of the Fashion Group International’s 2006 Rising Star Award for Jewelry Design; VicenzaOro 2017 Palladio Award for Best Italian Jewelry Designer, 2020 Alta Gamma's Award. Founder and CEO of AMEDEO, the artisan brand featured by NYT, FT, Vogue, globally recognized as the only authority in the ancient Italian craft’s tradition, having brought Cameos to the status of “design” and objects of desire in the international fashion and design arena; founder with Roberto Faraone Mennella of the acclaimed high jewelry brand Faraone Mennella by RFMAS.

Producer of the award winning Docu-Film “Open Doors” by Pavel Marcano: a heartbreaking, uplifting, eye opening real story about the almost-abandoned mental health hospital in Argentina, and the daily lives of the lifetime “guests” of the institution.

Carlo Pignataro is a Turin-born author, entrepreneur, and corporate-education specialist who has spent the past two decades decoding the psychology of luxury sales for the world’s most discerning brands. Now based in Dubai as CEO of Pignataro & Associates, he advises Gucci, Luxottica, Swarovski, and countless mid- to high-market players on elevating perceived value through client-experience design, sales-cycle optimization, and service-culture training. Carlo distills his research in the best-selling manuals "Sell with Style" and "Serve with Style", and explores the ideas further on his podcast "Lux and Friends", where he hosts thought leaders and industry icons.

Anchored in rigorous research—and enriched by his credentials as an NLP and Non-Verbal Hypnosis master practitioner, body-language scholar, and trained opera singer—Carlo’s methodology blends neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and theatrical flair. Whether speaking on a global stage, designing bespoke training programes, or coaching founders one-to-one, he helps organizations align the value they deliver with the value clients perceive, transforming routine transactions into memorable luxury experiences.