Fashion moves so quickly that it seems almost impossible to press the ‘pause button’. Although slowing down can also help you return full of energy and new ideas, the topic of time off still seems to be a taboo topic in the industry – especially among managers.
Florian Wortmann, Chief Brand Officer at Bugatti, took at least a short break to spend with his newborn son. In the interview he talks about his experiences, how the issue of home office is handled at the Herford clothing supplier and why he wanted to be a parcel delivery boy as a child.
Mr Wortmann, you have just returned from a short ‘paternity leave’. How normal is such a break in the fashion industry?
I didn’t put much thought into my post. I tend to look less left and right. Instead, I think about what is right for me. It was only when I was asked about it that I realized that it was never really discussed – especially in the traditional fashion industry.
Overall, we are in a phase that is characterized by rethinking during the pandemic, but also the consequences. The four-day week, less work and more free time are offset by insufficient salaries and price increases. I find this “work less to live my life” a bit difficult.
What exactly bothers you about it?
For me it is somehow wrong when these aspects are in such an imbalance and have a conflict of goals. That’s why I don’t believe in the term “work-life balance”. You need a good “life balance” – with “work”, without “work”, with passion or a lot of free time. It has to suit everyone individually. “Work” always has such a negative title.
Work doesn’t necessarily have to be your greatest passion, but overall many people seem to give far too little thought to what they want, how they want to earn money and how they want to spend most of their life. But it also starts at school, where the children are simply not properly prepared for it.
As a child, did you already know where the journey was going?
As a child, I always wanted to be a parcel delivery person so I could connect people with each other. But I also wanted to become a professional footballer to pursue my passion. Of course everything turned out differently.
I also didn’t go into the fashion industry because I thought, “You can make a lot of money there.” I started in this field because I enjoyed it. It was just a great feeling when customers came into the store, you gave them something and then they left better dressed.
My parents didn’t understand it at all at the time and said that after graduating from high school I should study something like medicine or law and not stand in the store at Anson’s and sell ties. But studying law was a bit too long for me. [lacht]
What passion would you follow today if you gave up fashion?
would hang?
If I no longer wanted to work in the fashion industry tomorrow, I could also imagine running a small café and standing behind my barista machine. I just love working with people. It would probably be a completely different lifestyle, but it wouldn’t affect me much in terms of happiness. The job simply has to be fun – whether in fashion or another area.
You just mentioned the four-day week. As a counterproposal, you have already brought up the six-day week…
This was a somewhat heretical post on Linkedin. If we all do less now and get more done at the end of the day, I’m in favor of it too. But you don’t have to be surprised if you get less for it.
Overall, we have to be careful when it comes to cutting down on work and wanting to do less. At some point the social system is simply no longer sufficient for those who cannot work, who are really weaker and who are not doing so well.
What was it like for you when you at least temporarily shut down work?
As a father, I had nine months to prepare my team for this. When I knew that my wife was pregnant, I picked up my department heads very early and informed them about my time off. We discussed their responsibilities and the decisions that they alone are responsible for in my absence. We prepared them for that and then we had a season where we could practice. Finally, we completed the process with additional coaching.
Trust also plays a big role. Do you find it difficult to give up responsibility?
None of us are senior doctors and if we make a “wrong cut”, no one dies here. In the end it’s “only” about money. We scaled a budget within which my team could decide for themselves and then imagined the worst-case scenario if everyone made the wrong decision. As long as this remains a manageable risk, it is not a problem. Of course, it doesn’t work without risk because that’s also part of people’s development process.
I’m always more of a risk taker. This creates better developments and people appreciate it when they have a larger area of responsibility or are allowed to make more decisions. For example, my outerwear product manager made the final decisions for the NOS jackets in my absence – that’s a big responsibility, but she did a great job. I also gave her that as feedback.
Now you’re back in action…
…yes, at least 60 percent, although for others it would probably be 100 [lacht]. I used to sometimes start at seven o’clock and sometimes dinner would last until 10 or 11 p.m. Now I take ‘the short one’ to daycare and then do a lot of the home office or, if there is an important appointment, I drive to Herford and then back to Cologne in the evening to put him to bed. How you plan it is up to you, but I didn’t want to miss this time.
I know the next winter season is coming, but I have become a father twice now – once now and once six years ago. That won’t happen any time soon. If I had missed that, I wouldn’t have been able to simply start a “new season” six months later to do better.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t be reached in the event of serious problems, such as bankruptcy or the loss of an important customer. But overall, all of us – whether in my position or, for example, an employee from the e-commerce team – are expendable for two or three months and it can be planned with enough lead time, which you as expectant parents at least have.
But if you take longer breaks it would be more difficult for you, wouldn’t it?
I was also asked by my friends whether I would take a year of parental leave. In our business case, that would have an impact of two or three years. Of course I can’t be responsible for that.
The home office was not abolished at Bugatti. How is the topic currently handled for you?
Home office is organized individually and in consultation with superiors. Typically it is one day per week.
I always have a conversation with the employees on my team at the end of the year and then we set the goals for the next twelve months. If the management of a respective sub-area works with a home office and successes are achieved, this can be continued. If that doesn’t work, we have to think about making adjustments to our presence.
For example, I once had someone in a year-end meeting who had only been working from home for two days and then realized that an additional day of presence would be more useful for him in order to be able to stimulate and motivate his team better.
You have already mentioned that you also comment on some topics on social networks. Is this important for a leadership position in 2025?
There are opposing views. Some say they don’t read all the posts on Linkedin anymore and don’t want anything to do with the bubble. Somehow everyone posts something now and then it has to be continuous for the algorithm – once or twice a week.
I went through a phase in which I no longer felt comfortable with the posts because I had the feeling that I was only writing something to say something. And that’s why I only do something now if I really have a topic that I want to talk about. Then I also think it’s important to show a certain attitude.
Overall, it is extremely important to build a personal brand. I believe that in a few years it will go so far that when recruiting, you will just drop your profile as an NFT and everything will be verified there, you may even be evaluated there directly and receive your job reference on a platform like Linkedin. The CV sent by email is then out of date.
What about alternative leadership models such as co- and shared leadership at Bugatti? Would this be conceivable for certain positions?
We haven’t really looked into this yet, but it’s a good point and could actually be a good fit in one case.
In conclusion. What lessons would you give to “young professionals” in the fashion industry?
Don’t choose your path based on the amount of salary, but rather based on your inner passion. It is also important to listen to yourself and not what others say. This also applies to friends and family. You are responsible for yourself!
I’ve also had more difficult times, for example when I was self-employed and Colors & Sons [Anm.d.Red: Deutsche Menswear-Marke] founded. At that time I had about ten euros a day for food. So every day at 5 p.m. I had kebab with sheep’s cheese so that I could combine lunch and dinner. Despite my own budget, I always sat at the big fashion retailers and had to present myself at eye level, while they sold their Submariners and Daytonas [Anm.d.Red: Uhrenmodelle der Luxusmarke Rolex] had on my arm. I have now also developed a preference for vintage Rolex watches. However, I was not unhappy at the time.