What scares the most the fashion system today?

The economic crisis?
The retail shutdown?
The new customer attitude?

No, it is scared by change

And it wants to go back to “a new normal”…

But is it normal that fashion, the most hectic and supposedly creative industry is unwilling to drive change and desperately agonizing for getting back to the glorious past?

Why the fashion industry abandoned the pioneering spirit that made its success, the unstoppable quest for beauty and the will to inspire people just to get stuck in an ivory tower of privilege and self-referral?

Because it cannot allow to lose privilege and established positions.

Because diversity and inclusion are just superficial beliefs.

The fashion industry is losing its appeal because it is giving up on understanding the reality.

When I read things like this –
“If the current crisis has taught us anything, it is that new for the sake of the new is just a PR stunt; that the urge for senseless change is a toxic marketing trick”
– written on one of the key media in the industry by one of the brightest minds (Angelo Flaccavento on BoF) I think that something risks to go very bad.

It’s not the urge for senseless change…

it’s the need to understand that THE WORLD HAS CHANGED FOR GOOD

Just a video with dancing models…and some amazingly deja vu craftmanship videos

Maybe it’s time to look ahead, instead of just focusing on the ‘80s…

Maria Grazia Chiuri vision beats Virginie Viard

While Dior seemed dreamy and refreshing, Chanel emerged ad stucked in the past…

Will Phoebe Philo come to rescue the French Maison?

Education is the only way out of confusion, turbulence, violence, insecurity.

Knowledge is the only peaceful weapon a human being can use

Awareness is the most empowering skill one can gain and that leads to successful living

Instead of nurturing our sense of entitlement, we should foster our curiosity, exploration attitude and never ending passion for discovery.

Education is the only bottom up elevator that allows strong fundamentals and real equality of the starting points.
It is the only activity we should peacefully fight for.

Education is the best way out for long lasting success

These are times when humans are pushing themselves to the limits.

From the terrible Coronavirus emergency, to a very likely deep recession, to the American riots against racism and violence to the Elon Musk Launch America mission, the human beings have responsibility in the good and the bad times of human history.

Thanks to bright minds we can still explore, discover and search for the unknown, we can improve people lives and we can help out planet Earth to be healthy and its animals safe.
We can improve through innovation
The alternative is to open a path of deceit led by evil minds, greed, pushiness.

The only thing that, as a society, can help us is mindful awareness.

Only if we are awake and we nurture our critical thinking skills, we have a chance to make it in a world that is made purposely confused, complex and articulated.

Elon Musk went “from getting bullied in school to becoming a small-time entrepreneur and eventually the CEO of two major companies that seem like they’re straight out of science fiction — and he almost went broke along the way. ” writes Business Insider.

 

We need the courage to make decisions and take the reins of our lives in our hands.

Now.

Are we sure we can require from luxury and fashion a total rethink of their own organization, supply chain and volumes? Immediately?

Are we sure that, apart from the entrepreneurs who can make statements AND take decisions at the same time, who can take risks fully aware of the consequences of their decisions, who are not obliged by the Stock Exchange and eager shareholders, like Giorgio Armani and CHANEL, the industry can afford a dramatic U turn because the world has changed?

I am not talking about if this could be right or wrong, I am just saying if this is feasible or not…as you expect it…

Everybody now is an expert promoting “change” while until three months ago was a great fan of the status quo.

Dear experts, do you realize that companies today are just radically cutting costs (which is the only thing they are able to do, due to the iper-rigidity of the system)?

It will take 10 years to manage this downturn.

And only the open minded (or the well established) will survive.

Are you ready to think and act different?

Start working well in fashion and luxury

It seems that a new trend is taking place in these days: fashion and luxury companies are becoming big believers in smart working.

They call it smart working but it is just “work from home” and it is an obsolescent concept and dangerous if used as a solution for cutting fixed costs.

The risk of this misleading idea of smart working is that an employee is requested to work exactly in the same way as in the office, from home.

Trouble is that not everybody has a house with a space that can be dedicated to a desk, an office chair (as requested), proper lighting and silence.
Not everybody has a nice spot to be adorned as a background nor has proper air conditioning.

Facebook has already anticipated that its employees are free to work from home but if they choose to move from the area of the HQ they might face pay cuts.

In Switzerland a court ruled for the employer to give a fixed contribution to the employee who has to set up an office space at her house.

Who pays the bills? A good wi-fi (powerful enough for a family with different needs), office furnitures, proper lights, air conditioning and heating.

Who educates managers to enhance a different mindset to favor smart work instead of just mere execution of tasks?

The luxury of thinking

Our days tend to be full of things to do, to prepare, to share.

We are always in motion, even if we are stuck at home. Our commitments keep us always on. For the family, for the company, for social media, for the world outside.

We risk not to take the time we need to think before we act.

We tend to over-act and under-think.

Strategy has never been so important, yet neglected, in our lives and in our companies.

Strategic thinking is a key process in human beings lives as well as in companies management.

It requires the ability to focus on openness and curiosity matched with the analysis of opportunities and problems from a broader point of view.

It is helped by information and understanding and by reflection on what has come out from research made.

It asks for ideas formulation and leads to decide what actions to take.

And it has to integrate the management of change, the adjustments and the maintenance to be done.

Strategic thinking is a must, before planning.

So very few occasions are left in these hectic days of budget revisions, projects negotiations and even family adjustments to dedicate time to this crucial process.

To dedicate time to strategic thinking is the best things we can do for us, our family and our work.

No, it’s not the future that is digital, especially in fashion

It’s been the past when Helmut Lang launched his FW 1998 collection online and sent it to the press by CD rom

When in 1998 Andrea Panconesi launched LUISA VIA ROMA SPA

When American Apparel launched the brand on Second Life

It’s today when Travis Scott launched his new hit and new apparel collection with a show on Fortnite

It’s today when Facebook launched the integrated e-commerce on the social media platform

It’s today with the augmented reality store of Parfums Christian Dior and the Tommy Hilfiger virtual event on a skyscraper penthouse.

The truth is just that most of the fashion industry has been blind and deaf to innovation and real creativity in the past 20 years and that now, being pushed by an unbelievable downturn, is just nervously trying to understand what’s going on…

And, no, digital is not technology.

“Run the day. Don’t let it run you” …

Taking responsibility of our actions is the most difficult things to do. Blaming others for our failures and troubles is much easier.

Tomorrow the lockdown in Italy will be eased and most of the Italians will start living a new chapter.

Some businesses will thrive and some will fail. It will be hard for everybody.

Only remaining rational, aware and mindful we will overcome all the risks linked to this new phase, including a new raise in contagions as well as the economic challenges of every business activity.

There is no other way to move on than to go on visual navigation and steering the boat studying the winds in the moment.

The storm is too big to waste our time blaming others.
We might go and look for the Indes risking to find ourselves discovering America.

No time for blaming others, regretting the past and living in pain the present.

Time to set the sails and go outside the harbour. Time to explore, experiment and exchange.

In a search for my upcoming book, I bumped into this inspiring quote

“Creativity is an energy. It’s a precious energy, and it’s something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they’re a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can’t be taken for granted.”
Ava DuVernay

How many things do we take for granted?

How many steps we are not taking for fear?

How much do we discard the idea of being a creative human being?

We are (or were?) all focused on efficiency, performance, ambition and we just forgot how creativity can save our lives.

Creativity and innovation can also save our brands, our companies, our projects. We can pivot our lives, if we want, and our jobs, if we allow it.

Creativity can enrich us much more than any record scored.

Creative and innovating thinking can truly save the world.

We just should learn how to flip the negative into the positive, the failure into success.

Stay tuned!