Quando Leonardo da Vinci He sent what is probably the first curriculum vitae of the story to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, He did not focus on his artistic talents. He presented himself as a military engineer capable of planning fearsome weapons, artillery -proof floats, unbeatable fortresses. Thus won the attention of Ludovico “Il Moro”, for him he will design military machinery over the years, but also memorable parties and splendid paintings. Moral: the Ego Vinciano shows that, If knowing how to sell is the first step towards success, having cultivated heterogeneous interests and experiences will bring almost halfway.
Quality that today allow you to navigate among the turbulent skies in which the economies of luxury and fashion travel. Armchair laps among the designers, new appointments to the “court” of noble managers... a movement perhaps necessary to find (hopefully) also a new balance.
«With the difficulties encountered by many brands, the Luxury has also opened up to other worlds. Last example, striking, the appointment as CEO of Kering by Luca De Meo, who arrived from Renault after 30 years of career in the car sector »says Massimo Picca, expert in Luxury, design and cosmetics as a partner in the Swiss company of Executive Search International Chaberton Partners. “The perfect cocktail? Eclectic training and personal passion. In scenarios of strong change, such as the current one, the companies seek figures who have great experience but also ways of managing complexityuncertainties and ambiguity. For example, those who worked in a multinational and then with an entrepreneur, passing from private equity, has More reading keys of the same reality ». Even in retail, important are the Experiences between product, ecommerce and physical shops («Speaking of shops, many people who guide companies of millions of euros tell How young people learned by opening the doors of the stores … Contact with the public is a fundamental starting point! “).
A “ribbon” raised to the Grand Palais in Paris for the Chanel winter 2025 parade. (Launchmetrics Spotlight)
“Customized” careers not only by managers
First turning point, The great crises of 2001 and 2008: when they slowly left place to “customized” career. “Many families follow the inclinations of young peopleto understand how to make their talents. Result: many they leave the country for study or work, with a one -way ticket. On the other hand, many Italian schools attract children who see Italy as Excellence in the fashion and design system And that they would like to stay here »suggests Picca.
But with an extraordinary quality of life, the remuneration difference It becomes more and more feeling. «And so Abroad Italian managers are in great demand: We have a sense of beautiful innate, we are more smart in navigating between situations by inventing brilliant solutions. Talents to bring Even in large hotel realities: In Italy, local entrepreneurship excels, but few of our managers have trained in prestigious groups, of which we have not had many experiences. They are universes that today manage huge worlds compared to hotels twenty years ago, where It is no longer just the service that is fundamental, but the experience offered ».
From the style office to the world
Understand who could be the New interpreter of the style A great sensitivity requires a maison. “That hand will adapt to certain aesthetic codes To make them evolve? On the contrary, it happens that meeting more creative A brand understands that address wants to take. Many, for example, now look to Northern Europe designer. What is certain is that after 10-15 years of Brand growth (some also created “in the table” to respond to specific trends), Fashion lives a difficult moment “ René Alba, training psychoanalyst, tells of 2003 among the first specialists in the Head Hunting in fashion.
Deva Cassel, 20 years old, in the sweet and Gabbana winter 2023 fashion show (Launchmetrics Spotlight)
«The new generations are less attracted from an offer that was managed following following financial logic. They spend in well -being and travel. Or in smaller and independent brandswith a solid personality, who lose less customers. The multi -brand lives hard times: before 2012 they allowed to meet new names. Now i big brands put purchase stakes too high and the Most searched figures are buyer able to find new brands, with More content and interesting proposals budgets. But also those who know how to give the same multi -branded one more corporate structureto develop over more than familiar entrepreneurship dimensions ».
Looking at the retail, the “salottiera” figure of the store managers has changed: it is necessary competence in numerical analysis And the care of the buyer with clienteling strategies, who know how to attract and keep young people with them. In every field in fact The boys are no longer devoted to frustration: doing the big voice encourages them to change, increasing one stressful turnover. “The request for training manager or figures of “Retail Excellence” shows how it is necessary to have a perfect link between what the company wants to communicate and what is transmitted In the shops »concludes Alba. «Atmosphere and product must return to offer magic which seems temporarily lost. It will take some time, maybe a few years to find it, but I have few doubts: Fashion connects to the desire to dream Innate in man. Impossible to lose it ».
When the dream becomes reality
Another very important sector is obviously beauty: an Italian excellence such as Intercos, or companies such as Chromavis and Art Cosmetics, allow start -ups of Create worship cosmetics brands, that require new managers. “Kiko was the first to unhinge the cliché of the beauty product available only in the distribution channels, creating its lines and also its shops. From “inside”, often, It is thought that certain things are not possible: Then arrives who did not yet have Experiences of that sectorand does it first, “underlines Massimo Picca.
About the aforementioned extra-sector. When great minds from other worlds They arrive at the top of a new company, it is fundamental to ask What people really want. «In this case the important word is the” truly “. For Chaberton I follow the podcast Connecting the dotswhere many managers tell their careers. Like a mantra, everyone claims to have The focus on the consumer reported. Leaving the spiral of self -referentiality, to build experiences starting from real needs ».