10 insights on the philosophy of the mastermind behind the first #luxury group in the world

1. “The man himself is deeply private”. No need to show off.

2. “I always liked being number one. I told my team we will build the first luxury group in the world” (Michael Burke was among his closest aides since day).

And you need a strong vision and mission to hit the targets.

3. “Some call him a predator”. As his close friend Karl Lagerfeld once said “Fashion is ephemeral, dangerous and unfair.” Let’s say it loud: the luxury and fashion industry is ruthless

4. “LVMH role is to produce products and experiences that convey an authentic sense of value to our customers…What matters the most is that in 10 years time our brands are as desirable as they are today” . The greatest marketing and branding speech.

5. “Profit is a consequence of what we do well; it should never become a goal”. That’s why CFOs attitude never took off at group level.

6. “My wealth is LVMH shares…the result of what we built with the LVMH group. We are the goup that pays the most taxes in France. I always paid my taxes in France”. No tax havens unlike far too many key players

7. “I hate the past. What interests me is the future”

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Why Some High Performers Are Quitting Big Companies to Work for Themselves

“Every large company says that their people are their biggest asset. Yet everywhere we look, we see talented leaders leaving big companies.”

It’s an upcoming trend.

“What is striking is that these folks were not poor performers being forced out who started their own solo businesses out of necessity. Quite the opposite: all were star performers who chose to reject the traditional large company career path. All had discovered a relevant niche they were uniquely excellent at, and that they had more upside working outside of the constraints of one large company.”

Tony Strippoli comment to my last post was so true. Brands should have as a top priority to make their employees happy. That’s it. Very true. So easy, isn’t it?

Poor employee and talents management is risky and leads to top performers quitting the company.

And, following the article on HBR, it’s exactly what it’s happening.

“The common theme across these solopreneurs is that they are self-aware that there are diminishing returns to their happiness of trading in a six-figure solopreneur life with high autonomy for the rare high risk/high reward job with extremely high stress and hassle that is out of their control”

But, do corporations need top performers or do they need just soldiers?

https://hbr.org/2019/01/why-some-high-performers-are-quitting-big-companies-to-work-for-themselves?_lrsc=9e0d7727-e470-4213-ae8b-856797fd3749

Today, two years ago Franca Sozzani left us.

Sad time.

The last time I saw her it was at a gala dinner.

I was with the Creative Director of the Brand I worked for.

She arrived. Smiling, as usual.

She stopped to say hello and, smiling, she gracefully said “the two of you, we need to meet and talk about several ideas”.

She was like that. Warm and friendly, yet authoritative and influential. You couldn’t say no to her.

She was a volcano of ideas, projects, concepts.

I had the privilege to work with her on deals and events and I admired her strength, clarity, power.

She had the same gaze as one of her closest friends, Miuccia Prada: smart, sharp, clever, irreverent but sweeter.

An ambassador for human rights and Africa. Fondly in love with her pet, Lazslo. She was class, elegance and culture.

One of the greatest business women of Conde Nast ever, she represented an icon, a mentor to so many fashion professionals.

An iron hand in a velvet glove.

She travelled to China in 2013 and she created the first Vogue magazine entirely dedicated to her passion and respect for China.

Her passing away closed the most glorious chapter of fashion.

I admired the way she dealt with her fate. The immense dignity. Always smiling.

She is deeply missed

Some key learnings from what happened last week.

• China is increasingly the battlefield for Brands survival and growth. Be focused, learn the rules and try not to mess with them
• Don’t be obsessed by China only. Develop a healthy Brand growth globally
• The Brand reputation comes before any personal opinion of the management. Work to preserve it together with DNA
• Don’t stop monitoring the markets and deal with them with the precious help of your local offices
• Social media people are not friends nor enemies. Keep the proper distance, especially if they earn their salary from the media
• Manage your Ego and avoid being a victim of it
• Create a team of loyal and trusted professionals, listen to them and then take key decisions.

Your team is your wild card. Friends and family won’t help.

• Brand strategy is a must. It comes before anything else. It’s the key success factor and it must be based on market analysis, focus groups, weak signals and Brand vision
• Be a student and a diplomat. Read books and exercise
• Beware of competitors. You are not managing a company, you are leading a war

And, if you want to change the world, start making your own bed (Admiral William H. McRaven)

#leadership #business #branding #strategy

This post was inspired by by Tracy Short question, this morning on LinkedIn, about books.
A must read for fashion and luxury professionals is the book written by Ryan Holiday “Ego is the Enemy. the Fight to Master Our Greatest Opponent”.

Hereafter great quotes from the book.

“Those who have subdued their ego understand that it doesn’t degrade you when others treat you poorly; it degrades them.”

“And that’s what is so insidious about talk. Anyone can talk about himself or herself (…) So what is scarce and rare? Silence. The ability to deliberately keep yourself out of the conversation and subsist without its validation. Silence is the respite of the confident and the strong.”

“When we remove ego, we’re left with what is real. What replaces ego is humility, yes—but rock-hard humility and confidence. Whereas ego is artificial, this type of confidence can hold weight. Ego is stolen. Confidence is earned (…) It’s the difference between potent and poisonous.”

“Attempting to destroy something out of hate or ego often ensures that it will be preserved and disseminated forever.”

“If you can’t swallow your pride, you can’t lead.”

“If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.”

That’s it.

Like it or nor Chiara Ferragni is a very powerful influencer.
She has more than 14 million followers on Instagram and some of her posts reach more than a million likes.
She is an Italian, very smart self-made entrepreneur and the ambassadress of some of the most prestigious fashion and beauty brands in the world.

Yesterday she married a very famous Italian rapper, Fedez.
They recently had a baby boy, Leone, born in glamorous Los Angeles.
Unlike many celebrities, they preferred not to sell any exclusive to the media for the wedding and let the guests free to cover it on every possible social media.
They reached an audience higher than the best TV programs in Italy.
It was the wedding of the year. Joyful and full of emotions and entertainment.

While on one side declining fashion press criticizes influencers and their way of working and on the other side Italian youngsters complain about not having the right space in the work environment, Chiara Ferragni is the perfect example of our era and how, a simple yet very ambitious and smart girl succeeded in a very claustrophobic and frozen industry.

Doing it in her own terms.

Happy life, Chiara!

Rosita Missoni is one of those fashion ladies who set the example for women (and men) in the industry.
She founded a legendary brand with husband Ottavio which meant strong family values, passion for beauty and unique style.
Rosita spread simple style and elegance through her public and private life.

She received the Italian Republic honour “Cavaliere del Lavoro” only 21 years after her husband and she said “I always worked more than him”, highlighting the difficulties that women had in the paste and still have to receive acknowledgement of their value versus men.

Diana Vreeland defined the Missoni couple as “geniuses”. They received the Neiman Marcus award and were crowned among the 20 most powerful fashion houses in the ’70s.

She is the queen of good taste and of a life well spent. She gently passed the baton to her daughter Angela when she decided that it was the right time to do it.
Rosita is a great example for resilience, being able to overcome with grace the tragic death of her son Vittorio and of her husband in the same year.
Grace, style, endurance, resilience, talent, passion, strength.
All values that we should take back in this hectic world.
A great teaching from a great entrepreneur.

Adieu Monsieur Alaia,
You were the most authentic and original “createur” of the fashion world.
You truly loved women and wanted them to be beautiful and self confident. Those stretch dresses, uber sexy shoes are legend.
You truly loved your fashion family. Those dinners in your kitchen surrounded by the fashion gotha and your dog. Pure cozyness.
Your being a free spirit was loved by customers and business partners and all of them surrounded you with love and appreciation.

No need to follow the crazy pace of fashion weeks, no need to disrupt your style to get visibility, no advertising campaigns and social media and you were still a champion of fashion freedom.

In an age where all fashion creatives need to be business men, merchandisers, image makers, unstoppable travelers you were Azzedine living in the Marais and following your own timing.

You didn’t create a business but you created an example to follow for the next fashion generations.
And you taught that there is always a choice that guarantees freedom of thought and creation.

When we speak about leaders and top executives in luxury other names come to the mind before Michael Burke, but he is the undisputed number one.
Tough and demanding as a boss he is also a great motivator, a polarizing executive (love him or hate him or both) but he is with no doubt le Mazzarino de LVMH.

He’s very bright and entertaining but also a man of strategy and execution, long term collaborator of Bernard Arnault, he succeeded in:

• launching LV in the USA in the ’80s
• supporting Toledano relaunch of Dior in the ’90s
• turning around Fendi in the 2000s (the biggest challenge ever)
• merging Bulgari into LVMH (quite a challenge due to the presence of Francesco Trapani in the Group)
• managing a new amazing era for Vuitton

He’s a manager with long term view and with great energy. Vuitton is clearly safe in his hands as he won’t spoil the brand with weird collections or short term objectives, he will continue to develop cool capsules, he will manage the right balance of art and glamour (a trend that Beccari at Dior should clearly follow), he will make the company revenues grow healthily.

No doubt he’s the Man of Luxury tout court.
An example to follow for many fashion and luxury managers aiming for success.

Alain Passard is a 3 star Michelin chef since the last 20 years. He started his restaurant as a “rotisserie”, fully dedicated to meat. One day he decided to turn to vegetables, starting his own vegetable garden and working as a passionate chef on a brand new chapter that astonished food critics and clients.
He kept the 3 stars and started a new exciting and successful adventure in his own restaurant where he doesn’t keep a recipe book and where he changes menu every single day.

Alexandre Couillon is a 2 star chef of a restaurant on a tiny island in Normandy. He started his own business from nothing, in a place visited by tourists two months a year.
He promised that, if after seven years he wasn’t successful, he would have quit. He was going to shut down the restaurant after many sacrifices and experiments when he got the first Michelin star. He decided to continue and to experiment even more and his restaurant, based on the terroir products, has become a destination for gourmets.

Key learnings about true luxury:

• is made by passionate people
• is niche and not based on rigid action plans
• is about gratification and not margin obsession
• is not a corporation business
• is made with the best ingredients

With love