When Business Rationality Meets Fashion Creativity
FRANCESCA BELLETTINI IS CEO OF THE ICONIC FASHION BRAND SAINT LAURENT: CREATIVITY DISTINGUISHES THE WORLD OF LUXURY FROM ANY OTHER INDUSTRY. SO WE HAVE TO RESPECT ITShe entered the world of luxury from investment banking, where she worked in corporate finance overseeing mergers of small fashion companies. In 1999 Francesca Bellettini, a Bocconi graduate, joined Prada and in 2003 she entered Kering, the French luxury giant worth €11 billion owned by the Pinault family. After working on the Gucci and Bottega Veneta brands, in 2013 Kering chose her as CEO of Saint Laurent, where she launched a major rebranding of the maison which has led to a 23,7% growth in this year's first two quarters, the best performance among the luxury group's brands. From crunching the numbers to managing pure creativity, the task of Francesca Bellettini is selling the dream of luxury, while maintaining the competitiveness of this iconic fashion brand. That's how she does it.
âžœThe two key figures in luxury goods companies are the CEO and the Creative Director. What is the relationship between these two roles?
What has always fascinated me about the luxury industry is doing business out of something which is fundamentally ephemeral: creativity. Learning to respect it is the most important challenge, because it is what makes the world of luxury & fashion different from any other industry. You cannot makes compromises when it comes to brand positioning, you cannot take short-term decisions that would lead to losing the brand's values in the longer term. In the luxury industry there is veritable creativity, in the consumer goods industry what you get is marketing.
➜ What does the CEO of a Fashion & Luxury company do?
In addition to balancing the accounts and safeguarding brand positioning, s/he must establish a relationship with the Creative Director based on mutual trust and respect, by building an organization and an environment where creativity is encouraged. The CEO must also know how to choose the right fashion designers to give the brand a contemporary feel, without clouding its values and history.
➜ How do you preserve the iconic nature of the brand you manage and still keep it contemporary?
In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent was the first couturier to create a line of prêt-à-porter fashion and did it by expressing both the brand's authenticity and the spirit of the times to the utmost. So, next to the high-fashion line Yves Saint Laurent, the brand Saint Laurent Rive Gauche was born. Over time, the house stopped producing high-end fashion and the Yves Saint Laurent brand was also transferred to the prêt-à-porter division, creating confusion in the perception of the brand.
In 2012, a major rebranding of the fashion house was started with Heidi Slimane, which has also led to rename our brand to bring clarity to its market positioning. We decided to call things back by their name, and Yves Saint Laurent became simply Saint Laurent. If one day we go back to haute couture, we will call ourselves again Yves Saint Laurent.
➜ What was your contribution to this process?
When I arrived at Saint Laurent, I realized that I shared much of what already existed, from the balance in product categories that enabled the brand to be relevant both in the ready-to-wear and in the accessories markets, to have distribution networks in retail and wholesale, and a balanced presence in regional markets without overexposure in one particular geographical area. I have, however, redefined in a radical way our business unit system that before only concerned our leather goods division.
➜ What is it?
The company is divided into three business units, each reflecting main product categories: ready-to-wear, shoes, and accessories. Each business unit brings together production and product development ensuring a linear process that goes from fashion creation to in-store delivery. The system works, however, only if business units do not become companies within the company. At Saint Laurent, the three business units report to the COO who coordinates product areas consistently with brand values, stimulates synergies, ensures the transfer of best practices.
➜ With respect to final markets, what has this changes brought?
I gave autonomy in market conduct by appointing managers in charge of each area, who report directly to me. These people are my eyes and arms in various parts of the world, to ensure we get the best attention for customer needs. From HQ, you cannot expect to know the market better than those who experience it first hand.
➜ Are made ad hoc collections designed to meet the needs of different markets?
No, the collection is always the same in every region of the world. We seek, instead, to target buying in each indvidual store thanks to local buyers. In addition, we rely on strong coordination with central buying to be always in stock with our bestselling items.
➜ Today you can buy fashion collections as they parade on the catwalk. What is changing in the experience of purchase in the fashion business?
I do not believe in the “see now, wear now” format. Rather, I believe in the buy now, wear now, which means making collections that include all-season items, so you do not have to wait, say, for the winter season to wear them. In fact, collections are on display in stores long before the season starts.
âžœ Why don't you believe in the “see now, wear now”?
It's a model that's compatible with fast fashion companies but not with the creative process of a luxury brand. Creating quality takes time, as well as selling it as emotion. Luxury companies create trends that cannot be expected to be immediately understood by the public, because sometimes they are strongly disruptive. Fashion shows, advertising campaigns and magazine and newspaper features are useful to have consumers become familiar with a particular trend and internalize it. It's the expectation that creates the dream: fashion shows are a bit like movie teasers that studios release long before the film is in theaters, fueling the desire to go see it.
➜ Can there ever be affordable luxury?
Yes, and it is represented by entry products that need not be grouped into a separate category like accessories, but must be nevertheless identified in each product sector. In ready-to-wear, for example, it will be jeans and T-shirts that cost much less with respect to other leading fashion brands, while maintaining a high ranking in style. On the other hand, it would be wrong to sell a T-shirt marked Saint Laurent at a price as low as 20 euros, because it would destroy the aspirational aspect of the brand.
by Allegra Gallizia
Translated by Alex Foti
