Dear BoF Community,
A couple of months in the past, I used to be sitting down with Andrea Guerra to organize for our dialog for BoF VOICES. Every yr, I select one luxurious CEO to interview and this yr, I knew it needed to be Guerra, what with the sustained development at Prada Group, powered in no small half by the explosive success of Miu Miu, and the information that the corporate was set to amass Versace.
As at all times, Guerra was recreation for direct questions and when it got here to interview time, he delivered incisive responses and dealt with some difficult questions with aplomb on subjects from piloting a gentle touchdown at Miu Miu as development inevitably slows to luxurious’s price-value equation. He let slip that Prada scion Lorenzo Bertelli would turn into government chairman at quickly to be acquired Versace, however averted straight answering my query about the way forward for the model’s inventive and enterprise management.
“Especially at the beginning, stability is a very important word,” Guerra stated. “And this is what we are going to do. We are going to care about everyone working in Versace. And we are going to care about everything that is happening in Versace. The only thing I don’t want to happen is I don’t want to kill the patient while we cure it.”
So the velocity at which the Prada-Bertelli clan exited Versace designer Dario Vitale, solely two days after taking management of the model, took me unexpectedly. The information instantly sparked one other spherical of designer succession hypothesis. Could or not it’s Anthony Vacarello? Sources have informed BoF that he’s been approached and that he idolises founder Gianni.
The potential match-up is smart given his historical past with the model (he beforehand designed Versus and has an excellent relationship with Donatella), speaks Italian and, after ten years at Saint Laurent, may be searching for a brand new problem.
But that’s moreover the purpose. Leaving apart that Dario Vitale’s present that wasn’t alleged to be a present turned out to be one of the unexpectedly thrilling moments of the Milan vogue season passed by, it was additionally notable as a result of he was a brand new identify, with new vitality. Everywhere else we had been seeing outdated names pop up at new homes. He was a brand new man on the scene to step into the highlight from behind the scenes. Whether or not he was an excellent match for Versace (Prada clearly thinks not), a wholesome vogue system is dependent upon this sort of inventive renewal and alter.
Unfortunately for Vitale, the outdated axiom “you never know what is going to come back to bite you” held very true for him. After informing Prada Group earlier this yr that he was leaving Miu Miu to take the inventive director function at Versace, he was informed in no unsure phrases that they didn’t imagine he was prepared for such a task and if Prada ended up buying Versace he wouldn’t keep within the job, in accordance with a number of sources near the corporate.
Vitale took the plunge in any case, so he knew this was coming. Maybe it should nonetheless repay for him ultimately, his buzzy debut a compelling audition for a brand new function little doubt.
In the meantime, we are going to wait and watch what occurs at Versace. We perceive {that a} new inventive director has already been recognized and could possibly be introduced inside the month.
One factor which may have scuppered Vitale’s tenure at Versace was the pricing. His assortment delivered to thoughts the youthful vitality of the model’s former second line Versus, however was priced like top-end luxurious.
This subject was central to the dialogue I had with System Magazine’s editor in chief Jonathan Wingfield and Bernstein’s world luxurious analyst Luca Solca for an additional wide-ranging examination of the state of the luxurious trade on this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast.
Have a terrific weekend.
Imran Amed, Founder and Editor in Chief
Here are my different high picks from our evaluation on vogue, luxurious and wonder:
1. Can Nike’s Latest C-Suite Makeover Finally Solidify Its Vision? Elliott Hill has made one other spherical of adjustments to Nike’s government group as he builds out the corporate’s future. But how shut is that imaginative and prescient to lastly arriving?
2. Case Study | The Art & Science of World-Building. Once the protect of a handful of high-end labels, world-building has turn into a robust methodology for any model to create an enduring impression and join emotionally with clients. Pulling it off requires extra than simply constant branding throughout channels.
3. High Margin: Chanel Takes the Subway, LVMH’s Management Shakeup. What’s occurring at luxurious’s two greatest manufacturers, Chanel and Louis Vuitton? Plus, Sant Ambroeus opens in Paris.
4. Prada’s Versace Acquisition Closes, Now the Real Work Begins. The group’s effort to revive the fortunes of the enduring label based by Gianni Versace would require each persistence and ache. ‘The next 12 months will be rough.’
5. How Staud Churns Out Hit After Hit. After a decade in enterprise, Sarah Staudinger’s model is worthwhile, on observe to hit $250 million in annual gross sales, with a good cut up between ready-to-wear, footwear and equipment, wholesale and direct-to-consumer. She and co-founder George Augusto spoke to The Business of Fashion about how they did it — and what’s subsequent.
This Weekend on The BoF Podcast
Instead of his standard place within the host’s seat, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed seems this week as a visitor in an interview with Jonathan Wingfield, editor in chief of System Magazinealongside Luca Solca, senior analyst of worldwide luxurious items at Bernstein — as featured within the second problem of System Collections.
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