The Luxury Experience Awards launch: a new standard for UHNW recognition.
LEAs is the new awards program asking a question the luxury industry has rarely put to itself directly: what would it actually take to build a standard that an ultra-high-net-worth client would trust?
That is the premise behind the Luxury Experience Awards (LEAs), launched by Lexden Luxe in partnership with The Luxury Report. Entries opened on 1 July 2026, with the inaugural awards ceremony scheduled for January 2027.
Recognition built on evidence
Most luxury awards run on submissions, judging panels, and a fair amount of industry opinion. The LEAs are positioning themselves differently. Every entry is assessed through the MEPA Framework, the proprietary model by Lexden Luxe co-founder Prof. Dr. Phil Klaus from hundreds of direct interviews with UHNW individuals across the luxury spectrum.
MEPA breaks the client relationship into four measurable dimensions:
- Managing expectations: clarity, consistency and credibility from the first interaction
- Exceptional Experiences: the accumulation of touchpoints that build lasting loyalty
- Post-purchase experience: the most revealing phase according to UHNW clients to win trust
- Achieving time savings: not efficiency for its own sake, but a sense of feeling unhurried and elevated
Assessment also draws on Diamond Data, Lexden Luxe’s proprietary dataset of coded UHNW interviews spanning private banking, aviation, superyachting, hospitality, automotive, collectibles, property and bespoke services.
Three Stages of the Client Journey
Rather than judging a single moment, the LEAs examine brands across three connected stages, independently and in full:
- Brand experience – relationship building and expectations definition
- Sales experience – discretion, guidance and ease at the point of commitment
- Ownership experience – performance after the sale, where retention is genuinely decided
Lexden Luxe MD Christopher Brooks has framed the underlying philosophy simply: UHNW clients remember how a brand made them feel and how well it fit the rhythm of their lives, far more than what they were sold.
Who can enter
The awards are open across all luxury categories, including private banking, aviation, superyachting, hospitality, automotive, collectibles, property and bespoke services. Agencies may enter on behalf of clients, provided the relationship is confirmed and approved.
Why it matters
For brands operating at the top of the luxury market, the LEAs offer independent validation, grounded in behavioural evidence rather than industry consensus. In luxury, trust is the real currency and this distinction is the entire point.
Enter your nomination here.